eBay bans PS3 imports to Europe

Brit auction site eBay.co.uk has banned listings in Europe of Japan or US model PlayStation 3s, declaring that only consoles bought within the European Union can be resold there.

Last month, Hong Kong-based import-game seller Lik-Sang closed down after losing a law suit against Sony for selling Japanese PSPs to European consumers.

Sony announced shortly afterward that it would move to stop any other "grey importing" of its products into Europe, which led to another major online importer, Play-Asia.com, suspending all orders of Sony products to the EU.

Almost as soon as preorders of the PS3 became available in the US, ads from resellers started popping up on eBay, some asking for as much as $100,000 for the console. eBay removed the ads, telling GameSpot, "the seller must have legal ownership of the product. As such, preordered items cannot be sold on the site."

More recently, since the Japanese launch of the PS3 on November 11, adverts have been appearing offering the Japanese version of the console from regions including Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan. But now, according to eBay, listings will be removed and accounts closed if sellers offer their Sony consoles for delivery to the EU.

A list of other rules have been added for those wishing to sell a PS3 on the Web site--only one console may be sold, the item must be dispatched within 30 days of the listing being posted, PayPal will be the only payment option available, and users must include a photo of their purchase or preorder receipt.

A spokesperson for eBay told GameSpot, "Now that the policy has changed on the sale of the PS3s, the currently listings are being removed and shortly there should be none left on eBay.co.uk."