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The Price Of Impatience: Buyers Paying Huge Premiums For New Xbox

Overhype

from the you-paid-how-much-for-what-now? dept

Tue, Nov 22nd 2005 7:08pm — Mike Masnick
Okay. Standing in line for hours to be one of the first buy an Xbox 360 is sort of understandable -- even if it's not something I'd ever do. However, paying thousands of dollars for a 360 from someone on eBay seems a bit extreme. Yes, most retailers sold out of their initial shipments pretty quickly -- but it's not like the device has been discontinued. The stores will get new shipments, and you'll be able to buy it at the retail price before too long. Is a gaming system ever really worth multiple times its price just to get it a week or two faster?
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37 Comments

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  • identicon
    Jared Anderson, 22 Nov 2005 @ 7:24pm

    No Subject Given

    I was on ebay looking this up right before I came here and people are selling the 360 for 5,500 dollars,thats a profit of 5,100.I think when the PS3 comes out I know what im doing,lol.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    dorpus, 22 Nov 2005 @ 7:34pm

    Irrational Internet Telephony

    It seems to me a lot of techies are signing up for internet telephony just because of the bragging rights. I looked into it at the store today, but I would have had to buy $100 extra hardware, AND still pay the same rate as a land line anyway -- complete waste of money. The sales guy was so rude about it too, he turned his back to me when I pointed this out.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 22 Nov 2005 @ 9:13pm

      Re: Irrational Internet Telephony

      You can get the hardware for free, call Vonage and tell them your thinging about it but your not sure about putting out the money for the router they will send it free. I pay $28.00 a month for Unlimited North American calls, with every possible option. Phone service must be cheap because you can't get service where I live for less than $35.00 with no options.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        dorpus, 23 Nov 2005 @ 11:17am

        Re: Irrational Internet Telephony

        I hear what you're saying, but I make my phone calls to Asia, and the Vonage rate is 12.5 cents per minute -- more than what I pay by land line (5 cents a minute with monthly membership).

        If I wanted to really go into penny pinching mode, there are millions of phone cards I can purchase that will let me call Asia for a few cents per minute. Of course, many of the phone card companies are shady, so I haven't bothered with them.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      WyldWaitress, 24 Nov 2005 @ 11:50am

      Re: Irrational Internet Telephony

      If you don't already have a landline, the deposit may be close to the cost of that hardware, and for some people it makes sense. A lot of the people I work with have switched to Time-Warner's bundled phone service (my boss says he just wants the caller ID to pop up on the TV set), but if you move a lot (even locally they'll make you change numbers if the exchange changes in some places) or travel a lot, the VoIP services suddenly start making a LOT of sense. Even though the service "isn't supported" overseas, particularly, the long-distance/phone-card savings my Air Force friends and I have gotten by using Lingo and them having US-based phone numbers has more than covered the cost of their hardware in a few months. And for some it's valuable to have a consistent "landline" phone number while travelling.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Tim McCormack, 22 Nov 2005 @ 7:37pm

    Too soon, too much

    Thats too much money to spend for a system that within the time an actual good game comes out will be 10% to 20% cheaper than it is now.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    John Smith, 22 Nov 2005 @ 8:20pm

    Xbox 360

    Its not worth buying. We all know the PS3is going to totallyomassacre it. Y'all know its true.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Jared Anderson, 22 Nov 2005 @ 8:24pm

      Re: Xbox 360

      Well I love playstation,Sony is actually my favorite company besides that whole spyware thing anyways the reason I like the 360 better is simply Xbox Live,I just like getting on and talking to friends.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 22 Nov 2005 @ 8:41pm

      Re: Xbox 360

      not on your life...XBOX owns ps anyday........it..shows by the way sony tries to hug the market by buying out games so they cant be made for the xbox.....so xbox start has that too but sony started it....

