When a launch system is rare and expensive, there is plenty of money to be made from desperate gamers. Outside of the standard
eBay tactic, some websites claim to have discounted bulk shipments of PlayStation 3s, and are more than happy to take a preorder using your credit card number. Obviously, Sony can't do much to stem the tide of
eBay sales, but they are actively warning consumers about these fishy wholesalers. The company issued the following statement:
"It has come to the attention of Sony Computer Entertainment America that a number of websites are currently promoting pre-order offers on discounted or bulk shipments of the upcoming PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system. Such offers are not done with any cooperation from SCEA or its parent company. SCEA strongly recommends against consumers pursuing such offers, as their legitimacy cannot be confirmed. We recommend consumers purchased PlayStation products only from authorized SCEA retailers and resellers."
When asked for clarification,
a Sony rep cited http://www.wholesaleitall.com as an example of one of the suspicious sites. We checked out the suspected site for PS3 pre-orders and were greeted with the following message:
"I am sorry but pre-orders are no longer an option as of October 24th at 9 PM EST. Please check back often for updates."
The lesson of the day is: be sure to buy new gaming hardware from a retailer that you have long trusted and everything will be fine. It's not worth potentially saving a few bucks for the potential of getting it all ripped off.