Playstation 3s already selling for $3,000 on eBay

Just in case readers have been trying to escape the tyranny of too much media by hiding out in cabins without newspapers or media coverage, hundreds of people camped out to buy Sony's Playstation 3 at midnight last night. Kotaku documents a whole bunch of these events; here's one in Colorado), and surprise, surprise, the initial shipments have sold out. That's news on the par with dog bites man -- or using a more modern meme, there's corruption in politics.

But did you ever wonder why those people were waiting in lines at Best Buys and Circuit Citys last night to get their hands on Playstation 3s? No, it's not because they want to play the games. It's because these people already have listed the consoles they are buying for sale on eBay. Many of those auctions will end this morning, and the sellers will be shipping out their consoles this afternoon for about a 10x profit.

What does this say about marketing? It says that these people are actually pretty good marketers. They realized that creating and capturing market demand can be a parallel activity to actually producing the product. And with today's electronic markets and eBay, one person can do both at the same time.

Let's just hope the people who bribe politicians don't find out about eBay. If they do, Jack Abramoff will be out of a job. Oh wait....

Technorati Tags: Advertising, eBay, Marketing, Playstation 3, Sony