Buying Burning Crusade: Collecter's Edition for profit? [Update]
by David Nelson 
Oct 8th 2006 at 4:00PM
Skimming the forums the past couple of days, I have seen several posts dealing with the perceived scarcity of the Burning Crusade Collector's Edition. Much like the XBox 360 last Christmas, and surely the PS3 and Wii this holiday, it seems like people are getting the idea of grabbing a Collector's Edition and hitting Ebay with it.While I am certainly not against anyone making a few extra dollars, I wonder about this strategy. Blizzard is in the business of making money, and you have to think they are going to be producing A LOT more Collector's Editions than they did with the original. A majority of the speculation about the perceived rarity of the CE stems from Gamestop.com taking down their preorder. However, Amazon's preorder page is still active, and they have the price at $59.99, not $69.99. Perhaps Gamestop.com had the price wrong and took down the page until they could get their ducks in a row. Additionally, the Gamestop near my house, and the 5 others I called in my area, are all taking preorders on the CE as of 3 PM today. Finally, my faith in Gamestop having any clue what they will or will not be getting in terms of product is nil. You see, last year I was number 13 on their XBox 360 preorder list, and they promised I'd get my 360 on release day. I ended up getting my 360 a full month after release. Liars I tell you! Why would they have any better idea what kind of CE stock they are going to get? If anything they are gun shy about making the same mistake twice, which is why they still aren't taking Wii preorders.
If the CE is indeed rare, then more power to the people who are snatching the CEs. However, I sincerely hope that there is plenty to go around and everyone who wants one can get one without paying through the nose on Ebay.
[Update: Seems like Amazon.com has taken down their CE page as well! Maybe it will be rare. Profit whores rejoice!]
[Update #2: Seems like the Amazon preorder is back up. I will not be updating at the whim of Amazon anymore, but suffice to say, it looks like you might want to reserve your copy ASAP, just in case.]
Filed under: Expansions, Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
NeuroMan42 Oct 8th 2006 5:27PM
I bought the first one, and unlike other Collectors Editions to games, Blizzard actually makes them WORTH the money. I will definately be getting the BC Edition too.
Gamerz22 Oct 8th 2006 6:48PM
Gotta have that DvD/CD power with the soundtrack, art book, and behind the scenes dvd! So, that answer is a hell yes, with the others in the XE being a great bonus :) Hopefulyl it stays around $50-$60!
M.H. Williams Oct 8th 2006 7:28PM
For games, Gamestops generally get enough copies to cover their preorders and some extra for sales. Systems-wise, allocations are given by the company making the system, and they send whatever they have, stores be damned. So the thing that happened with your 360 has a far less chance of happening with a copy of any game.
Elodren Oct 8th 2006 7:43PM
At bestbuy.ca the game release is estimated for November 28th and you can buy the game pre-order for 49.99$ CA. Are you guys being ripped off at 59.99 $ US ?
Jojo Oct 8th 2006 9:34PM
Amazon appears to have taken down their pre-orders as well.
Swiftlydead Oct 9th 2006 12:06AM
LOL @ ANYONE THAT BUYS A WII!!!
Belurme Oct 9th 2006 12:33AM
If Gamestop made a mistake with their pricing, I had better get a bit of a refund. (I already preordered through them)
Oh and it looks like the Amazon preorder page is back up as of 12:32PM Eastern.
Tryst Oct 9th 2006 1:50AM
EB Games today said they are getting in only enough CE to cover pre-orders and enough of the non-CE that you should be able to just walk in and purchase. They also said they are being shipped on the 28th to be available for purchase on the 29th. The dude swore that was the official release date from Blizz. But, he also told me a long story about someone putting him on auto-follow that I had to pretend to be interested in.
kuri Oct 9th 2006 3:25PM
I'm just curious with the Amazon orders- if you were to preorder online, what are the chances of actually getting the game release day?
Due to this confusion, and online retailers' avoidance of explicitly stating whether the game will be on your doorstep launch day, I'm veering towards just pre-ordering at a local retailer.
Cort Oct 10th 2006 1:21PM
I stopped by my Gamestop yesterday to preorder the CE after reading this... They said they hadn't had many preorders, but "now that they have a release date, they should get more."
I'm taking that with a HUGE grain of salt.
Tiger Oct 10th 2006 3:58PM
I don't think Gamestop had the price wrong. They just going to make $10 extra and plus the whole sale price thru blizzard. So the best bet right now is get your game through amazon before they raise the price to 69.99.