Nintendo DSi Reservations Already on Japanese Auction Sites

Anticipating healthy demand and possible shortages for Nintendo's new DSi handheld device, reservation tickets are already being offered for the device on Japanese auction sites less than a day after it was announced.

Reservation tickets are often handed out by retailers for popular items and confirm the holder's place in the queue to obtain the product. They were originally issued as a way to stop the overnight queuing sometimes seen for popular gaming products but typically cause queuing ahead of the issuing of the tickets.

On Yahoo Auctions, the country's leading auction site, one enterprising advertiser was offering three reservation tickets with a starting price of ¥5,000 (US$48) even though they almost certainly didn't have them in-hand. Nintendo only announced the DSi on Thursday and most retailers have not yet begun advertising the product.

The DSi will launch in Japan on Nov. 1.

As of 4:30 p.m. local time on Friday the price of one ticket had risen to ¥6,250 in light bidding, with 21 hours remaining.

Users overseas won't see the DSi until sometime next year or possibly later so in addition to local demand the DSi is likely to be a popular buy with people hoping to sell them at a profit on overseas auction sites.