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2005 @ 3:10am

        Re: Xbox 360

        please... i see more xbox-only games than ps2 only games on the market. and when it comes down to it, if you're truly in it only for the gaming, that doesn't make any system better than any other. its the actual games, gameplay, performance, etc. that makes one system better than another. in performance, i'll admit, the xbox could create better graphics much more easily, though that's due to the ease of programming compared to the ps2. when a game that had great graphics came out on the ps2, you could tell what it was capable of. but when it came to design of controls, and just the quality of games that came out, i think playstation just had better products.

        in terms of performance, it really does sound like the ps3 will beat the xbox360. representatives from ms even admit that, saying things along the lines that of course it'd be better, 'cause they're coming out later, yada yada yada.

        don't try to tell me that MS only tries to buy out competition because somebody else is trying to hold them back. when it comes to the money game, nobody can beat microsoft.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Kevin, 22 Nov 2005 @ 8:27pm

    And people complain that purchasing a gaming compu

    I wonder if these same losers who think buying a gaming computer fully loaded is ridiculous when they are paying practically more for being desperate to put something under the tree for little johnny.

    .............

    Nah!

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    rodJoh., 22 Nov 2005 @ 8:49pm

    No Subject Given

    And I thought 400$ was already too much for a game console. That's just crazy. But hey, if you are rich and bored, I understand.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 22 Nov 2005 @ 8:50pm

    No Subject Given

    http://cgi.ebay.com/Microsoft-Xbox-360-Game-console-NIB-Ready-to-Ship_W0QQitemZ8236179971QQcategoryZ 62054QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


    Yes, thats right! One just sold for $12,100 on ebay. $11,600 profit, Not bad for a $400 investment.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      dcpyatt, 23 Nov 2005 @ 8:37am

      $12,100 Xbox

      My guess is that the auction started before the seller had one in hand and was unable to get one, so he had to shill his way out of the sale... just my thought...

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Justin, 22 Nov 2005 @ 9:27pm

    OMFG

    hahahahhaa

    oh it's already started...
    http://cgi.ebay.com/NO-XBOX-BROKEN_W0QQitemZ8236189697QQcategoryZ62054QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Rallis, 22 Nov 2005 @ 9:51pm

    No Subject Given

    The shortage of X-Boxes is 95% hype. This proves that microsoft is in it for the money, which if you haven't readheard, they aren't making anyways. The Sony PS3 will most definately surpass the X-Box 360 in performance and if the trend follows, sales as well, but it won't be out for a good while.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Kat, 22 Nov 2005 @ 10:20pm

      Re: No Subject Given

      And the Revolution will sadly fail. They've lost their American audience.

      I was at Game Stop today and saw a ton of people crowded around the 360 like it was some sort of God. People really need better things to do with their time. And money. It'll go cheaper after Christmas. I feel sorry for those parents going insanely broke for their kids.

      I think the PS3 will wipe the systems out from a graphic standpoint, and..I just like the games better. =)

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Paul, 23 Nov 2005 @ 4:37am

      Re: No Subject Given

      "This proves that microsoft is in it for the money" - idiot, why else would they "be in it"? lol

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Seer, 23 Nov 2005 @ 7:48am

        Re: No Subject Given

        " "This proves that microsoft is in it for the money" - idiot, why else would they "be in it"? lol "
        So that they can donate all proceeds to starving third world children!

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          charity, 23 Nov 2005 @ 1:21pm

          Re: No Subject Given

          funny thing is, they do donate ALOT of money to starving third world children.

