Topic: Playstation 3 on Ebay

[hans]

OK, so my brother (currently unemployed) called me up and wants to borrow a few grand to implement a plan of his.
He thinks it would be a good idea to buy a few PS3's and then immediately sell them on Ebay. He has a friend at a store that he thinks can get him in (and possibly myself and my cousin) or do the camp out thing and get a few people to buy these and put them on Ebay for twice as much. Now, I'm generally conservative with my money so I told him this wasn't a great idea, but I'm sure these things are going to sell out immediately and be one of the hottest things for Christmas.
So what do you guys think? Should I loan my brother a few K. The thing I'm worried about is dropping a few grand on these playstations and then just having a few playstations laying around. And I've got other stuff I could do with my money. But it could be a quick way to make a few hundred and help my brother get some extra cash. So what kind of percentage do you think I should get out of the deal being the financial backer?

[Mike]

Its a gamble for sure.  Personally I'm against this because I think its wrong to exploit a situation like that.  However if you were to do it I'd say you should get at least 50%, you are afterall providing the money and actually have the most to lose.

Edit:  I'm not sure how much the PS3 is retailing for but I do recall people complaining about the retail price.  So I'm not sure how big of a market they'll be for the marked up ebay price.

[micah]

*yoink*

thanks for the idea 

[Govtcheez]

I honestly think you'd have absolutely 0 problem offloading those, assuming you're able to buy more than one or two.  They're going to be absolutely huge this Christmas.  Hell, they could have been released in June and they'd still be profitable to sell on eBay.  There are always initial shortages, and there are always people who NEED to have them immediately but can't get them at the store for some reason.

It's a gamble, but I think it's very likely you'd see a good return on it.

[Rob]

>>wrong to exploit a situation like that

No more wrong than Sony artificially hiking demand by deliberate under supply.

[Mike]

I agree.  But two wrongs don't make a right.  (But 3 lefts do)

[Rob]

[Govtcheez]

Apparently the initial shipment to the US is supposed to be about 370K, with any more before XMas being unlikely.

This is a pretty easy decision, honestly.

edit: http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-Playstation-3-ps3-60gb-premium-system-1st-in-line_W0QQitemZ140049822151QQihZ004QQcategoryZ62054QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Holy crap - you shouldn't expect this to be the norm, but it's an idea.

[Mike]

Some people need to be shot, that person (the buyer) is one of them.

[Govtcheez]

I'd be a little surprised if that's a legit bid, but you're right about that.

[Rob]

Apparently the initial shipment to the US is supposed to be about 370K, with any more before XMas being unlikely.

This is a pretty easy decision, honestly.

edit: http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-Playstation-3-ps3-60gb-premium-system-1st-in-line_W0QQitemZ140049822151QQihZ004QQcategoryZ62054QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Holy crap - you shouldn't expect this to be the norm, but it's an idea.

Fuck!

[hans]

I'll now more information in the next few days, but I'm halfway thinking of doing it. I have to figure out what my cut is going to be since I will be the financial backer in this endeavor. Do I go with 50% of the profits or just consider it a short term loan and have him pay me back with 20% interest? I'm not sure how much my brother thinks he should receive out of the deal yet. I think he's more of the mindset where he'll just pay me back the initial investment (maybe a small amount extra, after all, it was his idea). He doesn't quite grasp how the whole money stuff works. He just wants a lot, and quickly, and at no risk to him.

I've been reading around that Ebay has put the stops on some of the presale auctions but it doesn't sound like they will be doing that once they are actually available in stores. For you Ebay folk, would there be any reason why my brother wouldn't be able to sell these things on Ebay after the release date this week? I don't want to buy these things and then not sell them right away and have supply available which would lower the cost of ownership.

As far as exploiting the situation, isn't this capitalism at it's finest?

I'm figuring they'll sell for at least 2x the retail price and if things go the way he plans we'll have 3 or more them (as many as he can get his hands pretty much).

I'm seriously thinking about it after reading stories of last year's 360 goings on.

[Govtcheez]

> For you Ebay folk, would there be any reason why my brother wouldn't be able to sell these things on Ebay after the release date this week?

I don't know why they would.  It's going to make them a bunch of money, since they'll be really highly sought after items.

I don't get the whole exploiting angle, either.  People want them, and they have just as much of a chance of buying them as you do.  If they really "need" them immediately and they're willing to pay out the nose for it, it's only common sense to take advantage of it.  It's just a video game system; it's not like he's buying the world's supply of AIDS vaccine or something.

[Mike]

reminds me of my $999,999.99 bid on something with a million dollar reserve.

[[stealth]]

e-bay is dodgy at the best of times, good luck...this is something i wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole.