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A Little Q&A with eBay

by the NWR Staff - November 12, 2002, 2:03 pm EST

Ever wanted to know the most expensive NES game sold on eBay, or how many virtual items (like Animal Crossing codes) are auctioned off? These answers and more await your click.

We recently got the chance to ask the folks at eBay anything we wanted in regards to their gaming business. Since many of us and our readers use eBay to buy and sell games, especially rare and highly collectible games, we thought it would be cool to get some stats on that side of eBay's business.

PGC: What game has sold the most copies on eBay?

eBay: “Grand Theft Auto III” has been one of our biggest sellers over the last year.

PGC: How much non-physical gaming property goes up for auction? In general, which game's non-physical items go for the most money? (By this, we mean people selling Diablo II items, Magic the Gathering Online cards, Animal Crossing codes, etc.)

eBay: This is difficult to say given the way that sellers list product. We have sold 400,000 internet gaming items this year.

PGC: How many people fell for buying empty boxes of PS2s, GCs and Xboxes, and

was any action taken against people who sold them to unsuspecting bidders?

eBay: We do not disclose the statistical breakdown of possible fraud categories. Fraud accounts for an extremely small portion of the overall amount of economic activity on eBay. Anyone caught defrauding an eBay user is immediately suspended from the site.

PGC: With so many auctions going on at one moment, how does eBay recognize and prevent the sale of illegal games and copied software on the site?

eBay: We respect the intellectual property rights of individuals and businesses and are committed to working with intellectual property rights owners to remove potentially infringing items from the site. eBay has established the Verified Rights Owner Program (VeRO) which has specific procedures enabling enable VeRO members to identify and request removal of allegedly infringing listings.

PGC: How many Virtual Boys have been sold on eBay to date?

eBay: Over 1 million listings for this item have closed in the Internet Gaming Category on eBay since the category broke out in 2000.

PGC: Do you have a list of NES and Super NES games that go for the highest prices?

eBay: The NES game “Faria” sold for $255.00 with 50 bids in the past month. A game bundle, including 675 different NES games, sold for $1,902.52 with 15 bids in the past 30 days. The most expensive hardware/software bundle sold within the last 30 days closed at $3,611 with 29 bids. (The auction included 503 games, 2 systems, joysticks and other gaming equipment). The highest-closing SNES game in the last 30 days was “Final Fantasy III” at $180.49 with 21 bids.

PGC: Have there been any official Nintendo auctions, and what were the items if there were?

eBay: Nintendo just sold a customized Pokemon Cruiser Car, which closed at $14,000, for the ISDA Charity Auction. NOA sold a tour of Nintendo’s Headquarters for $1110.38 and a hardware/software bundle package for Gamecube and Game Boy Advance that closed at $689.26.

Thanks to the people at eBay for answering our nit-picky little questions!

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