Buying a PS3 on launch day

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greenhorn1

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 29, 2004
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277
OK i haven't been paying too much attention to the PS3 news since I have no interest in buying one (at least not until they drop in price by about 200-300). But over the last few days my girlfriend keeps telling me about people at her work who are planning on showing up at stores on the morning of release day to buy one. Am in wrong or is there just about no chance at all of them actually getting one this way? I keep telling her that supplies will be very limited and they shouldn't waste their time but she says they're convinced they'll get one.
 
They will get one if they camp out for 2 days. If people are willing to camp out for a preorder, there is no telling what they are willing to do for the actual unit.

I tried camping out at Toys r us for the chance at a preorder and ended up quiting because it was too cold.

90% of people are willing to do a lot for this because of the prospect of making $$$$$.
 
Best Buy/Future Shop (Canada) is not accepting any pre-orders for the PS3 and Wii release in my region (Montreal). So if you want a shot at it, be there VERY early before the opening on launch day IMO :p
 
ok i just did some real quick math and it looks like wal mart, best buy, target, and toys r us have approximately 4,275 stores in the US. so even if all 400,00 systems went to only those 4 stores they would only get about 94 systems each. I still think even at best buy and wal mart if you're not one of the first 5-10 people in line you won't be getting one on launch day.
 
I think Wal-Mart actually is going to get the lion's share of the allocation.

They had ~30 Xbox 360's per store when that came out.
 
Living in the Bay Area means that your chances of getting one on launch day are going to be pretty low; there's a crap load of geeks here and not enough stores to satiate them all, so my brother and I are heading to the least populated parts in California to try our luck. During the PS2 launch, we heard about people having no trouble finding units in distant towns, so hopefully it pays off.
 
I used to work at the Best Buy near me (Fairfield county, CT) and its one of the top stores in the country. Considering how rich this area is, the store usually gets more items then others.

That being said, I talked to my friend that still works there and he told me they are getting 10 ps3s on launch day.

So I think if you want a ps3 on launch day, no matter where you are, its most likely you will have to camp out.
 
I live in a rural college town college town (oswego ny) and I plan on just showing up thursday after my classes. Hopefully I'll be 1-5 ish
 
i remeber x360 launch at walmart.... the one around me was 24hr... people were in the store for like 2-3 days... there was a mcd's and stuff in there so they had food... so thats the place to camp at haha...it indoor and has food...
 
greenhorn1 said:
who are planning on showing up at stores on the morning of release day to buy one. Am in wrong or is there just about no chance at all of them actually getting one this way?
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They're going to have to get there a lot earlier than the morning of release day.
At the Toys R US pre-order event (opened 10am Sunday) people were lining up at 3pm Saturday. I got down there around 5:30pm and the last spot in line was filled by 6:30pm.

I believe for the actual product launch, stores like Best Buy and Walmart will have people camping at least 24 hours in advance. Early bird gets the worm.

Although last year with X360 midnight launch at Walmart, there were still spots in line as late as 2pm (10 hour wait) but I didn't have the desire or money to camp. :(
 
If you arent camping, you arent getting one, its that simple.
 
What about "camping" online? Anyone know when retail websites update their stock?

My current plan is to stay up very early morning on the 16th(items should be available to ship 1 day before the launch) and camp some websites before they sell out in 30 seconds.
 
I just cant wait to see what they will go for on eBay the day after.

Any guesses......1000,1500????? higher????

I camped for my 360 last year, so my son could have one at Christmas.......never again!

Although the temptation of extra cash has me thinking.......nah. :eek:
 
At the very least, a $1000 and at the other end of the spectrum, $2500. I wonder if the 20GB PS3s will be as profitable? It certainly beats walking away empty handed.
 
I'm goign to camp for a secon one. I'm stil wondering when i should sell one after or a week ro so before christmas.
 
Damnit I want one.. I guess ill have to wait till next year to pay msrp :(
 
heatsinker said:
At the very least, a $1000 and at the other end of the spectrum, $2500. I wonder if the 20GB PS3s will be as profitable? It certainly beats walking away empty handed.
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My guess is there will be even less 20GB models available.......and I doubt the high ticket, although if one advertised that Sony says it will be cake to change out the HD, people might bite for big dollars.
 
What's going to be very amusing are all the people camping out to buy and sell on eBay realizing that you are required to have 50 feedback to sell it on there.
 
