Sorry if this is a few days late, but now is better than never. Officials of eBay announced a 24% increase in profits in the fourth quarter of their financial year. They believe it is due, in part, to the high holiday season demand for consoles such as the PS3 and the Wii.

Profits jumped to US$ 350 million in the fourth quarter that ended December 31, 2006, while revenues rose by 29% to top off at US$ 1.72 billion, much thanks to the console launches and improved business in international markets. Compared to the previous quarter, the total value of goods and services sold on eBay increased by 20%, totalling to US$ 14.4 billion.

Because some customers could not find consoles anywhere near them, they decided to hunt for offers from eBay in order to own a console early. The highest in demand were the PS3 and the Wii. Although pricey at an average price of US$1,187, it seems that 14,675 Playstation 3s were sold. Even the Wii was available at an average tag of US$413, with 26,708 units of Wii sold from November 19 to November 24.

This sudden influx of meeting demand wasn't all that forthcoming. It seems that the Playstation 3 suffered from this greatly (in contrast the Wii probably benefitted from it), as westerners bought Japanese sold PS3s direct from eBay, slowing the sales of the PS3 to a grind of a 1:1 sales ratio. It's starting to make sense, isn't it?

Sony is now moving against the import of Playstation 3s which led to the closure of Lik-Sang.com, and it looks like those eBay sellers who aim to sell their consoles before their release in certain regions will not be spared. Still, as long as stocks continue to starve demand, eBay will continue to be the unofficial source of consoles for many.

Mitra Pahlabod of Davenport Lyons sent MCV a "warning" that those who sell PS3's to Europe (importers) may face legal troubles, and ultimately legal finances extending beyond the profit of selling a PS3. This warning however comes from a law firm rather than Sony themselves, most likely based off of the previous annihilation of Lik-Sang by Sony themselves. The warning proceeds as the following -

As far as importers of PS3s are concerned, they should bear in mind that any profit they may make from importing the consoles into Europe without Sony’s consent this Christmas may well be short lived,” Pahlabod stated. “They run the real risk of defending lengthy and costly trademark infringement proceedings.”

This situation is mainly a concern that some major importing websites (that specialize in importation alone), but as an average consumer selling one on eBay, there shouldn't be much of a concern. Sony's defeat of Lik-Sang harmed the importing community, but some still live on.

Thanks Badam for sending this in!

You're either going to take this picture very seriously and scream around town as if it's the end of the world... or just ROFLMAOZ at it's absolute absurdity.

This picture on your right (uploaded by Boxthor at flickr) has been causing a ruckus over the web. As far back as we can trace it, the only "info" we can really squeeze out is that these are 100 PS3 units all being resold by this one guy from Japan named Eiji.

If this is true, then it's a really cruel world. In the words of fellow blogger Chris C., "a pretty despicable story if true." You don't just hoard PS3 units and sell them for a higher price without being called the next Lex Luthor. A lot of commenters online have even said that Sony "should be cracking down people like this instead of shutting down legit businesses like Lik-Sang." But that's just one side of it...

If this is false, then what could it be? For one thing, it could be a pic of the stock room of a game store. Or maybe these are just empty boxes (the units in them could have been used in kiosks or whatnot). Or it was Photoshopped...

We can't confirm anything about this, but from the pic itself, we're assuming that's not even a solid number of 100 boxes. Try counting/estimating it yourself - 13 boxes per row, times three visible rows at the base, and so on... They don't add up to a full 100. Well, whatever the case be, we'd like to hear what you guys think. Violent reactions? Hilarious assumptions? Controversial arguments? That "Comment" link below isn't there for nothing...

Lik-Sang's preorders were sued away by Sony. Play-Asia cancelled shipments to certain areas. What with all these voided reservations, where could a preorder-less Sony fan get their peace of mind in getting a console at launch? Hold on... We sense a disturbance in the force. And we're hearing whispers in our heads that say "Black market! Black market! There's always the black market!"

Sony seems to accept the fact that some PS3 units would end up in the black market, but they've already issued a warning against these non-legitimate goods. Here's SCEA's statement to the consumers:

Such offers are not done with any cooperation from SCEA or its parent company. SCEA strongly recommends against consumers pursuing such offers, as their legitimacy cannot be confirmed. We recommend consumers purchase PlayStation products only from authorised SCEA retailers and resellers.

This would include websites and other stores that would sell PS3 units at a discount or offer them by bulk shipments. Seems like Sony's getting more aggressive with its PS3 distribution. Given this warning, we might see a couple more law suits flying around.

