Lik-Sang's PS3 pre-orders

Hong Kong exporters Lik-Sang are now accepting PS3 pre-orders. You can choose whatever games you like, and there'll be no money down until the company secures the "best possible purchase prices, as many units as possible, and until further details emerge from our suppliers all around the world." But wait - how can Lik-Sang guarantee exports when there'll be just 500,000 PS3s at launch worldwide? By inflating prices, that's how. Have a gander at this "extra note:"

Be prepared that the day-1 prices will be much higher than the manufacturers suggested retail price. Experienced and veteran hardcore gamers, who are not importing a system for the first time, know that buying a PS3 at launch or a PSP at launch is not the same thing as simply buying a mere PlayStation 3 or a random PSP off some supermarket shelf. You're paying for the privilege of getting it two months before the massive overflow. Especially with the long forecasted shortages (only 100.000 units for Japan at release date), MasterCard would call that 'priceless'. There is never enough of the good stuff on a launch day, and Lik Sang is required to pay premium pricing to get earlybird stock in sufficient levels for everybody. We can only extend these offers to you during the first couple of months, while waiting for the market to stabilize. But that's the beauty of the No Money Down Special Pre-Order system, you can always ignore day-1 prices and wait for a few more days, a few more weeks, or even several months, until the price goes down to an acceptable level. Without ever losing your pre-order position!

Though not illegal in most circumstances, the company is essentially engaging in price gouging, even if you can wait for prices to settle. Ask yourself how badly you want a PS3 before asking Hong Kong for one.

by MacNN Staff