Xbox 360 shortages prompt eBay bidding war

XBox 360 video game consoles at a Best Buy store in Bellevue, Washington. Picture / Reuters

Microsoft's scarce new Xbox 360 has sold out at most stores, with many new owners flipping the video game consoles by the thousands on Web auction site eBay for almost twice the retail price.

Big retailers, including Best Buy and Target, reported running out of Microsoft's next-generation game system at most, if not all, of their stores following its North American debut on Tuesday.

By yesterday, 10,700 Xbox 360s had traded on eBay at an average price of $781, a spokesman for eBay said. The basic unit retails for $300. A premium package that includes accessories and a hard-drive that allows gamers to play existing Xbox titles costs $400.

An eBay search for the term "Xbox 360" returned nearly 27,000 listings. When sorted for items priced above $300, the number of listings shrank to just over 16,000.

Microsoft spokeswoman Molly O'Donnell said the company is resupplying retailers with Xbox 360s as quickly as possible.

"They'll be supplied on a week-to-week basis," she said.

Despite the shortages and strong demand from gamers willing to pay top dollar for the latest technology, some sellers were apparently asking too much.

One sought-after Xbox 360 premium console was listed with a starting bid of $1,200 and a "Buy It Now" price of $2,500.

That auction expired on Wednesday without attracting an offer.

- REUTERS