3DS's on craigslist already down to $150. Sign of a crappy console?

Darknuke

Darknuke

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I've been eyeballing CL since the 3DS came out because I wanted one at a discount ($250... fuck that). I noticed in the beginning they went for $250 on average. I then forgot about them because I wasn't seeing any noticeable drop.

I recently have been checking the Seattle, WA CL (in the last 2 weeks) and have seen roughly 10-15 3DS ads for $150 (no less). Around 75% of the ads come with a game or two as well!

I'm finally picking mine up tomorrow from a guy for $150 w/ SFIV3D. I figure they will go back up again when Zelda/Mario/Icarus come out.

Anyway, I guess the point of this ad, is what do you guys think? Shitty console? Complete flop? Are you going to browse your CL now to get one? And does your CL have them for this low or is this an isolated thing?

I just think it's crazy that it has barely been on the market and the thing is already dropping this fast on CL. I've never seen this happen before with a console.
 
I think a new DS with similar raw power but no 3D support will come out within the next year at a significantly reduced price. $250 is just way to high and 3D too gimmicky, however DS graphics could use a boost.
 
Not surprising.. its a bit overpriced and the first two (going on three) months worth of software haven't won a lot of people over. Its a great console but it just needs to hit its stride and you won't see the markup in the second hand market like the Wii because there's simply no shortage in retail.

$150 is low.. but it will go back up after e3 and some kind of hype for upcoming releases and id say $175 will be the sweet spot.
 
I wouldn't call it a sign of a crappy console just yet.

I'd call it a new console with a severe lack of games.

Also, alot of people offering cheap 3DS systems could be due to five finger discounting.
 
Message these people. I saw a few pop up around Philly. Got the same message from all of them.

"I just sold it! But you can buy it from this *link* for cheap!"
 
Yeah, I'm with Sean in that I'm skeptical there's legit sales that cheap.

That said, it's in stock everywhere and has been outsold by the DS still, so there's no way they can sell it for a markup.

There aren't any killer must have games yet, and $250 is too much for parents to buy their brats a new handheld, so it's going to struggle for a while.

I have no interest in it as I'm not much into 3D stuff and barely have touched myk DS the past 2 or 3 years as is.
 
[quote name='Spacepest']I wouldn't call it a sign of a crappy console just yet.

I'd call it a new console with a severe lack of games.[/QUOTE]

Well lack of games.

No one really cares about 3d because its more or less a gimmick.

The screen size is to small when you can get a dsixl for 100 bucks cheaper.

The battery isnt awful, but not long enough.

And it costs 250 dollars, for a handheld system with no game. So its nearing 300 bucks for a system and 1 game. Its basically just a ds only a tiny bit more powerful.

But the consumers only have themselves to blame for the insane price for a beefed up ds because nintendo polled users on how much they would pay for a 3d handheld systems and the results were, 250 bucks area. 3ds only costs about 100 to make in itself http://www.consoledigest.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-make-a-ds3-3160/5739

And I dont think a lot of people are buying because a lot of the real gaming audience knows nintendo will just re-release the system again next year with slight improvements and maybe a lower price. So they wait.

And with smartphones becoming more and more popular people dont want to spend almost 300 on a system and 1 game when they could buy 60 or 70 games or more on their smart phone for the price of that.

Hell with a giftcard deal at quite a few stores you can buy a ps3 that comes with a game, use the gift card to buy a couple more games for the same price as a 3ds and 1 game. Might even have enough left to buy 1 or 2 games for your android phone you already own or get a psn card and buy more games for your ps3. Granted a ps3 isnt a handheld, but its still a hell of a lot better value at every angle.

My dsixl works great and I love the screen. Ill get a 3ds when the screen gets bigger, the price drops, the battery life improves and atlus/nis start releasing games for it. Promises of yet another mario game, yet another zelda game, yet another metroid game and so on dont even make me want one.
 
I actually thing the new system is neat. I constantly trying to find new ppl by using Streetpass. Street Fighter and Ghost Recon are great games. I wish there were more games though.
 
Yeah I'm sure some of the $150 people are five-finger discounting it, but you'd think those would be either brand new, or without a game. I figure the ones that come with a game are pretty legitimate.

I agree that 3D is a huge gimmick. But hey, for $150 + a game, I'm happy with paying that. The system should've only cost $150 in the first place. Now if it was essentially a slightly lesser version of the NGP with 3D, that'd be a different story. I guess I'm just disappointed that this is all the 3DS is capable of. It's basically like if Nintendo didn't release their expansion pack for the N64, but instead released a whole new console with only the extra power of the expansion pack. Kind of a waste.
 
