If there's one thing you can always count on, it's that people are always willing to try and make a quick buck. So it should come as no surprise that with a new console generation about to arrive, of course people are going to try and capitalize on it in one way or another. The actual consoles haven't arrived yet, but people are banking on the fact that retailers will soon run low on supplies of the one thing they can sell for now: pre-orders.
A quick scan through the auction site found auctions on pre-orders for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One for sky-high prices. Some seemed almost reasonable, at $192, but others were ludicrous, hitting the four-figure mark. Oddly enough, people were actually bidding on some of these items, and plenty of retailers are still offering pre-orders for far, FAR less.
The closer we get to each console's fall launch; bidding on an item of such an atrocious amount is understandable. Basic economics 101 right there, as supplies will obviously diminish and demand for the latest shiny toy will increase. But why someone is bidding over $500 for just a pre-order? That's beyond me.
Remember, quite a few of these items have put down the bare minimum in a pre-order deposit, meaning that once you win the ludicrously high auction, you'll still have to fork over additional money to the retailer just to get your console.
Every once in a while, you can find some great deals shopping online, but don't count on finding any here, at least, not at this time.
Save yourself the trouble of hunting down a deal online if you're hoping to grab a Xbox One or PlayStation 4 for yourself, and just head over to your local Best Buy, Target, GameStop or what have you, and pre-order it there. In the end, you'll end up saving yourself hassle, time, and more money in the long term.
Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One are both expected to arrive later this fall, with retail costs of $399 and $499 respectively.