PS3/Wii auction prices plummet: is the rush over?
Half the room’s saying “hopefully it is (the scalping b…)”. ITworld reports that as the launch hype fades into history, so do the auction profit margins for eBay PS3 and Wii resales. Of course we’ve been observing this trend over the past week – and this doesn’t include the ten dollar eBay PS3 (is that a fish I smell?) – but here are the latest final sale prices ITworld has on eBay Wiis and PS3s:
- PS3: US$ 650 and US$ 910 (ave. retail price for PS3 on eBay: US$ 1,370)
- MSRP: $599 for the 60GB, $499 for 20GB
- Wii: US$ 413 postlaunch, as opposed to US$ 428 total average eBay final auction price since Launch
- MSRP: US$ 250
Okay, it might seem that, at first look, Wii eBay prices might still be standing strong, whereas the rush is indeed over for the PS3 (even considering the MSRP of the 20GB). But looking at the dates of the Wii auctions, as ITworld did, and you’ll see that a staggering landslide majority of Wii eBay auctions happened after the launch hype, reflective of the greater number of units Nintendo supplied to stores to meet demand (and dampen the same demand for eBay resales).
Perhaps the most gratifying part of ITworld’s report was this line: “Some ambitious sellers had listed (PS3) consoles at prices around $ 1,500 but they had fetched no bids.”
Does this mean the hype is over? We suggested this back in the 20th, but in the comments there Kaden and Brian both speculated – with good reason – that those auction prices will go back up when Santa Claus comes to town in a few weeks. True enough. Let’s hope that Sony and Nintendo keeps punching those newly-minted consoles out of the plant and sends them into stores at a fair clip then. That should keep those eBay prices down.
Half the room’s saying “hopefully it is (the scalping b…)”. ITworld reports that as the launch hype fades into history, so do the auction profit margins for eBay PS3 and Wii resales. Of course we’ve been observing this trend over the past week – and this doesn’t include the ten dollar eBay PS3 (is that a fish I smell?) – but here are the latest final sale prices ITworld has on eBay Wiis and PS3s:
- PS3: US$ 650 and US$ 910 (ave. retail price for PS3 on eBay: US$ 1,370)
- MSRP: $599 for the 60GB, $499 for 20GB
- Wii: US$ 413 postlaunch, as opposed to US$ 428 total average eBay final auction price since Launch
- MSRP: US$ 250
Okay, it might seem that, at first look, Wii eBay prices might still be standing strong, whereas the rush is indeed over for the PS3 (even considering the MSRP of the 20GB). But looking at the dates of the Wii auctions, as ITworld did, and you’ll see that a staggering landslide majority of Wii eBay auctions happened after the launch hype, reflective of the greater number of units Nintendo supplied to stores to meet demand (and dampen the same demand for eBay resales).
Perhaps the most gratifying part of ITworld’s report was this line: “Some ambitious sellers had listed (PS3) consoles at prices around $ 1,500 but they had fetched no bids.”
Does this mean the hype is over? We suggested this back in the 20th, but in the comments there Kaden and Brian both speculated – with good reason – that those auction prices will go back up when Santa Claus comes to town in a few weeks. True enough. Let’s hope that Sony and Nintendo keeps punching those newly-minted consoles out of the plant and sends them into stores at a fair clip then. That should keep those eBay prices down.
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