Good Bye Lik-Sang, you will be missed - Lik-Sang Closes Down Shop

[quote name='DarienW']it's funny to see so many people bitching about this when 1/2 of them probably never ordered from the site. you people have any ideas how many small businesses MS put out of business because of their monopoly before they were sued?[/QUOTE]

Most people are worried that Sony'll go after sites like Play-Asia next though. And that's where the real problems begin seeing as how most people here probably use Play-Asia for all of their imports.
 
While I don't question Sony's right to do this, as it is market protection pure and simple, their methods of bleeding the little guy (or at least smaller guy) to death with suit after suit disgusts me.
 
[quote name='VanillaGorilla']Wow, some of you people are morons. Imagine if you yourself made birdhouses. You are gonna sell your birdhouses in Canada in about 2 months. But some douchebag comes along, buys all your birdhouses, for $25 a pop, and then starts selling them in Canada before you yourself want to. He makes profit on shipping and "import fees". Would you not be pissed? It's the same situation.

Lik Sang was warned, they continued to do it, and they paid the price. End of story.[/QUOTE]

Ouch. I hope no retailer/wholesaler ever makes the mistake of hiring you in at a management position.

"HEY! You bought those at a price we agreed to and now you're selling them to other people and making money?? THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Yeah, I know Lik-Sang is the first company in history to ever follow that business model...

The point your example made is pretty hollow. If you want to actually side with this piece of shit company, at least stick to the questionable legalities of it - don't try to make a "moral" point.
 
[quote name='VanillaGorilla']Wow, some of you people are morons. Imagine if you yourself made birdhouses. You are gonna sell your birdhouses in Canada in about 2 months. But some douchebag comes along, buys all your birdhouses, for $25 a pop, and then starts selling them in Canada before you yourself want to. He makes profit on shipping and "import fees". Would you not be pissed? It's the same situation.

Lik Sang was warned, they continued to do it, and they paid the price. End of story.[/QUOTE]

Ouch. I hope no retailer/wholesaler ever makes the mistake of hiring you in at a management position.

"HEY! You bought those at a price we agreed to and now you're selling them to other people and making money?? THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Yeah, I know Lik-Sang is the first company in history to ever follow that business model...

The point your example made is pretty hollow. If you want to actually side with this piece of shit company, at least stick to the questionable legalities of it - don't try to make a "moral" point.
 
By far the most vile element of the whole thing is that Sony employees in Europe used Lik-Sang to get their PSPs and then simply let Sony roll over Lik-Sang. I hope all of Sony's European is forced to clamor and fight at stores to get PS3s at launch.

To the gamers in Europe, you guys have constantly (along with Australia) gotten the short end of the videogaming stick and it's bullshit. It's a shame that a company like Lik-Sang, who in addition to making a good profit for themselves (nothing wrong there) got to bring you guys some good gear. Sorry for your loss.

I'm thinking this is the end of import websites shipping anything Sony to Europe. It's too big of a risk. As far as I can tell, Sony was being "nice" in asking Lik-Sang to stop shipping PSPs to Europe. It seems like they could have brought the hammer down on Lik-Sang immediately. I bet that's what they'll start doing in the future to other sites. NCSX, Play-asia, keep your heads down.
 
This blows but obviously Lik-Sang deserves this. They kept allowing pre-orders despite Sony telling them to "OMG! YOU STOP THAT OR WE BAN YOU NOOB!" and they were like "WTF? STFU!" so they deserve it.

Now, however, if I see this happen to Play-Asia I will be angry :(
 
[quote name='Chacrana']It'll be sweet if in March, I have to smuggle imports back from Japan. I'll deal copies of Hokuto no Ken in a dark alley and it'll be cool.

Sony's response: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=20564[/QUOTE]

I love how Sony tries to play the sour grapes angle and then immediately follows that with "Well, our guys in Europe all bought from you just to confirm that you were doing something bad!" and "A woo woo! You released the names of your customers!"

It's like these companies are run by giant infants.

:roll:
 
Im very saddened by this news. :cry:

Hopefully since LS never went to court and incurred no legal costs, they will reemerge under a new name or something. I have ordered from LS in the past, but not in a while since Play Asia usually beat their prices and shipping. But I still wouldnt wish them to go out of business. Another case of the little guy getting beat to death by the 800lb gorilla.

And I agree 100% with the poster who mentioned the Europe always getting shafted for launches and releases. It must suck to be the third string, and the last consideration of all these huge game companies. Hang tough Europe!
 
[quote name='Chacrana']I wouldn't be pissed because I sold those birdhouses to the reseller at a price that I was fine with. And it's not like the reseller is buying all the birdhouses either.

