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[Jr.]

I think I do pretty well, and I wanted and still want to import a PSP, but they just want to much for them! Besides that its hard to spend the same amount if only a little less on an import portable game compared to an import console game.

So, for those of you who have imported them or purchased one off of Ebay, WTF do you do? also, how old are you?

Peace!

 

[EGM92]

I got myself a PSP... well as for occupation... well I sleep, eat, go to school, and sleep.. not necessarily in that order I'm also 19 years old.

EGM92

 

[u_neek]

Same here, I'm 19, I go to school and got a sparetime job besides that..

 

[Dsal]

Programmer, 28.

 

[CygnusXI]

LOL
Young punks with no Debt yet...
j/k.

36/married with a second mortgage, and just coming off a 3 week layoff at work...

Import=Not a chance.

But I did put money down on 2 (wife and I) at Eb this week

 

[Dagon]

I was going to wait it out, but, living in the UK, I know we're going to get screwed anyway, so I thought I may as well get it out of the way now. I ordered from Play-Asia when they got their second batch, so the price was also much more reasonable than at launch.

Oh, and journalist, 29.

 

[newsguy]

^^^what kind of journalist? I have a degree in Journalism but that could make me hundreds of things.

 

[Bog]

I don't think it's so much related to how much you make. I do pretty well as a Web Designer/Programmer, and could easily afford one, I just have an issue with paying $200 more than what the thing retails for.

 

[deandotscott]

Videogames journalist, 27, UK.

 

[heavy liquid]

I don't think it's so much related to how much you make. I do pretty well as a Web Designer/Programmer, and could easily afford one, I just have an issue with paying $200 more than what the thing retails for.

Exactly.

 

[cvxfreak]

Student, 17

 

[DCharlie]

i guess i don't count, but Programmer , 29

 

[Kobun Heat]

i guess i don't count, but Programmer , 29

Of COURSE you don't count. With the PSP's price in Japan, the homeless in Osaka can buy them.

 

[chespace]

Of COURSE you don't count. With the PSP's price in Japan, the homeless in Osaka can buy them.

what homeless in osaka?

 

[Brofist]

what homeless in osaka?

go to any park in Osaka, theres usually a small community of homeless there.

 

[kitchenmotors]

Student, 17

How does a student at 17 have enough money to afford all the shit you posted in the gaming collection thread?

 

[chespace]

go to any park in Osaka, theres usually a small community of homeless there.

Ah, at least they have the respect to stay off the sidewalk. In Tokyo, only place I saw homeless were in the subway.

 

[Legal Step]

I'm 30 and a Pimp

 

[karasu]

Will the import be able to play US games or something? Because those prices are insane.

 

[jiggle]

Will the import be able to play US games or something? Because those prices are insane.

Yes, no region lock on games.

 

[Miburou]

Mine is stuck at Canadian customs, but I guess I count.

I'm 29, and a graduate student. I also paid only around $287 for my Value pack PSP, although I'll probably be raped by the customs/tax charges.

 

[cvxfreak]

How does a student at 17 have enough money to afford all the shit you posted in the gaming collection thread?

A combination of birthday and Christmas presents, saved allowance and favors from parents.

 

[Ironclad]

A combination of birthday and Christmas presents, saved allowance and favors from parents.

I'm a student, and 17 years old as well, and this is where I get all of my money from as well. I don't have a job, and don't plan to get one, and yet I have a constant flow of video games coming in.

 

[Defensor]

22, student.

 

[Lyte Edge]

College graduate (as of last month!!) and currently lazy good-for-nothing enjoying no stress from school, age 23.

Got my PSP last month from a GAF member who I believe wishes to remain anonymous; the deal was for a system and game of my choice for the sum of $315 and trade of my DS and games. My parents told me they'd be willing to spend $300 or so on a PSP for me since I didn't get any Hanukah presents from them, so the money was covered, and I used my own cash to buy four more games.

 

[chespace]

College graduate (as of last month!!) and currently lazy good-for-nothing enjoying no stress from school, age 23.

Got my PSP last month from a GAF member who I believe wishes to remain anonymous; the deal was for a system and game of my choice for the sum of $315 and trade of my DS and games. My parents told me they'd be willing to spend $300 or so on a PSP for me since I didn't get any Hanukah presents from them, so the money was covered, and I used my own cash to buy four more games.

Hey, sounds like you got kinda ripped off, no?

