Brother: "NIB 60 GB PS3, two controllers, and 3 games for $300. Want?"

Rusty Ghia

Rusty Ghia

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I just got a call from my brother and he's saying that a friend of his is selling a brand new, still in the box 60 GB PS3, plus 2 controllers, and 3 games for a total of $300. He says that everything is on the up-and-up, that this PS3 is NOT stolen, and everything is legal. Not that I don't trust my brother, I don't trust his friends.

He says that his friend is a "developer for EA" and gets the stuff "at cost." I call bullshit, because I have a friend who's been in the business for a long while, and works for Visual Concepts, and he doesn't get these kinds of deals.

What say you folks? Go for it? Tell him to take his "not stolen" PS3 and shove it? I don't have a PS3 because none of the current exclusives interest me and no way I'm paying $600 for a game machine, but I do want some of the up-coming games (LittleBigPlanet, LocoRoco 2!!)

If this PS3 is stolen, can Sony find out? If it were stolen, it would not get scanned at the store as sold.

What would you do?
 
[quote name='Rusty Ghia']You're right, the 60 GB is no longer $600, but I thought that it was $500 now?[/quote]No, I meant cost to retailers, not consumers.

There's no way it's not stolen is what I'm trying to say.
 
just buy it $300 dollars, if you trust your brother, why would he try to sell you a stolen ps3? i mean its your brother right? and plus if they stole it, why wouldnt they just craigslist it for 500?
 
[quote name='Furashu']just buy it $300 dollars, if you trust your brother, why would he try to sell you a stolen ps3? i mean its your brother right? and plus if they stole it, why wouldnt they just craigslist it for 500?[/QUOTE]

Because his friends aren't too bright, and are the sort to want a quick buck over spending some effort and getting more.

I need to call my brother tomorrow or Friday when he has more info. This sounds very fishy to me.
 
[quote name='Furashu']just buy it $300 dollars, if you trust your brother, why would he try to sell you a stolen ps3? i mean its your brother right? and plus if they stole it, why wouldnt they just craigslist it for 500?[/quote]

They might not craigslist it because they're lazy and since they stole it everything is profit. Of course you could then go into the economic costs of being lazy but that is too deep for the scope of this topic.
 
If it were stolen and you had some proof of payment, like PayPal or a cancelled check, what could happen to you? I don't think Sony would rip the the thing out of your hands if you had proof of purchase and bought it under the assumption that it was legit. I am no laywer though.
 
[quote name='zewone']I have loose morals, so I could care less if something is stolen as long as the price is right.

I'd buy it.[/QUOTE]

Same. I could careless about where something has come from. As long as its something I want and priced great, i'd buy it.
 
[quote name='Rusty Ghia']If this PS3 is stolen, can Sony find out? If it were stolen, it would not get scanned at the store as sold.
[/QUOTE]

Do consoles have unique UPCs? I wouldn't think it would matter if it had ever been sold, especially considering the distribution into retail. I mean, Best Buy and Wal-Mart sending their info back to the same place? Mom and Pop Gamestore doing the same?

I guess if you're okay with it, the only thing you have to worry about is if it arrives with blood on it or something. :)
 
[quote name='WebScud']It just occured to me that you could have issues should you ever resell it...[/quote]

Maybe I'm just slow today, but what issues would these be?

[quote name='Skexis']Do consoles have unique UPCs? I wouldn't think it would matter if it had ever been sold, especially considering the distribution into retail. I mean, Best Buy and Wal-Mart sending their info back to the same place? Mom and Pop Gamestore doing the same?[/quote]

When I bought my 360 at Toys R US the clerk scanned the unit through a little window in the box. When I bought my DSL at a small independent game shop they didn't scan it since they didn't have the proper equipment. When I then had to return it to Nintendo to fix the cracked hinge they mentioned that my DSL had not been scanned and asked me where I bought the thing. So at least Nintendo does indeed get information about specific consoles when sold by the larger retailers.
 
He says he also has a 20 GB version for $250. Can the 20 GB version connect to a PSP? I don't care about wifi or card readers.

Also, can I hook a PS3 up to a VGA monitor?
 
Sounds very fishy. No the PS3 doesn't have a vga hookup, though you can probably just buy a hdmi-dvi adapter to use instead. I wouldn't send my brother any money on this unless I got to check it out first.
 