Economics 101. Hell, it's not even a college level concept.[/quote]So you would be ok with selling something you made to someone for $20, only so they could turn around it sell it for more, thus making YOUR customer THEIR customer?
 
And then when you saw that the customers were willing to pay the higher price, you'd raise your prices (assuming these were the only customers) until you found the price where you eliminated the middle-man. You're arguing simply for the sake of arguing. It's not like Sony is being forced to sell these consoles at a price lower than they're asking, so why should they care what is done with them after the initial sale is made?
 
[quote name='Genocidal']And then when you saw that the customers were willing to pay the higher price, you'd raise your prices (assuming these were the only customers) until you found the price where you eliminated the middle-man. You're arguing simply for the sake of arguing. It's not like Sony is being forced to sell these consoles at a price lower than they're asking, so why should they care what is done with them after the initial sale is made?[/quote]No, I am arguing because people are treating Lik Sang like some god, who was killed off by the Devil that is Sony. If they hadn't continued to BREAK THE LAW, they might still be in business.
 
[quote name='VanillaGorilla']So you would be ok with selling something you made to someone for $20, only so they could turn around it sell it for more, thus making YOUR customer THEIR customer?[/QUOTE]

If they were willing to set up the distribution, pay for the advertising, and establish the mechanisms to allow a greater number of people to purchase the birdhouses than I myself could market to and do it more efficiently, of course. I'd still get my cut.

It's called commerce. Look into it.
 
I think the real issue is that companies need to make an effort to make world-wide launches happen--and Europe could help them a bit by streamlining the process of getting the product onto stroe shelves. The unending stream of terrifs, taxes, and red tape for each and every country make releasing any product in Europe a nightmare.

Shutting down import shops is kind of like getting the guy at work who's better than you at your job fired rather than trying to actually improve your work ethic and quality.
 
[quote name='VanillaGorilla']No, I am arguing because people are treating Lik Sang like some god, who was killed off by the Devil that is Sony. If they hadn't continued to BREAK THE LAW, they might still be in business.[/quote]And now you're changing the argument completely. Make up your mind on what points you want to try and argue instead of using them interchangably when they aren't.
 
[quote name='daroga']I think the real issue is that companies need to make an effort to make world-wide launches happen--and Europe could help them a bit by streamlining the process of getting the product onto stroe shelves. The unending stream of terrifs, taxes, and red tape for each and every country make releasing any product in Europe a nightmare.

Shutting down import shops is kind of like getting the guy at work who's better than you at your job fired rather than trying to actually improve your work ethic and quality.[/QUOTE]

That's a very good analogy.

Which reminds me, I've got some evidence to plant...
 
[quote name='VanillaGorilla']So you would be ok with selling something you made to someone for $20, only so they could turn around it sell it for more, thus making YOUR customer THEIR customer?[/QUOTE]

Your example is really flawed, and the rest of us know it. When you buy the PSP from Lik-Sang, it's still called Sony PSP, not Lik-Sang PSP. Should Sony not send anymore of their consoles to middlemen because the consumers are buying their systems from someone else? That is what your example is indicating. We know where you stand, but you didn't have the competence to coin it properly. Let alone calling people morons.

Whatever each side did to come to this conclusion, the gaming community loss something today, you don't have to feel sorry if you're not part of this gaming community.
 
[quote name='SOSTrooper']Your example is really flawed, and the rest of us know it. When you buy the PSP from Lik-Sang, it's still called Sony PSP, not Lik-Sang PSP. Should Sony not send anymore of their consoles to middlemen because the consumers are buying their systems from someone else? That is what your example is indicating. We know where you stand, but you didn't have the competence to coin it properly. Let alone calling people morons.

Whatever each side did to come to this conclusion, the gaming community loss something today, you don't have to feel sorry if you're not part of this gaming community.[/QUOTE]

Perhaps I'm restating your point, but 100,000 systems sold is 100,000 systems sold, no matter who it goes through. Best Buy, Gamestop, Joe-Bob's Titties, Liquor and Games Emporium, and even Lik-Sang. What differentiates Lik-Sang from Best Buy, aside from them selling a product between regions? ***In the end, Sony makes the same goddamned money.***

SCE(America/Japan/Europe) may not get accurate sales figures this way, and there may be IP issues with software, but none of those arguments came into question in the case Sony brought up.

You want an anaolgy? It's like the United States government preventing us from trying to buy pharmaceuticals from canada because they aren't sure of the quality standards in monitoring and testing them; in the end, you know they're full of shit and that they're just on the side of big money. Canada is not stuck in the pre-industrial revolution period, and they sure as shit have strict standards for ensuring the quality of their prescription drugs. In this case, however, we *know* that the products (back to Sony now) are the same motherfucking thing from start to finish (with minor, and irrelevant, exceptions).
 
