"The hardcore gamer lament that we’ve been hearing around here goes something like this, “That’s my Xbox 360 on eBay at 100% markup! I hate the people who purchased 360s simply to turn around and resell them. I could be playing right now if it weren’t for them!”

It’s true. With at least 40,000 Xbox 360s sold on eBay since launch at an average price of well over $400, many consumers who might have been able to obtain an Xbox 360 for the standard retail price were left empty-handed, while those with deeper pockets and less tolerance for hours-long launch lineups obtained the console with relative ease.

In some cases, small local electronics retailers chose to list their entire inventory on eBay rather than sell the units on launch day. This allowed them to exploit high demand for the console without being constrained by little details like the advertised price. That’s capitalism, we suppose, but it doesn’t make it any easier to stomach for readers who still haven’t been able to obtain one of the consoles." [more]