PS3, Wii and Elmo TMX FEVER hits eBay - and helps make Q4?

If you've been sleeping under a rock, the hot holiday items are the Playstation 3 ($600), the Nintendo Wii ($250) and elmo tmx ($40).

The problem is they are all in short supply - 200-400k ps3's for example.  And the only place the majority of consumers will be able to find them is... you guessed it eBay.

Just to give you an idea of what we're talking about, PS3's are going for well over $2k on eBay right now - 3-4X of the already lofty $600 price tag.  Elmos are going for 2-3X and Wiis, about a double (for now).

Historically hot items like these really ramped up scammers+fraud.  Fake items, preorders that never came and lots of fraudulent second-chance-offers, etc.

To fight the fraud, eBay announced some new rules that require minimum feedback, receipts to be shown and a variety of other measures that I think are going to really help on the Wii/PS3 side of things.

Comments

[vauldron]

Please forgive my previous spelling & grammerical errors. I'm just very passionate about this subject. Have a great day.

[Vauldron]

As a small seller- sell one type of item(s)- you're locked in. Sell too much variety one may over look a timely winning catagory. Demographics are a tool and focus is the key stone. Chance is always the challenge. Success to all.

[Vauldron]

Hello to eveyone and anyone(PLEASE FORGIVE ME, BUT THIS IS TRUE}. I just want to say a few words (Nothing personal- just delete this...please and we're sincerily sorry to waste your time). Nintendo Wii, PS3, Elmo, and the rest are not all the same. We are talking different demographics here. Maybe in 1982 there was the greatest hair dryer ever invented, but to try to sell it with Smurf figurines was to miss the point. Later, Cabbage Patch Kids and the Thigh Master were not bought by the same individuals for themselves. Just because someone likes auto racing does not mean they can afford a nice domestic vehicle. One may love ice cream, but not love chocolate. I love it all, but most people are exclusive in taste. Just because many people wany a hot new holiday item does not mean those people want every hot new holiday item. Elmo is cool, Wii is cool, everything is cool to some group of people, but those who love one thing do not want it all. A nintendo lover may or may not love Elmo. They are both hot items this year, but we are dealing with (in most cases) different demographics of our wonderful population. Also, just because someone buys something, does not mean they like what they bought, maybe they bought it for someone else who does like it.