I had a friend get his computer, 360, and a bunch of other shit stolen. He was pretty sure that of who did it, and told the cops. He knows they logged onto the net with it to check his email. So He told the cops to check the local ISP (there are only two here) logs to trace the MAC. They couldn't be bothered to do that much work. The kid who did it, even phoned the house a couple times to see if my friend was home (wasn't even smart enought to block CID), so he could come steal more shit. Still cops did nothing.

I have heard of other similar stories. The point is that the police do very little
try and locate stolen goods, unless the goods are worth a lot more money than $300. Chances are, that the serial didn't even get reported, and cops will be too lazy to track mac address if it was.

I doubt that it totally new though. Much more likely that it is stolen from someones house than a retail outlet. Even if you reported it, I suspect that the cops would do very little to return it to rightful owner. It would likely end up in a police auction.

Also, I can tell you that unless the studio buddy works at is Sony owned it is unlikely that he gets a hardware discount. We only get a discount on games which are published by our publisher. No other freebies at all.

~S
 
[quote name='Justin42']Gee, hope it's never any of your stuff that is being offered to someone who doesn't care where it came from.. :/[/QUOTE]

I have to agree...
 
[quote name='Rusty Ghia']I don't trust my brother's friend, so no go. I won't support douchebaggery by rewarding asshole actions.[/QUOTE]

Well, in spite of that... if you happen across another 20gb, I can say that yes, with an existing wireless setup, the PSP can connect to the PS3 (I do it all the time now... hehehe)
 
[quote name='Rusty Ghia']I don't trust my brother's friend, so no go. I won't support douchebaggery by rewarding asshole actions.[/QUOTE]
Buy it if you want it, buy it anyways if you don't and resell it. If it IS stolen, like someone else said the only way you should get caught is if you have to repair it, and I haven't heard of a PS3 needing to get repairs yet (well I think 1 person in these boards had a fan stop spinning). If you don't buy it someone else will, and possibly for a lot more than $300. Either way that 'EA employee' will get the money, but one way you won't get a good deal. Foolish not to do it IMO.
 
I wasn't going to post in here until I kept reading the same uniformed info again and again.

I for one don't care whether you buy it or not.

But anyway, legally if you do NOT know it was stolen you will not be in trouble. The item may be confiscated if it is discovered that it is stolen, but you are entitled to compensation in that case.

However if you purchase it with FULL KNOWLEDGE that the item is stolen then you can get in trouble as well (possibly as an accessory to the crime)

Guess it paid getting that Administration of Justice Associates Degree... :lol:

So my final two things to say are "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" and "Buyer Beware".
 
[quote name='uncle5555']I wasn't going to post in here until I kept reading the same uniformed info again and again.

I for one don't care whether you buy it or not.

But anyway, legally if you do NOT know it was stolen you will not be in trouble. The item may be confiscated if it is discovered that it is stolen, but you are entitled to compensation in that case.

So my final two things to say are "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" and "Buyer Beware".[/QUOTE]

It's hard to prove that you didn't know it was stolen if you pay $10 for a Rolex... ;) They tend not to believe you when you claim that.... heh.

In this particular case... "buyer beware" is better served than "don't look a gift horse in the mouth".. ;)
 
[quote name='Rusty Ghia']I don't trust my brother's friend, so no go. I won't support douchebaggery by rewarding asshole actions.[/QUOTE]

:applause:
 
[quote name='uncle5555']
But anyway, legally if you do NOT know it was stolen you will not be in trouble.[/quote]

Are you sure about that? I am pretty sure that in Canada, it is buyers responsibility to make sure item is not stolen. I would suspect if you pleaded ignorance the law might go light on you, but I think you technically are still on the hook. Much like if you are speeding in a foreign state/province, you are still breaking the law, even if your home state/province has a higher speed limit which would not warrant a ticket. When you enter a foreign territory it is your responsibility to know the laws there.

I thought the US was the same, but don't know for sure.

~S
 
[quote name='uncle5555']
But anyway, legally if you do NOT know it was stolen you will not be in trouble. The item may be confiscated if it is discovered that it is stolen, but you are entitled to compensation in that case.
[/quote]

The law and practice are often at odds then. A friend of mine bought a laptop that was "not stolen" from someone he knew. His folks suggested that he check the serial number just in case and whatta ya know...stolen. So, he contacts the police right away and they start telling him he's in big trouble even though he contacted them about it and gave them the laptop. They finally let it go after a few weeks. I assume compensation would come from the party it was bought from, but considering the "not stolen" nature of the transaction I doubt they would pay up.

T
 
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