If you weren’t lucky enough to secure a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S at launch, you may be going through the frustrating experience of watching for restocks and hoping you’re quick enough to bag a console. What makes this process so aggravating, however, is the presence of bots–and groups that use them–that snap up all the stock in seconds and then sell them for a premium price.
We are, of course, talking about scalpers. For those familiar with the wild world of sneaker/trainer resale, you’ll be intimately familiar with the difficulties of snagging a limited edition or exclusive pair before an algorithm powered bot eats up the stock. This year, however, these bots, and clandestine groups that utilize them, began to target a wider variety of highly sought after items. Most notably, Nvidia’s 30 series of graphics cards have been close to impossible for the average person to buy. Naturally, Sony and Microsoft’s new consoles have also become targets, with some groups snatching thousands of consoles for themselves.
On this episode of Generation Next, Lucy, Jordan, and Tamoor break down what’s going on with scalpers and the retail bots, as well as look at whether any of it is actually illegal, what can be done, and also their own experiences with scalping or selling hot ticket items at a premium.
