The PlayStation 3 (also known as PS3) is Sony’s latest gaming system after the success of the first two Playstations. The system was released on November 11, 2006. The PS3 competes with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii. Although the system is theoretically the most powerful of the three, it is behind the Xbox 360 and Wii in sales with just over five million sold. This is a little less than half the sales of other systems. Typically this has been attributed to the price of the system. The PlayStation 3 generally sells for almost double the price of a Wii at $ 499.

Regardless, I opted to get a PlayStation 3 for myself rather than any of the other systems. Unlike the Xbox 360 and Wii, the PS3 offers ready-to-use, high-definition Blu-ray movie playback. Simply put, watching Blu-ray movies is awesome. The image and the sound are incredible. The Xbox 360 supports HD-DVD, but you have to purchase an additional player for this feature to work! High definition on the Wii? Forget it, it’s not available! I wanted to play games and have the next generation of video playback.

After hearing about the capabilities of the PS3, I began to shop around. Like most people, paying $ 499 for a gaming system was too much. Tried many of the big retailers; Best Buy, Comp USA, Circuit City, etc. Basically what I learned was that retailers like these agree to set the price Sony wants. You just won’t find a lower price than this at any of these stores.

So now I will tell you how I got a PS3 for $ 327. One word: eBay. Let me tell you this, there are some amazing deals on that site. Now I know that a lot of people don’t like the hassle of dealing with eBay, but I did find a few sites that help with the process. There are basically a lot of sites that list the best deals on eBay, so it takes a lot of work to shop there, and try a Google search. Did I mention that these sites also have games and accessories listed? Buy your PS3 today and save money, try eBay!