Ebay cracks down on PS3 profiteers

AUCTION SITE Ebay seems to be cracking down on those flogging pre-ordered PS3 console's on its site for outrageous prices.

Already a number of PS3s have appeared on eBay for thousands of dollars. These are machines that are being pre-ordered by staff at games stores and flogged nefariously at huge mark-ups.

The antics of the store owners have been attracting much attention from PS3 fans who fear a reprise of the Xbox 360 debacle. Then, store owners took advantage of a unit shortage, took units from their shelves and flogged them on eBay. Often the managers were buying the units themselves to make a killing online.

However, it seems that eBay has decided to ban such sales. PS3 pre-orders with huge mark-ups appear to have been pulled from the auction site, upon the orders of eBay HQ. It is unlikely to stop the black-market in PS3s taking off when the console is released, but it is a start. µ