Topic: Why I'm going to buy a PS3 on launch day.

[MaryJane]

So I can sell it on Ebay for $2,000 - $3,000 and make $1,400 - $2,500 on it.

Thanks Sony!

If any of you have access to a friend who works at a game store and can make sure you actually get your PS3 on launch day I would recommend you do the same.

If the PS3 doesn't flop I'm going to own one because it not flopping means not all the games planned for it won't be made into Wii games with fewer polygon counts. And for some reason Sony gets floods and floods of RPG's which are my favorite.

At the same time, I'm not gonna pass up this opportunity. I did the same with XBOX360 except I went halves with someone, but on 3 systems. I made out with $1,700 after paying like ebay costs and all that other nonsense. I'm hoping to make at least that much on 1 PS3.
Then maybe I'll buy my mom her own Wii so she won't play with mine.

i might be used to the name but that still sounds awkward

[WuTangTurtle]

I really hope your mom doesn't play with your wii.....

Joking aside, I too am hoping to do the same.  The profit will go straight to my Wii purchases and the rest will go to pay off some credit card debt.  Thank u Sony, ur losses on hardware go to my purchases on a Wii a credit debt!

[GoldenPhoenix]

I am hoping to get 3 PS3s (I hope I can get 1 preordered), 2 of which will come from staying in line with a friend or family member (I'll give them cash). With Wii I plan on getting 2 or 3 as well, 1 for me and 2 to sell.

[KDR_11k]

Remember that profit of that magnitude has to be reported to the IRS as income.

[BigJim]

According to the interwebs, it seems like about half of those 500,000 will probably show up on eBay. lol.

Poor first-day buyers. All those systems being taken out of circulation at normal price.

[stevey]

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If any of you have access to a friend who works at a game store and can make sure you actually get your PS3 on launch day I would recommend you do the same.

I would, but I cant since game stop is evil...
link

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GameStop will start accepting pre-orders for the PS3/Wii on MONDAY SEPTEMBER 18. This will last for ONE WEEK only. Any store can and will stop taking pre-orders at any time (most likely when their limit is reached). I have been advised (and I advise you) to go to the store on Monday and get your pre-order in.

GameStop is NOT ACCEPTING cash, or store credit for your down payment on a pre-order. You HAVE to trade in games or accessories when you pre-order. It must total $50 or more, and it will all go towards your system pre-order. Any money you put down after $50 can be credit, cash, or whatever else GameStop/EB accepts. This applies for both the Wii and the PS3.
............
You are GUARANTEED to get a Wii, but the date you get it IS NOT GUARANTEED (he specifically told me that you are not guaranteed to get your system on launch or anytime during the Christmas season).

Stores are going to give out launch systems based on chronological pre-order order. That means if you are the first one to pre-order/reserve your Wii, you will be the first one to get a Wii on launch day.

Reservations are limited to 1 per household.

 

[wandering]

Okay MaryJane, but don't spend it all on.......you know....

[MaryJane]

well some of it is definitely going to support the habit, but a lot more will go to support the new habit.

i feel the itch already.

[nitsu niflheim]

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Originally posted by: KDR_11k
Remember that profit of that magnitude has to be reported to the IRS as income.

In the US, you are required to report any money you make, period.  For example, if you have a yard sale, that money you make is required to be stated on your tax return.  But I doubt that a lot of people actually do that.

[jasonditz]

well... with a yard sale you're selling things you bought in the past, so unless you're selling them for more than you paid, that's not technically income.

Legally though, you're also required to report every penny you find laying on the ground, and every time you go to a friend's house for a free meal. Oh, and if you play an MMO, any loot you get is also taxable.

[Artimus]

I'm really giving serious thought to this as well. I'd order it online and sell it as soon as they sell out. Awesome thought.

[jasonditz]

I'm skeptical of the idea, as it seems to me the number of people sold on the idea of buying a launch PS3 (to play with) is pretty low at the retail price. I'm sure it'll sell out because of all the people intending on putting them on eBay, but unless there are a lot of people willing to pay thousands to get one a few months earlier it seems possible the post-retail market on eBay might get saturated and the price might not be near so appealing.

[wandering]

Quote
well... with a yard sale you're selling things you bought in the past, so unless you're selling them for more than you paid, that's not technically income.

Legally though, you're also required to report every penny you find laying on the ground, and every time you go to a friend's house for a free meal. Oh, and if you play an MMO, any loot you get is also taxable.

My understanding is, (and if I'm wrong, someone correct me) anytime something of worth transfers from one hand to another, the government is entileted to a piece of that pie...UNLESS it falls below a certain value. So, if you give someone a GameCube, no reporting takes place, but you give someone a car, it does. Free meals and stuff would fall below that threshold.

[Arbok]

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Originally posted by: jasonditz
I'm skeptical of the idea, as it seems to me the number of people sold on the idea of buying a launch PS3 (to play with) is pretty low at the retail price. I'm sure it'll sell out because of all the people intending on putting them on eBay, but unless there are a lot of people willing to pay thousands to get one a few months earlier it seems possible the post-retail market on eBay might get saturated and the price might not be near so appealing.

The thing is, the supply out there is so limited (since eBay is a worldwide market place, you also have to consider some interested European buyers and those from other regions) that it would be hard for the price not to sky rocket and still find interested bidders.

[Donutt007]

I personally hate that idea. Yes I have thought of doing it in the past, but sometimes, when I try to go to a concert and the tickets are sold out and I try to find one, it's a 100% markup or more. I hate that!!

