PS3/Wii Auctions, Etc.
Here's a short update on PS3 auctions. On Friday, I checked eBay and saw auctions seemingly stabilizing in the $900-$950 range. On Saturday, they seemed to be drifting even lower, but today it seems like the $900-$950 range is prevalent. Some auctions are higher, but they usually include additional games or free shipping.That stabilizing auction price needs also to be considered in the context of rapidly shrinking supply. This isn't an absolute measure (for obvious reasons), but just searching on "Sony PS3" at eBay produces the following numbers of items for auction:
Friday--8238 items
Saturday--7777
Sunday--6606
So the auction price has stabilized, but supply has plummeted (there were well over 15,000 items up for auction post-launch, if I remember correctly).
The Wii auction prices are in the $350-$400 range, which is pretty remarkable--a 40-60% premium for a console that's launched and had at least one significant resupply cycle? That's almost the same premium as the PS3 auctions, but there must be 5x Wii's (at least) in the installed base--and demand is still that high in auctions.
Here's the number of items up for auction (search term "Nintendo Wii"):
Friday--12042 items
Saturday--11623
Sunday--10105
Monday morning update: just before posting this, I went online for a few minutes to check auctions. I saw a dozen Wii auctions close, and they all closed in the $400-$450 range. So prices for the Wii, for now, appear to still be rising.
If I'm interpreting all this correctly (and again, these are blunt numbers), that means the Wii, with 5x the installed base and much greater auction supply, is commanding a greater premium on a percentage basis than the great and powerful PS3.
Dear Sony: oops.
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