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Selling a PS3 on eBay
AbsoluteZero
The new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered User regular
The new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered User regular
Okay you guys before you grab the torches and pitchforks, hear me out.
I am incredibly low on cash this holiday season (as I mentioned before) and as such I am going to be waiting in line to pick up a PS3 for my brother in law as he works that day and can't take the day off (he's a teacher). He's paying me 50 bucks to do this.
It occurred to me that since I am going to be there anyways, I could get one for myself as well, and then sell it on eBay in order to try to generate some extra cash for Christmas time.
I figure I could buy one and try to sell it, but if it doesn't reach reserve (I'd set reserve at 700 bucks I think) I'd just return it to the store I bought it from. Do stores typically have stingy return policies on stuff like this? As long as I haven't opened it and I still have the receipt it should be okay, right? I don't want to wind up out 600 bucks, sitting on a PS3 that I don't really want anyways, and having next to no money with which to buy people Christmas presents.
I'm trying to think of a risk-free way to do this that will guarantee I don't lose any money, and have a good shot at making some extra cash.
Right now I see though that eBay is already flooded with PS3s and that will probably double as soon as the thing actually launches in the US. At that point I wonder if anyone would even be left that is willing to spend more than 600 bucks for one.
Is this plan too risky to try?
I am incredibly low on cash this holiday season (as I mentioned before) and as such I am going to be waiting in line to pick up a PS3 for my brother in law as he works that day and can't take the day off (he's a teacher). He's paying me 50 bucks to do this.
It occurred to me that since I am going to be there anyways, I could get one for myself as well, and then sell it on eBay in order to try to generate some extra cash for Christmas time.
I figure I could buy one and try to sell it, but if it doesn't reach reserve (I'd set reserve at 700 bucks I think) I'd just return it to the store I bought it from. Do stores typically have stingy return policies on stuff like this? As long as I haven't opened it and I still have the receipt it should be okay, right? I don't want to wind up out 600 bucks, sitting on a PS3 that I don't really want anyways, and having next to no money with which to buy people Christmas presents.
I'm trying to think of a risk-free way to do this that will guarantee I don't lose any money, and have a good shot at making some extra cash.
Right now I see though that eBay is already flooded with PS3s and that will probably double as soon as the thing actually launches in the US. At that point I wonder if anyone would even be left that is willing to spend more than 600 bucks for one.
Is this plan too risky to try?
AbsoluteZero on
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I don't see the big deal. You're hooking up with a sucker who knows what he's getting into.
I wouldn't do it, but you could also look at Craigslist to try to sell it locally. Call some people who have them listed and see if they are still available. If they are, then demand might not be as high as you thought it was.
Assuming the box is unopened and doesn't sell though, you shouldn't have any problems returning one.
I'm really just wondering if A) Demand will still be there where I could actually make some money (enough to justify the effort) and
and if you pick up two you can bet everyone behind you in line will strangle you before you can even touch the second one
also, ebay will not be "so flooded that people wont wanna even pay $600", that is impossible, and is simply not how the market will work.
Personally I would say money order or cash... A money order is not going to bounce.
Don't take anything other than cash.
Unless it's fraudulent.
Just make sure if you are going the ebay route you have a good ebay account with a reputation that will convince people to pay upwards of 1000$ for the PS3.
As for buying 2 by having a buddy tag along, yeah, IF you can do it, there's nothing wrong with it. Just don't bank your entire xmas off of waiting in line, as, uh, they might sell out...
Finally, as far as demand goes, you don't need to worry about it. Are people going to be crazygonuts? No, not exactly. But there are absolutely people who figure "why should I wait in line, when I can just buy the same thing off eBay for $200 more?" They may actually have a job, or life, and to them, waiting around is a huge waste of time and money. They'll be willing to spend more than retail price to get something like a PS3.
Normally you'd have to gauge it against how many people are actually going to own one, but the supply for the PS3 is so ridiculously low that it shouldn't be an issue at all. Now, if you were doing this with a Wii? I'd say "don't do it." But there's going to be more than 100 Wiis in the US.
Crap. :? I wonder if I could get a third person to go...
For the record, a lot of people are buying them to just sell on eBay, it will be difficult to find a third person unless you hire a homeless man and he gets paid a bit.
My friend mentioned this... So, unless you alread have a good standing eBay account, this may not work very well.
But, on a good note, nother friend on the same board who works at Best Buy mentioned that it might be up to 3 per person, or something that actually stupid like that. Worth looking into atleast.
Meet Barack Obama
Im not sure if the demand will definatley be there. But its an idea to look into.
There is no risk involved here, especially if you require cash.
People with a paypal account can send you payment via paypal. It doesn't have to be an ebay auction for you to receive money.
Turns out someone cancelled their preorder over the phone the minute I walked into the store and the guy just offered me it. I of course took it, but I didn't expect him to pull one out right in front of me and send it packing my way. I later found out via outside sources that he could not only lose his job for that, but pay a fine of one thousand dollars.
It's been an interesting day.