There are some people that want to own a PS3 at launch (who knows why) and yes they will pay a high price, but why do people have to take such advantage of them. I am a firm believer in what goes around comes around. If you have enough money to buy three PS3's good for you, some people only have enough to buy 1 with no games, so you are screwing them over.

The thought of selling a PS3 for a much higher price did cross my mind, but I won't do it. I just think it's wrong to do so, so I won't be taking a part in it. The thought of owning every launch game for the Wii, plus all controllers made off of my PS3 profit does sound real tempting, but I think it's just wrong.  

[BranDonk Kong]

You know, the whole PS3 on eBay idea might not work, due to the low demand for the console. And who gives 2 shits what the IRS wants to steal from you. It's bad enough that none of us here will ever receive Social Security benefits. Any penny you can keep the feds from robbing you of is a penny earned.

[Artimus]

The 360 had low demand and it was going for 2X easily.

In my opinion, if you want to pay $600 for a console, let alone more, I'll be even more than happy to take it from you.

[blackfootsteps]

I'm with Donut. I see why people do it (ticket scalping, console scalping etc) but I've never thought of screwing a fellow music fan and/or console gamer to better my own position. That being said market bartering is a favourite past-time of mine so to each his own.

Then again people that are willing to pay 2 grand for a 360 are crazy. I wonder how many of those people still have working consoles?  

[KDR_11k]

You are GUARANTEED to get a Wii, but the date you get it IS NOT GUARANTEED (he specifically told me that you are not guaranteed to get your system on launch or anytime during the Christmas season).

So preordering is the same as not preordering except you only get it when one specific store has stock instead of any store in your vincinity? Sounds like a bad deal. From what I've seen from the 360 launch the preorders will be massed at thegame stores and the general stores have surplus stock because noone remembers to go there.

Stores are going to give out launch systems based on chronological pre-order order. That means if you are the first one to pre-order/reserve your Wii, you will be the first one to get a Wii on launch day.

...or at least so they say, we all remember the 360 "the more accessories you have the higher you're on the list" desaster.

Oh, and if you play an MMO, any loot you get is also taxable.

No because you don't own the loot. It can be sold by declaring the process of getting and transferring the loot as a service rendered but the loot itself cannot be sold (unless you want to go to jail for selling stolen goods or maybe defrauding people, depending on what the judge considers that to be).

There are some people that want to own a PS3 at launch (who knows why) and yes they will pay a high price, but why do people have to take such advantage of them.

They're just correcting the price, after all Kutaragi said the PS3 is way too cheap.

[jasonditz]

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Originally posted by: Arbok

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Originally posted by: jasonditz
I'm skeptical of the idea, as it seems to me the number of people sold on the idea of buying a launch PS3 (to play with) is pretty low at the retail price. I'm sure it'll sell out because of all the people intending on putting them on eBay, but unless there are a lot of people willing to pay thousands to get one a few months earlier it seems possible the post-retail market on eBay might get saturated and the price might not be near so appealing.

The thing is, the supply out there is so limited (since eBay is a worldwide market place, you also have to consider some interested European buyers and those from other regions) that it would be hard for the price not to sky rocket and still find interested bidders.

I'm not convinced, from what I've seen that there are 500,000 people interested in buying PS3's to play at $600, let alone enough of a surplus of demand to support people paying thousands for it.

Most of the interest in pre-orders seems to be from people assuming they can get a lot of money for one on ebay, and if that's the case, the strategy most likely while not work.

[jasonditz]

Quote
Originally posted by: KDR_11k

Oh, and if you play an MMO, any loot you get is also taxable.

No because you don't own the loot. It can be sold by declaring the process of getting and transferring the loot as a service rendered but the loot itself cannot be sold (unless you want to go to jail for selling stolen goods or maybe defrauding people, depending on what the judge considers that to be).

Not true of every MMO, some of them specifically do grant you ownership of your items and allow you to sell them. In that case the tax would not be owed simply if you sold the loot, but would be owed when you get it in the first place (at a fair market value), and taxed as "winnings".

But even in the case of ones that don't "allow it", income made from fraud or sale of stolen goods is taxable.

And I'm not sure looting the corpse of the Froglok you just slayed counts as "theft" in a legal sense, anymore than it counts as murder.  

[GoldenPhoenix]

Bartering on ebay with consoles, tickets etc is capitalism at its finest. If people don't pay those high prices, well you won't see high prices on ebay, so really it is the consumer that is causing the price to inflate, simple economics. If these people who want a PS3 refused to pay those high prices you would no longer see people (like me) hording them, so both sides are at fault. Hey, if one of those people want a console maybe they should sit out in 10-20 degree weather for 16 hrs and get it, that is what I did for XBox 360 which I sold on ebay and I felt I deserved every penny from it for doing that!

[Kairon]

There is a risk factor here, albeit one I'm in the minority of considering. The PS3 is scehduled to have 1.2 million consoles shipped to the US in 2006 (IF you believe them), and it IS launching with 400,000 units on launch day. That's already more than MS was able to do.

*shrug* But business always involves risk of some sort.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[GoldenPhoenix]

I really doubt they will get 1.2 million out (call me a pessimist, but their track record so far isn't great) and besides it isn't that much of a risk to sell for profit. Heck I believe historically about every new system in the last 3 generations has sold out and had marked up prices. If it turns out to not be the case I can just return it to the store ROFL.

[blackfootsteps]

Oh yeah I understand the economics (go go finance major), its just something that I wouldn't personally do. Still you'll have like ten launch games and I'll probably have 3. Many people would say I'm stupid.

That being said the PS3 doesnt release here till March and by then supply probably wont be much of an issue.