Rob Beschizza
Gear

PS3 Resale Market Collapsed

Sony’s PS3 production woes created a bonanza for profiteers, who were able to scalp thousands on every console. Reality strikes fast and satisfyingly hard, however, with resold consoles, valued as high as 400 percent of their retail value in November, fetching only a paltry 30 percent profit margin by Dec. 21. When shipping, tax and […]

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Sony's PS3 production woes created a bonanza for profiteers, who were able to scalp thousands on every console. Reality strikes fast and satisfyingly hard, however, with resold consoles, valued as high as 400 percent of their retail value in November, fetching only a paltry 30 percent profit margin by Dec. 21. When shipping, tax and other guff is taken into account, it's not looking so golden for the moustache-twirling eBay salesmen.

Kotaku reports on a whip around town for PS3 consoles on the Friday before New Year's day: they found just plenty.

There's no such creature as a sure thing. The majority of eBay prospectors walked away from this experience with that lesson burned into the back of their brains. My suggestion for the future? If you want to gamble, go to Vegas. If you want to invest, try mutual funds. Leave the video game system buying to the gamers. We'll all be happier for it.

Feature: The Decline of the PS3 Grey Market [Kotaku via The Guardian]