          [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Rikko, 22 Nov 2005 @ 10:54pm

    No Subject Given

    I heard from a reliable source that MS actually made their retailers sign a contract promising that they would sell out of XBox Live within the first say (or week, or whatever)... That was actually the rules for being allowed to sell them on opening day.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Scott, 23 Nov 2005 @ 7:58am

      Re: No Subject Given

      Uh-huh, and my mom heard from a dog, who heard from a squirrel, who was sitting the window sill....Think this through, in 6 months to a year, if(read when) they lower the price to get a kick in at Sony, they will be losing money like crazy. You don't create shortfalls at the beginning of sales, if you have worked in sales you know this. The most markup comes at the point when you first sell a product in almost all situations. Demand is highest, hype is highest, consumer willingness is also at its highest. There obviously isn't a real shortage if there are so many on EBAY. People are stupid they buy into this shortage nonsense, I know a guy who bought 10 Xbox's when they came out, he sold 9 of them on EBAY, and made something like $3000. Yet the stores locally had them on shelves.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    shrique, 23 Nov 2005 @ 8:34am

    Email addresses

    On ebay somewhere there is a guy selling email addresses that have XBOX360 in the title. He managed to get one guy up to $455.

    BTW did I mention that it was a yahoo email addy?

    The description tries to mimic the form of selling an actual Xbox but if you read it nowhere in there does it say he's selling an xbox.

    XBox360@yahoo.com MAY Contain information about Xbox360, power adapter, controller.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2005 @ 8:56am

    xbox 360 unstable

    http://games.slashdot.org/games/05/11/23/138200.shtml?tid=128&tid=211&tid=10

    What price would you put on a machine that doesn't work?

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    NotALOOSER, 23 Nov 2005 @ 11:29am

    No Subject Given

    Stand in line and then spend all weekend in your mom's basement. Why not throw your money at technology? These people sure aren't spending it on condoms...

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Second Adopter, 23 Nov 2005 @ 1:14pm

    I am not your fricken beta tester

    Anyone who buys a microsoft product when it's first released for any reasons other than A). torture or B). They are developers themselves and wish to help microsoft fix their product......is a fool. Microsoft consistently releases beta trash as finished product, believe me, Xbox360 will be no different. Arentcha glad ya got yer unfinished xbox 360 first!!! :-D. People on ebay payin thousands for hardware that you just know is still in development, beautiful. Can't wait for Vista.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mike coles, 23 Nov 2005 @ 3:35pm

    Did anyone notice....

    The auctions were just a publicity stunt by Microsoft. They setup the auctions and get cheap advertisement.

    Microsoft is a marketing machine! :)

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Brad, 24 Nov 2005 @ 3:22am

    PS3?

    How much do you really want a PS3, considering it won't play borrowed, rented, or used games?

    And you can argue tech specs until you are green and white in the face with a big glowing X.

    But I like results. I've played an XBOX 360, way back at E3, I played Kameo. I've yet to sit around and play a PS3. Have you? Until it's sitting in a cleverly-lit acryllic box on display, I don't believe a single number that's churned out.

    Remember how zealots claimed the MacG5 was the fastest thing with a shitty cooling system? 97% of the world still use PCs - that should tell you something. Sony is a sinking ship. Just watch it drag its customers down with it, with Rootkits and Uninstalls and PiracyProtection upon PiracyProtection.

    Sony acts like they own your computer. Microsoft actually does. Sony is like a petty dictator. Microsoft is a real power.

    Get behind the winning team.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 24 Nov 2005 @ 9:40am

      Re: PS3?

      Sony BMG is a different branch of the company. And this is the first I've heard that it won't play borrowed rented or used games. That wouldn't be possible unless it had a CD-Burner that edited the CD when you first played it. I highly doubt that's gonna happen.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Justin, 25 Nov 2005 @ 3:42pm

      Re: PS3?

      SONY has already debunked such rumors. The system will be unbeatable, bluetooth, usb 2.0, sd, memory stick, compact flash, 120fps, 1080dpi, dual screen support, hd ip camera, blu-ray, support for up to 7 players. PS1, PS2, PSP, PS3 play abilities.

      Yes, get with the winning team...

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    annonymous, 8 Feb 2006 @ 9:56am

    The simple answer

    No. It really isn't worth it at all. People should just simply wait unitl they can get it. I have had the money to buy one since it first came out and it is now February 2006 and I still havent been able to get one yet. I'm not going to pay 1000 bucks just to get one now either. It isnt worth it just to get it faster.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]


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