Y'know what they say, desperate situations lead to desperate measures. But are you willing to risk it and resort to the black market or will you stay legit? We know how black market goods somehow tend to be unreliable, but it sure is tempting. Personally though, it just might not be worth it.

And the disturbance in the Force ripples throughout the gaming universe...

Bad news for our friends in the UK, as apparently, game retailer Play-Asia is now restricting the sale of PS3s that were bound to be shipped to that part of the world. As posted by the people from GameBrink, they have received an email from Play-Asia which confirms the worst:

Dear **,

This is an important e-mail update regarding your PlayStation3 related reservation at Play-Asia.com.

We regret to inform you that due to licensing and distribution limitations, Play-Asia.com will not be able to send PlayStation3 branded products to your territory. Unfortunately this also affects your recent reservation with us.

As a result, we are very sorry to let you know that we have now cancelled your non-binding reservation (***) with us. Rest assured, as this was a "no money down" reservation only, no funds have been debited in any way.

We kindly ask for your understanding and would like to apologize for any possible inconvenience this may have caused to you.

With best regards, Your Play-Asia.com Customer Service

At such a critical time like this, when the launch of the PS3 is so very close, one can't help but wonder whether Play-Asia's actions is a result of what happened to Lik-Sang; if a cease and desist order was received from Sony; or if there just simply aren't enough PS3s to go around anymore. At this point, the list of ways to procure a PS3 just got way shorter and it seems that the only way to get the console would be to fall in line and join the crowd when the PS3 launch comes around.

There have been several reports that certain e--mails supposedly from Lik-Sang are being circulated. These emails are suspected to be phishing attempts which are taking advantage of Lik-Sang's recent and very public announcement that they are going out of business and that they would issue refunds to everyone with outstanding orders with the company.

For those unfamliar with the term, "phishing" is defined as "a criminal activity using social engineering techniques. Phishers attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy person or business in an electronic communication. Phishing is typically carried out using e-mail or an instant message, although phone contact has been used as well."

In the case of this fake Lik-Sang e-mail, the e-mail states that the receiver of the message is due to receive an additional US$9.99 refund on top of whatever else they are supposed to receive. The e-mail will then request the user to confirm his or her PayPal account by clicking on a link.

As with any suspicious-looking e-mail, DO NOT CLICK ON THESE LINKS as it leads to a fake PayPal log-in page which uses the domain "LJK-SANG.COM" (note the "J" in the name) instead of "PAYPAL.COM". This page is likely meant to gather people's PayPal log in information as well as financial details.

Read the Full Article and view the e-mail message in question after the Jump!

Just when we all thought Lik-Sang has hit rockbottom, here comes yet another blow to their already severely damaged company. After causing the online retail company to close down because of the multiple lawsuits filed against them, Sony is actually demanding the payment of £ 100,000 (US$ 188,000) in legal fees by November 1st.

This news stirred up mix reactions, with some people saying Sony deserves to get it, while some would say that there's just no sense kicking somebody when he's already down. Says Pascal Clarysse, Lik-Sang's marketing director, "Sony should be proud of having such a die-hard import gamers community rushing to buy their products and supporting them with a passion. Instead, they march all over us."

As for Lik-Sang's allegation that four of the top executives of Sony Europe actually got their own PSPs via Lik-Sang just a few days after the Japanese launch, well, it's just safe to surmise that was pretty embarrassing for them. However, Sony in Tokyo declined to comment on the issue, citing the reason that they have this no-comment policy on pending or completed legal action.

Ironic, though, is Sony's revision of shipment forecasts for PSP from 12 million units down to 9 million units supposedly because of a decline in demand for the handheld, just when they succeeded in closing down an unauthorized sales channel to patrons from Europe.

In light of previous events, the whole Lik-Sang vs. Sony intellectual property rights case has now escalated to the point wherein the said distributor of Asian electronics has eventually closed its doors.

Statements are flying left and right from Lik-Sang and from Sony. And now, every Tom, Dick, and Harry is wondering: where's all of this taking us? Should we take sides now? Where do we get our PS3s come launch date? What really happened? Lik-Sang's marketing manager Pascal Clarysse now follows up their statement from last October 22, and tries to set things straight.

The statement talks about what hardships they had to go through, with a bombardment of lawsuits "forcing the relatively small company behind Lik-Sang.com into a bizarre world of lawyers." There's also an update about the said Sony officials that were reputed to have purchased orders from Lik-Sang.

