Thanksgiving approaches – and the craziness begins – this year focusing on the release of the newest electronic game the Sony PlayStation 3.
When Best Buy in west Little Rock, Ark. announced it would have games to sale on Friday, Charles Healy showed up Wednesday afternoon and stayed through a night of cold, wind and rain to be the first in line to purchase one. Sounds like one crazy video game player, but the urge to play the ultimate in video games did not drive him to the store.
Pure capitalism did. He planned to buy the game and flip it for a profit.
So when Learrix Green offered him $1,000 for his place in line, Healy took the cash and gave Green his spot. Green, also, was not there to buy the game to play. Cold cash brought him out as well. Green’s boss offered him $1,000 to stand in line overnight to purchase the game for his children. Oh yes, and the boss paid the $1,000 for that first place slot – which insured Green would purchase a game when the store opened and the sales of PlayStation 3 began.
Healy pocketed his $1,000, then turned around and accepted another $200 to stand in line for another person until 6 p.m.
At the end of 28 hours of braving the weather, Healy walked away with exactly what he wanted – a tidy little profit from the craziness of those who will pay outlandish premiums to attain this year’s hot items: PlayStation 3.
Recognizing the impatience of folks who have more-money-than-sense, Healy and Green joined many others across the nation who waited, sometimes for days, for the chance to profit from the “must have” gift of the year. They know the market.
Sony sells Playstation 3 for over $500 with an additional $60 required for each game. But with supplies low due to a production problem and the demand high, that’s where the fun begins for the young entrepreneurs. Type in “Playstation 3” on Ebay – as of this writing, it pulls up over 14,000 auctions, with prices soaring up into four and five digits for the game, some going as high as $10,000.
That is the positive side of the urge to splurge. Those quick on their feet, willing to brave the weather and wait will have a few more coins to jingle in their pockets.
The negative side reflects the underside of society: Those who assumed that anyone who could afford $500 for a game must have cash and so they began robbing people waiting outside a Wal-Mart store at 3 a.m.
At some stores, when the doors opened, crowds stampeded for the shelves, injuring a man in Wisconsin and forcing authorities to shut down a Wal-Mart store in California, according to an Associated Press story. At least one store manager had the foresight to issue numbered tickets to the shoppers-in-waiting, releasing the early arrivals to go home until the sale began.
Worth the wait, the weather, the danger, the overpricing on re-sale?
Depends on the person, but it does reflect the wonder of capitalism and proves yet again that the market drives the price.
When supply is short and demand is high, the price soars. In time, Sony’s production will catch up with demand, the ‘must-have-now’ customers will be satisfied and the more patient ones will find their greater patience rewarded with lower prices and well-stocked shelves of game consoles and games.
Those who have more money than time or sense, will get a game, those with more business acumen will get cash now, and if they want … a game later.