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Sony Plans Deposit Scheme for PS3 in UK?
An anonymous reader writes "Sony is reportedly in talks to introduce a new £150 per PS3 deposit scheme across retailers in the UK. The proposed scheme aims to help improve resource allocation as well as reduce the 'eBay phenomenon' which was evident with the 360's launch, deposits were secured from as little as £5 and crafty sellers would sell the console way above its retail price."
Will the interest accrued help bring down the price?
I have nothing constructive to add to this discussion, so I'd just like you all to know that I am going to buy a Nintendo Wii instead of a PlayStation 3.
To me this seems like a good plan, as with every console release the number of people buying systems for eBay has gone up and up. I would be surprised if even half of the people in line at Best Buy last year for a 360 were buying them for themselves...
Even better though, they have got to set a cap on the number of systems you can buy. However I do feel that all of these solutions should be more up to the retailer than anyone, which is why Sony is working with them on thinking through how to smartly work with pre-orders so people who want the consoles can get them.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
With manufacturing already ahead of schedule and Sony taking steps like this to assure a smooth launch, November can't come soon enough.
I don't think I've ever been so excited about a machine as the PS3.
Well, it's a good thing I earned $1500 selling my five 360's! That means I can reserve 10!
Futureshop.ca had something that was even better than this idea.
Once they had a tentative allocation # from MS. They began allowing pre-orders of 10 xbox360's per day for a month or two (basically had an allocation of approx 600 or so). So if all of the 10 were gone you'd have to wait for the next day.
One night I was up really really late, and it turns out futureshop.ca is PST time, so I jumped online at 3am EST and was able to secure a pre-order (didn't charge my card until the day of shipping) . And surprisingly futureshop(Bestbuy actually owns them) got my 360 out to me on launch day!
So I laughed at all the hordes of people lining up at bestbuy/futureshop on launch day.. and have been loving it ever since (well, until some good games came out, launch day games kinda sucked).
MrJynxx
Ummm... I may be getting the wrong end of the stick here, but just how exactly does that stop people selling the console for extortionate amounts on eBay? They have to buy the console for the full price before eBaying it, so that 150 UKP deposit only goes so far as to ensure they get one to sell on...
It certainly won't discourage entrepreneurs who want to make a bit of cash, and (maybe I'm cynical) looks more like Sony trying to make people commit to a purchase. I'd certainly feel uneasy ponying up a quarter of the console's price before launch.
Yarrr, there be more than one kind o' pirate, ya know! I doubt they be shippin' those PS3s over to the English Isles by aeroplane, and thar be an ocean ta cross! And what 'ave you got in an ocean? Pirates!
...
Although I'm not sure exactly how pirates would actually use a PS3, I doubt that most pirate ships have upgraded to HDTV yet. Maybe that'll be happen during another raid.
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
I would say it's likley that a retailer would be more likley to see people who bought a console at a particular store come back to same store to buy games.
Let's say a Gamestop in Podunk, Iowa sells thirty consoles and 20 of them go off via eBay to the coast. That Gamestop may (stupidly) be stocking games for thirty people with only ten customers can be had, and is going to have a rough go of it.
Basically, getting a real customer to buy from a store instead of a middleman generates a lot of goodwill which is good for a store.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
that there will be few if any manufacturing defects and the new Bluray drives will operate the almost overwhelming range of launch titles flawlessly as each and every game display 1080p of pure goodness where the difference between the PS3 and 360 will appear so palpable, so distinguishable that Microsoft stock will tumble upon the very whisper of the name, "PS3". Like Chuck Norris before it, the very name PS3 will command respect and strike fear in the competition.
I have a feeling that this is so that people won't feel like they're paying $600 for a game system if they're actually only shelling out $400 for the system when they paid a $200 deposit 6 months earlier. It's a little trick, sort of like promising rebates, to get people to feel like they're paying less.
My other first post is car post.
A PS2 owner goes into a game shop with £150 just after they start taking preorders.
On the wall behind the counter is a big, glossy PS3 propagan^Wpreorder poster. Pay £150 now, get nothing for a month.
On the left are shelves of new Wii consoles + game for £150.
On the right there's new and used X360s for £150 or less.
You can probably guess what happens. If not you'll just have to wait 5 months to find out.
Option 1) A *deposit* for a PS3
Option 2) A Wii
Well, you have the price wrong, 150£ is something like 300$ ..
Are you realy ready to pay 300$ for a preorder ??
They wont be able to resell the consoles on Ebay because at the time of purchase Sony will require a sample of your blood that will tie your PS3 to your genetic code, this does of course mean that you will be unable to lend your console to your friends as each time you play small hypodermics will come out of the joypad and sample your DNA to ensure you are the registered user of the console. No real change in Sony policy there though, because Sony has been bleeding gamers dry for the past 10 years ;)
To err is human. To forgive is not company policy.
Sony would easily be able to offer eBay more money then their fees for what is a relatively tiny number of auctions. However eBay would NEVER take the money even if Sony offered an extra £1M sweetener. If eBay ban the auctions then people will simply go somewhere else, eBay will do whatever it takes to ensure that this never happens. eBay isn't the best or cheapest auction house, they are only the one that everyone uses and they realise how precarious this could be.
The is absolutely no way a high deposit will have any effect on the resellers, this is their business they are going to be logical and realise that the deposit has no effect on the business equation. They look at the price they pay (full retail) and the price they can sell and nothing else.
If anything a high deposit is more likely to discourage consumers from pre-ordering, whilst reinforcing the perceived value of the console; hence giving the resellers a bigger and more receptive market.
The reason two reasons for the high deposit:
Sony wants people to be totally committed before the Wii can launch and steel any if their thunder.
Sony are (beginning) to realise that very few people are actually going to be able to afford the PS3, splitting it into two payments makes it a bit more approachable.