Pro-Sony, anti-Sony, pro-Lik Sang, pro-PlayAsia, anti-Wii, pro-360, etc...

But at least we all agree VanillaGorilla is a retard.
 
[quote name='Z-Saber']Pro-Sony, anti-Sony, pro-Lik Sang, pro-PlayAsia, anti-Wii, pro-360, etc...

But at least we all agree VanillaGorilla is a retard.[/QUOTE]

We are united as CAGs by that one belief. Well stated, sir.
 
[quote name='K_G']I wouldn't cry too many tears of anguish just as of yet...I'm not to sure how enforceable a ruling in a British court can be against a HK company nor have I seen what the amount of the claim against Lik-Sang...at a basic level, Sony could cut off their supply of games, although in all likelihood, they could get them at a higher cost from distributors. I can't see how this would completely wreck their business, since they must both have sizable non-EU sales and non-PSP/PS2 sales. I personally wouldn't be surprised to see something like Likk-Sanngg.com pop up in a few days being run by relatives of Lik-Sang's owners and just happens to hire up all of Lik-Sang's laid off employees.

But that said, if I was thinking about ordering something from Play_asia, I'd do it now...not that Sony will shut them down, more for that that Play-asia doesn't have much competition at the moment.[/QUOTE]

You nailed it on the head. For one depending on if I had a coupon or not I might prefer Lik-Sang for some games. Tell me if I don't have a PA coupon why I should pay $3.10 extra for shipping on a $65 game when I could order from Lik-Sang.com/ instead and get the same game at the same price with FREE shipping?
 
[quote name='Sarang01']You nailed it on the head. For one depending on if I had a coupon or not I might prefer Lik-Sang for some games. Tell me if I don't have a PA coupon why I should pay $3.10 extra for shipping on a $65 game when I could order from Lik-Sang.com/ instead and get the same game at the same price with FREE shipping?[/QUOTE]

Play-Asia has specials, often the games are slightly cheaper (though not always, admittedly), and Lik-Sang sometimes doesn't carry the Japanese version... just the AZN version. Which doesn't matter unless you're weird like me. Oh, and doesn't the free shipping take for-fucking-ever from Lik-Sang? I like to get stuff within a month of purchasing it.
 
[quote name='Pc Lynet']You are probably from the US because you don't bother. Don't think you would be so happy if you where living in Europe like me. You have an ignorant attitude.
Reminded me that I have to pay the Mafia I live in southern Italy....:roll:....Not[/quote]
Why yes, I do live in America. I really could care less about how people get their consoles. Belive me, I lived in Thaialnd before, it's even more dificult to get consoles and reasonable prices in place where sega, nintendo, and microsoft don't even have an offcilal presences. Shit, Sony is the only one with official products, and they're pretty over priced still. Probably on par with europe.

Like I said, I was bringing up the side of issue that people havn't brought up yet, that Lik-Sang challenge sony itself and got screwed. I also mentioned that while Sony has their right to "sue", I didn't say they had to rights to stop imports. taking Lik-Sang to court is enugh to kill them and Lik-Sang should have knew it. You can call them jerks for being anal with the PSP, but you can't blame them entirly for the shut down of Lik-Sang.

Here's another thing to consider. You don't get you waranty honoured by Sony if you import (that's one of the main reasons Amazon Japan doesn't ship outside Japan). They probably didn't want to deal with that issue either, considering that people might flock to them with problems lke dead pixel and the sort.
 
don't worry they will either re open under a different name or some other business will step in to fill their void


oh and stop the boycott bullshit. consumers didn't care when sony delivered us rootkits, and they won't care now.
 
[quote name='Chacrana']Play-Asia has specials, often the games are slightly cheaper (though not always, admittedly), and Lik-Sang sometimes doesn't carry the Japanese version... just the AZN version. Which doesn't matter unless you're weird like me. Oh, and doesn't the free shipping take for-fucking-ever from Lik-Sang? I like to get stuff within a month of purchasing it.[/QUOTE]

Did you forget you're a CAG? ;-)

And "Bullet Witch" took a shorter time for me to get than I expected.
 
[quote name='Z-Saber']Pro-Sony, anti-Sony, pro-Lik Sang, pro-PlayAsia, anti-Wii, pro-360, etc...

But at least we all agree VanillaGorilla is a retard.[/QUOTE]

QFT.
 
this seriously sucks. I've bought my imports from PlayAsia and NCS, and was just getting ready to do an order on lik-sang when I got a link emailed to me from a friend of mine. Sony's being retarded and will ruin it for the rest of us (who don't import sony stuff, but rather Gamecube/DS/360 games).

And yet I had to explain to a friend of mine why I don't want a PS3 before...now it's even more justified.
 