It seems as if this issue is far from settled. Although Lik-Sang is now no more, their memory and what they stood for is still very much alive in a lot of gamers. The battle might have been won, but the proverbial war isn't quite over yet.

Now, before you take up your pitchforks and torches, better click the "Full Article" link below and read Pascal Clarysse's statement first.

Earlier today, Lik-Sang announced that it's closing its doors after losing an IPR lawsuit laid against the company by Sony. Along with the announcement, Lik-Sang also released a statement, which included a juicy little tidbit that listed a veritable who's who of SCEE execs who bought PSP hardware and software from Lik-Sang. Now, we've gotten word that Sony is crying foul and has denied any responsibility for the online retailer's demise, accusing Lik-Sang of sour graping.

In a statement issued to GamesIndustry.biz, Sony claimed, "Lik-Sang did not contest this case (i.e. they did not turn up and therefore incurred no legal costs). We have been awarded substantial costs against Lik-Sang which have not been paid."

"We would therefore strongly deny that our actions have had anything to do with this website closing (we assume the legal entity is still trading), and would suggest that this release is sour grapes on behalf of Lik-Sang which is aimed to belittle Sony Computer Entertainment and the British judicial system that found against them," the statement further reads.

Regarding the issue of SCE executives purchasing imported PSP hardware and software from Lik-Sang, Sony responded by saying, "The purchasing of PSP consoles by SCE employees would be for investigatory purposes. We would also like to express our surprise at a company releasing personal information about its consumers, as this is contrary to data protection principles around the world."

While Sony seems to be taking the higher ground in this post-courtroom battle of words, Lik-Sang has yet to respond or reveal more about the alleged business deals that the company had with SCEE execs. Lik-Sang is also currently working overtime on cancelling and refunding all of the existing orders that they have in their books.

Thanks lauwens for the heads up!

Because of multiple lawsuits filed by Sony, Hong Kong gaming retailer Lik-Sang finally succumbed and bid the industry goodbye. As of today, Lik-Sang is no longer operational, following the ruling of the High Court of London regarding the retailer's sale of PSP consoles. According to the decision, Lik-Sang's act was unlawful as it infringed on Sony's trademarks, copyright, and registered design rights by engaging in gray importation.

The main stand of Sony, through a spokesperson's statement to Gamesindustry.biz recently, was that they ultimately had the customers' best interests at heart. They claim that it would be to the disadvantage of the consumer if they were sold hardware that fails to conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards.

Lik-Sang, however, vehemently disagrees with Sony's claims, citing that the PSP consoles that they ship contain genuine Sony 100V-240V AC Adapters, which carry CE and other safety marks, compatible worldwide. Furthermore, all the handhelds did actually conform with all EU and UK consumer safety regulations. Therefore, the necessity issue for consumer-protection raised by Sony was non-existent at best.

Lik-Sang also points out the irony that while Sony was berating them for supposedly infringing on their rights, they conveniently failed to disclose to the High Court of London that Sony Europe's very own top directors allegedly received their PSP hard or software imports from Lik-Sang, starting just two days after it officially came out in Japan, complete with accompanying free Lik-Sang merchandise, like mugs or badge holders.

SCEE Managing Director, Ray Maguire, UK Marketing Director Alan Duncan, Chris Sorrell, SCEE Creative Director, and Rob Parkin, SCEE Development Director, are just a few of the names who were found to have placed PSP-related Sony Europe orders. Nine months later, Lik-Sang found itself facing a lawsuit from the company of these former customers.

Former Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com, Pascal Clarysse, had some words to say about the issue. And you can expect it to be not pretty. Says he:

Today is Sony Europe victory about PSP, tomorrow is Sony Europe’s ongoing pressure about PlayStation 3. With this precedent set, next week could already be the stage for complaints from Sony America about the same thing, or from other console manufacturers about other consoles to other regions, or even from any publisher about any specific software title to any country they don’t see fit. It’s the beginning of the end... of the World as we know it.

So what happens now to those existing placement orders?

Lik-Sang will be cancelling and refunding all existing orders. They are also now working closely with banks and PayPal to work out the refund of any store credits held by the company. Their customer support department is also working double time to cater to any open transactions, like pending RMAs or repairs and shipping related matters. They also would like to reassure their patrons that they will make sure nobody gets in the line of fire unnecessarily regarding this issue.

And like receiving news that a good friend just passed away, there's nothing more left to say.