CNET
Getting the latest and greatest gadget is always a challenge, but the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are on another level. Since the launch of products in late 2020, thousands of game fans have found that buying the new generation of game consoles is little more than an exercise in frustration. Consoles are almost always out of stock. When stores have stock, they run out in minutes.
Worse, it has been that way for months – and it is no mystery why. Resellers created a home industry by deploying small armies of shopping bots to buy high-demand items to resell later at a higher price. If you can find a PS5 in the store, you’ll pay $ 499 for a disc drive version. Buy from an online money changer, and can cost up to $ 999.
It is a problem that plagues sales of game consoles, state-of-the-art computer parts and even the tennis industry. It is also a practice almost universally hated by the average consumer.
However, retailers are tired of being seen as the bad guys. According to a new article in Forbes, many money changers consider the reaction to the resale unjustified. “All we are doing is an intermediary for a limited quantity item,” a dealer told the publication. “Essentially, all companies resell their products.” The money changer, identified only as Jordan, said no one complained when a grocery store bought milk from a farmer and resold it twice.
Walmart
This is true, but at the same time, there are no entire groups like Jordan dedicated to monitoring all milk shipments and buying stock before the average consumer can. Specifically, Jordan tells Forbes that he runs a private “cook group” that advises money changers on the best way to purchase in-demand items like the PlayStation 5. The group monitors hundreds of sites for replenishing inventory and sends its users, complete with their armies of bots, to acquire as many consoles as possible.
This takes thousands of consoles out of the open market, making it even more difficult for the average buyer to get their hands on the new generation of gaming hardware. Still, Jordan and other money changers see themselves as a bright spot in the equation.
“The whole group came close to the start of the first blockade in the UK and it makes me very happy to be able to help people earn some extra money for themselves,” Jordan told Forbes. “We also do a lot for charity,” he added, noting that some of the fees he charges members of his scalping group go to a local food bank.
For many ordinary players, however, these rationalizations probably don’t mean much. The PS5 and Xbox Series X are still almost impossible to find at their retail price levels, and sellers like Walmart says it is constantly trying to avoid bot purchases in favor of legitimate customers.
Unfortunately, the problem probably won’t be leaving anytime soon. Bot-powered resellers have become a reality for high-demand products. And if the Forbes article is any indication, the money changers behind these operations don’t seem to feel bad about it.