[quote name='Z-Saber']Pro-Sony, anti-Sony, pro-Lik Sang, pro-PlayAsia, anti-Wii, pro-360, etc...

But at least we all agree VanillaGorilla is a retard.[/QUOTE]

QFT.
 
[quote name='musha666']
That is why when I do buy a playstation I wait for a second or third model of it to let them get rid of alot of the bugs in it.

I had a PS3 preordered on Lik-Sang so this sort of sucks for me. [snip] so luckily I reserved one at EB.[/QUOTE]

Didn't read the entire thread to see if anyone else pointed this out, but didn't you contradict yourself here?
 
Damnit. I had planned on getting a PS3 next year, just for MGS4. Even though I love the Metal Gear series, I will probably not even bother with the ps3 anymore or wait till it's really low in price, $100-200 even if that takes five years. fuck Sony. Next thing you know they'll be going after other sites. FYI Importing isn't illegal if you pay the tariffs.
 
After reading more articles, I completely understand why they were driven out of business now.

I learned in a class I'm taking, know as ECET 360: SMT Technology, about how Europe has a lot of strict rules on electronics in the country.

In July 2006, EU legislation new law went into effect to ban the use of lead in electronic devices. The EU RoHS directive proposes bans on five substances; lead, mercury, hexavalent, chromium, and polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), and polybrominated diphenyl ehters (PBDE) for cosumer and many commercial devices. Also, there are requirements for electronic equipment to be made of lead-free solder.

Basically, Sony and many other electronics businesses around the globe have to design their electronics internally, for Europe in mind (when they release a device to the European market). The U.S., Japan, and other countries don't have these strict regulations (there's also many power regulations too for the European market, but I won't get deep into it). So, if Sony were to get caught with an imported console/handheld in Europe because it doesn't meet the requirements (laws just passed in Europe), they'd be in big trouble with the European government. Basically, lik-sang was getting themself into huge trouble doing this (breaking European law), so that's possibly why they didn't defend the case (I doubt Lik-Sang has any Electrical Engineers working for them).

So, Sony was only doing what was right. Anyone who tries to say fuck Sony over this, well, it is Lik-Sang's fault and Sony has to protect their company from getting into bigger problems.

For some power requirements, a European outlet can supply 240Vrms (also 340Vp, 680Vpp) at 50Hz frequency. The U.S. and Japan outlet can supply 120Vrms (also 170Vp, 340Vpp) at 60Hz frequency. Due to the outlets being different (where the ones in Europe supply a higher voltage), that isn't technically safe.
 
[quote name='The Mana Knight']After reading more articles, I completely understand why they were driven out of business now.

I learned in a class I'm taking, know as ECET 360: SMT Technology, about how Europe has a lot of strict rules on electronics in the country.

In July 2006, EU legislation new law went into effect to ban the use of lead in electronic devices. The EU RoHS directive proposes bans on five substances; lead, mercury, hexavalent, chromium, and polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), and polybrominated diphenyl ehters (PBDE) for cosumer and many commercial devices. Also, there are requirements for electronic equipment to be made of lead-free solder.

Basically, Sony and many other electronics businesses around the globe have to design their electronics internally, for Europe in mind (when they release a device to the European market). The U.S., Japan, and other countries don't have these strict regulations (there's also many power regulations too for the European market, but I won't get deep into it). So, if Sony were to get caught with an imported console/handheld in Europe because it doesn't meet the requirements (laws just passed in Europe), they'd be in big trouble with the European government. Basically, lik-sang was getting themself into huge trouble doing this (breaking European law), so that's possibly why they didn't defend the case (I doubt Lik-Sang has any Electrical Engineers working for them).

So, Sony was only doing what was right. Anyone who tries to say fuck Sony over this, well, it is Lik-Sang's fault and Sony has to protect their company from getting into bigger problems.[/QUOTE]

Yeah I heard about this but does it really fucking matter? I know lead in the drinking water is bad but can they even think the microscopic amount we may get from this shit will really do anything to us?
 
[quote name='Sarang01']Yeah I heard about this but does it really fucking matter? I know lead in the drinking water is bad but can they even think the microscopic amount we may get from this shit will really do anything to us?[/QUOTE]Seriously, the law is screwed up, but it really does matter in Europe (as to why European law passed it). Electronics companies are forced to comply with the rules in Europe, and if they don't, they'll face charges, fines, etc. by the government.
 
[quote name='Sarang01']Yeah I heard about this but does it really fucking matter? I know lead in the drinking water is bad but can they even think the microscopic amount we may get from this shit will really do anything to us?[/quote]
Actually, if you're water isn't regulated, then yes, maybe there will be enough lead or what ever to cause harm. Belive it or not, unregulated bottled water is a huge problems in some regions.
 
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