eBay Yanks PS3 Auctions

Needless to say, it's going to be difficult to obtain a PS3 this holiday season, and eBayers have been trying to take advanatage of the rush early. However, these "owners," advertising their freshly "purchased" system for resale on eBay for ridiculous prices, just got "owned."

There were 20 PS3 listings on the eBay at the time of this announcement, but no bids had been made...when users attempted to click through to the seller's page, they got eBay's white screen of death: "Invalid Item." "This listing is unavailable," the page read. "If the listing was removed by eBay, consider it canceled." Awwww...

Thus far, presale listings on eBay have been tolerated, but there are certain restrictions according to the rules and policies listed on the site. One such restriction involves the availability of the item, which must be within 30 days of the date of purchase. Therefore, PS3 auctions that finish up by tomorrow would - technically - be allowed by eBay. However, this may not be the reason the online auctioneer yanked the listings; it's probably due more to the fact that the seller had yet to pay full price on the item. If you haven't paid for it yet, you don't own it.

Furthermore, as kind of a footnote to the previous rule, eBay could have another problem regarding the preorder deposit. Just because someone had put down $100, it doesn't necessarily mean they're obliged to pay the remaining balance and actually take possession of the system.

But whatever the reason, they ain't there anymore. So you lucky ducks with preorders itching to post the PS3 might have to wait until November, while you nuts willing to pay absurd prices for it will have to wait right along with the ducks. ...or something like that.

10/17/2006 Ben Dutka

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