I think it has a very limited market. I mean how many versions/upgrades have there been of the DS? At least 4 that I can think of. Most people are probably just waiting for a new version which will inevitably come out in a year or so. 3D also isn't that great especially on a small screen, but just getting a cheap DS is more than enough for most people.
 
Breaking News: Buying new/popular items is 99% scam artists on craigslist. Emailing those people for $150 3DS systems is probably as reliable as clicking those ads on CAG that advertise iPhones for $28 or something stupid.

Also: 3DS has no games. Sort of.

I just figure the old DS sucked for about a year before it picked up. There were months where it was selling only like 60 thousand units. If we're at this time next year and 3DS still doesn't have software and still isn't picking up, then i'll worry.
 
im not surprised by people selling them for that much its not seling the way the ds's did and its mainly due to the price and the lack of games. and maybe just maybe consumers are getting wise to nintendos shit and are refusing to buy this until they come out with a new version ( which they always do) and a price drop. when it comes to nintendo handhelds it never pays to be an eaarly adopter.
 
I tried the 3DS in the store, didn't like the 3D much, it really hurts my eye and I have no problem watching 3D movies. It did give me the same whirling sensation as those magic eye pictures.
 
I've said it in all the 3DS threads, but I'll say it again here... Nintendo dropped the ball on marketing. Not price, not games, not the system... marketing.

Any non-gaming people I've talked to about the system, some of my more 'gamer' friends, and there's even hints of it in this thread: Nintendo has in no way made it clear to people that this isn't just a DS with 3D.

If Nintendo really wants this thing to sell, even at $250, they need to do a hugely aggressive marketing push that makes two things abundently clear: 1) The 3D is OPTIONAL and 2) The 3DS is a much more powerful system than the DS.

Between the continuous output of different DS consoles over the years and the emphasis on 3D, Nintendo apparently forgot how important it was to make sure people are aware that this is the NEXT STEP in their handheld hardware. Which, really, seems to be, you know, kind of a big point.
 
That never stopped the Wii. I just don't think 3D is all that enticing of a gimmick, at least not enough to sell a system without games.
 
It's the PS3 situation all over again, except this time around the 3DS has more units out there (PS3 was hard to find in it's first few months, recall the outrageous ebay prices)

Over priced and no games to back it up was the PS3, same for this one.
 
I wouldn't use craigslist as a gauge for pricing. The several ads you see could be the same person in a rush to sell. Also could be a scam or stolen merch like others have posted. Kudos to you for scoring one at that price though OP.
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']PS3 sold stupidly well for how terrible it was its first two years.[/QUOTE]

Although it didn't sell all that well during the first two years. At least compared to the other 2 consoles.
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']True enough, but there's no reason anyone should have been buying a $600 block that played Resistance and blu-ray movies.[/QUOTE]

But you gotta have dat shiny new tech!
 
im having a great time with my 3ds and i have lego pirates, street fighter, and rayman 3d (actually a great game people just got too butthurt that it was a port). ive owned the system since it came out and i dont regret buying it im just getting impatient for something extremely special to come out and i hope that ocarina is it.
 
[quote name='momshotdad']im having a great time with my 3ds and i have lego pirates, street fighter, and rayman 3d (actually a great game people just got too butthurt that it was a port). ive owned the system since it came out and i dont regret buying it im just getting impatient for something extremely special to come out and i hope that ocarina is it.[/QUOTE]

I'd recommend Ghost Recon if you are a fan of Advance Wars style games. It's actually a really fantastic game.
 
[quote name='Darknuke']Yeah I'm sure some of the $150 people are five-finger discounting it, but you'd think those would be either brand new, or without a game. I figure the ones that come with a game are pretty legitimate.

I agree that 3D is a huge gimmick. But hey, for $150 + a game, I'm happy with paying that. The system should've only cost $150 in the first place. Now if it was essentially a slightly lesser version of the NGP with 3D, that'd be a different story. I guess I'm just disappointed that this is all the 3DS is capable of. It's basically like if Nintendo didn't release their expansion pack for the N64, but instead released a whole new console with only the extra power of the expansion pack. Kind of a waste.[/QUOTE]

It isn't fair to compare the DS->3DS with the N64 and expansion pack. There is a much bigger graphics/performance jump with the 3DS than that expansion pack brought. The system basically just came out. Graphics are going to improve with time.

Having bought Dead or Alive Dimensions yesterday though, the game looks fantastic. The 3D effects in-game are awesome and the graphics are comparable to many current gen console games imo. I definitely think the 3ds is going to look decent when compared with NGP graphics, though obviously the NGP is going to be better. To me, it pretty much IS a lesser version of the NGP with 3D, as the graphics look much better than the PSP (at least Dead or Alive proves this).

