Successful bidder must be on Santa’s Good List for 2006, says eBay seller On Ouchs. The Vernon, B.C., resident hopes to give the gaming system -- which he paid nearly $1,500 USD for -- a good home this holiday season.

VERNON, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- In the past month, several eBay sellers monopolized on the market demand for Sony’s hard-to-find PlayStation 3 gaming systems.

With Sony releasing just 400,000 of the units in North America, the units listed on eBay sold far above retail value.

On Ouchs is taking a different approach to his eBay auction.

The Vernon, B.C. resident is selling his still-packaged PlayStation 3 60-gigabyte console, two games and extra wireless controller -- retail valued from $700-$1000 USD -- for $1 on eBay. He paid about $1,500 USD, including the money he paid to take the position of someone in line at the local London Drugs store.

Why sell his PS3 for $1? “Because I am a nice guy,” Ouchs says. “And because I want to go down in history, and maybe get to appear on Jay Leno.”

The auction will run via Ouchs’ eBay store between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The buy-it-now price will be $1. For an unreleased period, the auction will be shielded from any bids through eBay‘s pre-qualified bidder process.

Prospective bidders who want to hit the buy-it-now button on eBay, purchasing the system, must first go to Ouchs’ Web site http://www.onedollarplaystation3.com and explain why they should be on Santa’s Good List for the year.

Sometime before Christmas, Ouchs plans to open the buy-it-now feature up to all. At that point, the auction will go quickly, selling to the first bidder who notices the auction is no longer being pre-screened.

“It’ll be fun and exciting,” Ouchs said. “In the end, somebody is going to be getting a great deal.”

He expects the auction to experience a large number of watchers and possibly be one of the largest eBay auctions ever, given the high public demand for the gaming consoles this season. If he is able to raise the funds, Ouchs wants to make the special delivery himself.

“I want to be able to hand deliver this system to the winning bidder and see the smile on their face,” he said.

For more information, visit http://www.onedollarplaystation3.com. The link to the auction will be posted on the site.

###

Released Dec. 1, 2006

There are no comments to this entry.