 

[cvxfreak]

Hey, sounds like you got kinda ripped off, no?

I think he was ripped off. I paid $345 and that included Ridge Racers and Express Mail shipping, and a tiny profit for the Japanese GAFer.

 

[Lyte Edge]

Hey, sounds like you got kinda ripped off, no?

Initially he wanted $415 for the system with overnight shipping. This is back when the prices from import stores were between $500-$600. The only way I would have gotten a better deal is if I could have gotten the system from a Japan GAF member like tetsuo, but at that time he was unable to find any. Obviously if I'd waited a week or two I could have found one cheaper, but I couldn't. XD

And while I realize he still could have lied about it, he also checked out the system when I asked him to before the deal was finished, so I was able to get a system free of any dead pixels guaranteed.

Regarding the DS, I was the one that offered him the prices for the unit; they were the same prices I would have gotten if I sold the system back to my own store.

 

[chespace]

Initially he wanted $415 for the system with overnight shipping. This is back when the prices from import stores were between $500-$600. The only way I would have gotten a better deal is if I could have gotten the system from a Japan GAF member like tetsuo, but at that time he was unable to find any. Obviously if I'd waited a week or two I could have found one cheaper, but I couldn't. XD

And while I realize he still could have lied about it, he also checked out the system when I asked him to before the deal was finished, so I was able to get a system free of any dead pixels guaranteed.

Yeah but... you also had to hock your DS and games.

seismologist am cry.

 

[cvxfreak]

Regarding the DS, I was the one that offered him the prices for the unit; they were the same prices I would have gotten if I sold the system back to my own store.

Hmm... was it absolutely impossible for you to keep your DS and have a PSP at the same time?

Not trying to pick a fight here, but I'm just curious.

 

[michael000]

College graduate (as of last month!!) and currently lazy good-for-nothing enjoying no stress from school, age 23.

Got my PSP last month from a GAF member who I believe wishes to remain anonymous; the deal was for a system and game of my choice for the sum of $315 and trade of my DS and games. My parents told me they'd be willing to spend $300 or so on a PSP for me since I didn't get any Hanukah presents from them, so the money was covered, and I used my own cash to buy four more games.

Ouch close to $500.

 

[Lyte Edge]

Yeah but... you also had to hock your DS and games.

seismologist am cry.

See my edit...I got the same prices I would have gotten (actually $10 more for the DS) if I sold back the DS to my own store. I was going to sell the DS regardless to help raise the cash to import a PSP anyway. The seller definitely got the better deal, but this was a week or so after launch, and the price he gave me seemed very fair considering how much other stores/eBay sellers were selling the systems for, and there's no doubt that he could have easily have sold the system on eBay for at least $100-$200 more than what he sold it to me for.

BTW, speaking of eBay, my co-worker won an auction last night for a PSP Value Pack and four games for $485. This was a first time seller with no feedback and multiple e-mail addresses to pay and respond to, so I told him not to bother. It's just as well considering that my boss ordered a system from our distributor for him anyway, but he's probably going to get negative feeback now for backing out of the auction.

Just wondering; if he had paid for the system via Paypal and the guy ripped him off, does Paypal offer some form of protection against fraud, or would he have been screwed?

 

[Do The Mario]

My name is jack, I’m a necrophiliac,

You’ll find me often,

Pants down in a coffin !

 

[Lyte Edge]

Hmm... was it absolutely impossible for you to keep your DS and have a PSP at the same time?

No, but I figured I might as well sell the DS to get the maximum amount of cash back (from my store) that I could while it was most in demand. If I put it on eBay, I'm sure I could have gotten double that amount, but I was feeling too impatient at the time. :lol I bought the DS using trade-ins, so I got back the cash amount I put down anyway.

Michael000, no, not close to $500. Close to $400, and again, this was during the worst price-gouging that the system was seeing...over $600 at stores like Play-Asia, etc. Overnight shipping is what...$25, $30? That means I got the system for less than $400, and he had to pay $75 for the game (he got it locally from his price-gouging import stores) I wanted.

So basically I sold the DS and games for the equivalent of about $185. That's still more of a cash value than I would have gotten locally, and not too bad anyway since the games aren't worth squat when they sell new for $29.99. Again, had I used eBay, I definitely would have gotten (potentially a lot) more, but my boss even told me that he was seeing plenty of brand new DS systems unsold at $150, so there's no telling what a used system would have gone for.

