Would you buy a PS3 on ebay?

[Nor Cal]

Had to throw this out there, a co-worker of mine bought a ps3 off ebay and when it came it was a box with bricks and a photo of a ps3. LOL i thought it was hilarious, he obviously didn't. Buyer beware.

[InFamous20]

Had to throw this out there, a co-worker of mine bought a ps3 off ebay and when it came it was a box with bricks and a photo of a ps3. LOL i thought it was hilarious, he obviously didn't. Buyer beware.

Ouch!!! I'm sorry...

[Yugo]

your protected from paypppppppal for $2000 so what if you get a brick in the box....laugh it off order another.

[Bizcuits]

I'd probably steer clear, unless it was a local purchase where I could meet the seller and test the system.

[JDay]

Had to throw this out there, a co-worker of mine bought a ps3 off ebay and when it came it was a box with bricks and a photo of a ps3. LOL i thought it was hilarious, he obviously didn't. Buyer beware.

He probably bid on one of the many "PS3 Box" auctions that was out around that time. That's what he gets for not reading the description.

[john.t.singh]

I absolutely hate purchasing any kind of electronics on eBay. They don't really have a quality control measure aside from seller's ratings. IMO Craigslist is a much better platform to use to make purchases on used products. If you go through Craigslist you can test the product out, you guys can work out a fair price, and the seller doesn't lose a percentage.

^ this. I don't trust ebay as much as at least craigslist you can go to the person's home. People are less likely to try to mess with you when you know where they live.

Plus you can tell more from why they are selling it. My buddy recently started buying beaten ps3's, cleaning them up and reselling for quite a bit more. You can easily find a good deal on a PS3 from craigslist.

[diving_tbd]

I would avoid buying something used from a place where you cannot return it if it is defective...

[nrandell]

If it's used, make sure it's from a reputable seller. Since you said you wanted the Black Ops bundle, it's possible a cheater got his PS3 banned from the Black Ops servers and is now trying to sell it, and supposedly they won't unban a console even for the new owner.

[ironcross]

I would never buy a console on ebay or craigslist.

Why?

Most people who are selling online are either selling a console that is

A) Broken.
B) On it's last leg.
C) Been banned from the online network.
D) Scam.
E) ETC.

They will not unban a console from the network even if you are the new owner. Period.

Check out the big box sellers for deals, Walmart, bestbuy, target, etc

Also if your dead locked on used. Be for warned. Most of the older PS3's are on their last leg. Most were abused. Not maintained. Sony uses cheap thermal paste that dries out in a few years and cheap solder. Which is the leading cause of the YLOD (Yellow Light Of Death). While the YLOD is more for the fat PS3's the slims can get their equivalent RLOD (Red Light Of Death).

There is a new model of the PS3 slim that released around last December/January that has better cooling. But as I've read that you need HDMI for blue-ray now. The new models don't have the LED's at the eject button, power button and removed the Wi-Fi indicator light.

You can read more about it at: http://community.us.playstation.com/...81347#36181347

I got mine from Ebay. Got it for $200 and it is the backwards compatible one. Killer deal. Lately it has been giving me a bit of a problem in the scene selection menu when playing DVDs will sometime crash to the PS3 start screen and very rarely freezes during Black Ops. Other than that it works perfect 99.99999% of the time.

Here try this out. It's like defrag for your computer. I do it about twice a month and take a shop vac to all the vents once a month. With doing this. My system is fast like it was taken right out of the box and no freezes.

http://www.ps3trophies.com/forums/guides-reviews-articles/35771-how-speed-up-your-ps3-rebuilding-your-hard-disk-database.html

[akoba]

do not buy a used "fat" model,

I bought a "used" PS3 fat model 60GB last 2007. The only true backward compatible. It's been working until now. No YROD or freezing at all. Dust it off every year. Just make it sure it has plenty of space for ventilation. I play games atleast once or two per week. Use it for watching dvd and blu-ray once a month. And my daughter use it everyday watching netflix. Never get a problem.
Maybe i got lucky on this system?

[Coded-Dude]

I have a launch system and it is starting to show signs of fatigue after long uses(pink screen flickers, fan kicks into extra high speed, etc.). I'm not saying you can't get a good one, but they are the least reliable of the PS3 models, they use more power, and run much hotter and louder. If you want B/C then yes that is the way to go, but if you just want blu-ray playback and straming videos(like the OP stated), there is no need to risk getting a FAT model.

Note; mine is out of warranty so I actually open the case and blow out the dust inside it once a year.

[akoba]

but if you just want blu-ray playback and streaming videos (like the OP stated), there is no need to risk getting a FAT model.

Good point.

[mkkeele]

If it's new and the seller has positive feedback, then sure. If it's used, then no.