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PlayStation 3 consoles were selling at about a 50 percent mark-up on their retail price on Saturday evening in Japan, about 12 hours after the console made its worldwide debut.
The PS3 went on sale at in Japan at 7am on Saturday morning and almost immediately sold-out. Sony’s total shipment for launch had been cut back to 100,000 units due to component shortages.
From interviews with many of the people waiting in line at one retailer in central Tokyo it was clear that a sizable minority were buying the console in the hope of making a quick profit.
A look at listings on Yahoo Auctions, one of Japan’s top online auction sites, on Saturday night reveals that there is a profit to be made from selling the PS3. But there is also a good supply of consoles that is helping to stop prices reaching levels seen before launch or being seen currently in the U.S.
Versions of the more expensive model that has a 60GB hard-disk drive, were selling for around ¥90,000 (US$766), which is about 50 percent higher than the retail price. The cheaper machine, which retails for about ¥50,000, was selling for around ¥70,000. At close to 10pm there was an auction ending about once every minute on average.
Prices for Japanese consoles on the U.S. ebay site were much more difficult to find and consequently fetching higher prices. One auction for a 60GB console to ship on Monday was at $1,731 with 4 hours left to run. On ebay’s German website a 60GB console from Japan was at €700 (US$900) with 2 days to run.
The PlayStation 3 will go on sale in North America, Taiwan and Hong Kong this Friday and in Europe and Australia in March 2007, according to Sony’s current plans.
— Martyn Williams
Next entry: PS3 Japan launch roundup — the full story
Previous entry: PS3 launch smackdown on the streets of Tokyo
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