Now that I'm done with school and can work full time, buying back a DS isn't going to be a problem. I'm not interested at the moment since I played through all I wanted to of the current titles and beat the crap out of Made In Wario, so had I kept it, it would just be collecting dust anyway. (yes, PSP is that much better) I'll repurchase a system when Castlevania is released or perhaps if Jump Superstars is a killer-app.

 

[michael000]

...Michael000, no, not close to $500. Close to $400...

You paid $315 + DS + DS games right?

 

[Lyte Edge]

You paid $315 + DS + DS games right?

Again, the PSP with overnight shipping was $415. My parents covered $315. To get the remaining $100, I was going to sell my DS to my store for $100, but he told me he'd take it for $110. I paid $100 for the DS myself (after some trade-ins), so I got the cash I shelled out for it back anyway. He also said he'd take the games in a trade for one PSP game, which was selling where he bought it from for $75. The only loss was on the games, but other than Made In Wario, they have little cash value to begin with. For $75, I actually got more cash value on the games from him (excluding Wario) than I would have got from any store locally.

So out of my own pocket, I traded a DS and some games, and got a PSP and one game. Then I was free to spend my own money on more games. I'm not complaining; I felt it was a good price given all the price-gouging at the time, and yes, waiting another week or so would have meant I could have gotten it for less, but I already feel like I got my moneys worth from the PSP just during the first week alone. What can I say...I'm an impatient gamer. I spent $600 on a Japanese PS2 and $500 on a Japanese Dreamcast at their launches as well. I used to buy Neo-Geo cart until the end of 2003 for $325+ a pop, so $400 for a brand new imported game system doesn't seem so bad, looking back. ^_^;

I can afford to be this crazy right now because I don't have any bills to pay.

 

[Leo the 3rd]

37 and an IT Project Manager

 

[michael000]

Ok was just clarifying, the trade ins, what you paid for the trade ins, gifts from parents, etc was irrelevant to me heh. I was just looking at was the bottom line. The guy got $415, a DS, and some games. From your posts you seem more than happy with your PSP so that's all that really matters. That guy however made out like a frickin bandit, luckily for you you've got no bills and price wasn't an issue.

 

[aparisi2274]

30.

Server Design Specialist

Staten Island

 

[gprime]

19. student

 

[Atari2600]

28, Field Rep (I travel) and I write for a gaming website.

 

[hyp]

25, multimedia production specialist.

 

[mashoutposse]

Unless you're under 16, anybody can afford to import a PSP if he/she really wanted one. I don't see the point of this survey...

 

[Lyte Edge]

That guy however made out like a frickin bandit, luckily for you you've got no bills and price wasn't an issue.

I don't believe he bought the PSP for the Japanese MSRP though, so he may have not have profitted off of it as much as you think he did.

I'm sure he got a good price for the DS stuff on eBay though. At least I hope he did..he came through for me.

 

[segasonic]

professional videogamer, 26

 

[Rhindle]

Importing a PSP isn't all that expensive. You should be asking this question of people laying down $600 for new graphics cards.

 

[Lyte Edge]

PSP import prices, even at their highest, still weren't as high as other system launches have been. I remember Dreacmast systems going for $1,200 in November 1998. $999.99 PS2 systems in March 2000. $699.99 3D0 systems in 1993 (OOPS, that was the launch price! :lol)

Anyone remember how much Saturn and PSX systems went for when they were released in Japan? I don't think they went for as much as the DC and PS2 did, but they were still pretty high.

IIRC Game Cube never went that high, either. I want to say it debuted for around $500 or so(?), maybe less.

 

[vibribbon]

producer, 30

I got mine through work though, so I didn't actually pay the premium import price.

 

[Kobun Heat]

I think I do pretty well, and I wanted and still want to import a PSP, but they just want to much for them! Besides that its hard to spend the same amount if only a little less on an import portable game compared to an import console game.

So, for those of you who have imported them or purchased one off of Ebay, WTF do you do? also, how old are you?

Peace!

Thinking harder about it, I'm not sure what disturbs me more about the original post: the implication that in order to have five hundred dollars you must be some kind of superhuman, or that another poster might start ending all his posts with the word "peace."

 

[drohne]

yeah, i definitely remember those $1000+ dc and ps2 prices, and as i recall n64 was $700 at launch. in comparison, psp price inflation has been pretty tame.