I am extremely impressed with the graphics anyways.
 
[quote name='GaveUpTomorrow']It isn't fair to compare the DS->3DS with the N64 and expansion pack. There is a much bigger graphics/performance jump with the 3DS than that expansion pack brought. The system basically just came out. Graphics are going to improve with time.

Having bought Dead or Alive Dimensions yesterday though, the game looks fantastic. The 3D effects in-game are awesome and the graphics are comparable to many current gen console games imo. I definitely think the 3ds is going to look decent when compared with NGP graphics, though obviously the NGP is going to be better. To me, it pretty much IS a lesser version of the NGP with 3D, as the graphics look much better than the PSP (at least Dead or Alive proves this).

I am extremely impressed with the graphics anyways.[/QUOTE]

I agree. The technical improvements from the DS to the 3DS are far greater than most people give it credit for.
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']True enough, but there's no reason anyone should have been buying a $600 block that played Resistance and blu-ray movies.[/QUOTE]I bought mine for $500 just after launch (I got the 20GB one). Resistance was fun, Ridge Racer 7 was fun, and some PSN games were fun. I got to play Virtua Fighter 5 back in Feb., MotorStorm was fun (although hard), Formula One: CE was great. Tekken 5: DR download was the best version of Tekken. No PS3 was not dominating with all the great games (no console does early on in its lifecycle), but I still enjoyed mine and glad I got to experience it throughout its lifecycle.

As for the 3DS, I think its a very good handheld. It may not have tons of great games (which I didn't expect right now), but its graphics are good, features are great, and some games are fun to play. Definitely worth the price.

Someone might have sold a 3DS cheap on Craig's List because they needed to sell right away for financial problems (it happens).
 
I'm going to laugh when all the people waiting for Zelda on 3DS go to get a system this month and find out Nintendo short printed the game and there are no copies to be found.
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']I'm going to laugh when all the people waiting for Zelda on 3DS go to get a system this month and find out Nintendo short printed the game and there are no copies to be found.[/QUOTE]

Seems unlikely that Nintendo would short print a Zelda (or any of their key franchises) game. I mean, they could literally shit in a box, slap Mario on it, and it would probably sell 3 million copies in a week. I'm guessing sales for the system will pick up by the time OoT comes out...
 
I got mine for 3DS $125 but yeah I think I could have done better...

I mean I paid a whole $5 over the actual cost to make! What a horrible fucking deal...
 
I basically have nothing but wonderful things to say about the 3DS. Even with all of the features that haven't been released yet, I love this little thing to death. NGP will have plenty of nifty features and I know I'll eventually buy one somewhere down the line, but Sony flat-out does not know how to make a warm, inviting gaming device. Their GUI's are too technical and generic for me. I like something that feels a bit more personal, which I absolutely get with the 3DS. And the games have been fantastic so far (although I could enjoy this without purchasing any games). Obviously it's not for everyone, but after the 360, the 3DS is my favorite current gaming platform. And I actually kinda expected to not like it because I usually have such an aversion to 3D video.


[quote name='Vinny']Seems unlikely that Nintendo would short print a Zelda (or any of their key franchises) game.[/QUOTE]
They tried to do it with Super Mario All-Stars: Limited Edition, but so many people bitched and moaned that they ended up reprinting it and now you can find it everywhere. Brilliant move on their part, really.
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']True enough, but there's no reason anyone should have been buying a $600 block that played Resistance and blu-ray movies.[/QUOTE]

It was before the real estate crash. A lot of people using their house as an ATM had stupid money to blow on indulgences, believing the value of their hovel would only increase. Which may explain the wide availability of first-gen PS3 refurbs for around $100.
 
Craigslist is a haven for scammers. You cannot measure the going rate for anything on that site.

A much better gauge is to do a search on Ebay and then modify to only show completed auctions:
http://completed.shop.ebay.com/Vide...deo_Games&_fln=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m283&_rdc=1

I'm seeing a few going for under $200 but closer to $200 than $150. But this is no big surprise with a product that has no lack of easy availability at retail. The real problem for Nintendo wasn't so much the lack of a blockbuster title at launch as it being a really, really bad time to launch an expensive new luxury product. High-end cell phones can at least claim practical applications but the 3DS is purely about entertainment. A smartphone can even be written off of one's taxes under the right circumstances.

I've no doubt the 3DS will be a success in the long term but it's going to be more of an uphill battle than it would have been in a less financially distressed era.
 
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