Maximus825 said:
What's going to be very amusing are all the people camping out to buy and sell on eBay realizing that you are required to have 50 feedback to sell it on there.
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Thank goodness I have over 80 then. :D

Maybe I can offer a service as well. :p
 
I thought that the 50 feedback rule was only for preorders??

I dont think ebay can prevent you from selling a ps3 if you actually have one in your hand...
 
All the rules ebay started enforcing only apply to preorders. So you can sell multiple ones, without pictures, and have a feedback of 10, after the launch, for example.
 
K600 said:
I think Wal-Mart actually is going to get the lion's share of the allocation.

They had ~30 Xbox 360's per store when that came out.
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yup.

my mom also has a friend in some boonies old folks' town in SC that has a circuit city and she said they always have excess of that sort of stuff, so i'm gonna get her to buy one and send it to me :)
 
im new to this, i have some questions:

how does the waiting line system work? what if i have to go to the bathroom? can someone hold the spot for me (switch back and forth)?
 
rekojenasni_787 said:
im new to this, i have some questions:

how does the waiting line system work? what if i have to go to the bathroom? can someone hold the spot for me (switch back and forth)?
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the line is informal. plus everyone usually rushes anyway.

saving spots is likely to get you a fist in the face.
 
Martyr said:
the line is informal. plus everyone usually rushes anyway.

saving spots is likely to get you a fist in the face.
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It all depends on your line.

At the 360 line I was in, everybody was set up against the wall, and that marked your spot. That way you could hang out by the propane heater one guy brought, sleep in your car, or take a piss around the side of the CC we were all at.

Everybody was totally civil, and we all knew who was where, so any newcomers were immediately informed of the fact that all units were spoken for.

Line cutting would have probably resulted in mob justice being meted out.

As long as you aren't camping with total psychos, somebody should have no prob letting you hold your place to piss. The alternate option is pissing right where you stand, and nobody wants that.

P.S. You will almost definitely be issued a number at some point during the eveing from the store, so that whole rushing thing is put to bed before it starts.
 
We lined up for the 360 the night before they went on sale. It was cold. I live in a pretty small town, so there weren't that many people.....maybe a dozen.....I wasn't the only Dad in the crowd.

I think there were 12 or 15 units in the store, we were informed sometime before the store closed that night how many units there were.

Everybody was very civil. People never tried to get in, they realized what the line was for. My wife brought me breakfast and coffee.

There isnt a Sony PS3 that I would do that for again.
 
Ill be camping. Ill start patrolling walmart early AM on thursday watching for signs of a line, like come back once an hour or something. As soon as I see a line or at the 24 hour before mark I will get in line.
 
How do you camp somewhere like Wal Mart, where the store is open 24/7? Do you just sit by the store-room door and jump on whoever walks out with a box that says Sony on it?
 
I was wondering that myself. I guess stand around and loiter in the electronics department, and if they kick you out then you set up lawnchairs on the sidewalk with a big sign saying PS3 line starts HERE!
 
CodeX said:
I was wondering that myself. I guess stand around and loiter in the electronics department, and if they kick you out then you set up lawnchairs on the sidewalk with a big sign saying PS3 line starts HERE!
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The stores are well aware that there will be people who want to stand in line for units. Ask the Electronics person if there isn't already a line and they can tell you where to start one, or they will get the manager and they will tell you. I think most 24hour Walmarts did lines in the Electronics department somewhere so everyone was inside and out of the cold.

With the amount of hype coming up to this launch and the small number of units I would be surprised if anyone can get one without waiting in line for 20 hours or so. With the PS2 launch people weren't prepared for the eBay situation. The Xbox launch wasn't nearly the same, so I bet some people weren't prepared for the 360 to be a repeat of the PS2. With the PS3 people aren't going to miss out on another opportunity...or be left without the PS3 they want.
 
Maximus825 said:
What's going to be very amusing are all the people camping out to buy and sell on eBay realizing that you are required to have 50 feedback to sell it on there.
Click to expand...

thats only selling a presell ticket.
 
I was planning to line up after work on Thursday, but now that might not be early enough. Perhaps I need to take the afternoon off. :confused:
 
Will online retailers be listing PS3s on the 16th or 17th?
 
I'm going directly after school (gets out 2:40) to Wal-Mart, where they should release it at 12 AM. I sure hope it's early enough...
 
TheOmniscientCreator said:
I'm going directly after school (gets out 2:40) to Wal-Mart, where they should release it at 12 AM. I sure hope it's early enough...
Click to expand...

good luck haha...They were lined up around here for 2 days before for just the TRU pre-orders...
 
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