Canadian construction worker bets on the PS3 and loses big

23-year old Derek O’Brien thought he had the perfect plan on getting enough money to buy his girlfriend an engagement ring. Back in November, he purchased Sony PlayStation 3 consoles in the hopes of selling them for a tidy profit just before Christmas. However, it’s now February and O’Brien still hasn’t sold the consoles. Can you imagine the dinner conversation between this couple ?

According to the Globe and Mail, O’Brien camped outside the Walmart all night until the 7AM opening. He bought one console for the regular $659 price and another one from a scalper for $1800. He hoped to sell the consoles through eBay, but made a fatal mistake.

The PS3 was fetching upwards of $3000 to $5000 in the days after the launch , but O’Brien believed supplies would remain tight and that he could get even more if he waited until just before Christmas. He guessed wrong, horribly wrong.

Sony started shipping more consoles to stores which made O’Brien’s consoles rather ordinary. He then tried selling them through eBay to UK gamer, but the auction site pulled the ad and added insult to injury by suspending his account.

O’Brien is now out more than $2400 on two unopened Sony PlayStation3 consoles. He even missed out on a full refund for returning the console within 30 days.