Welcome to hell! Please take a seat right here next to the Jeepers Peepers serial killer who ran around with the eyeballs of his victims as cops chased after him, the inventor of the sitcom laugh track, and that one guy who shared spoilers of The Mandalorian season 2 online. Your crime that earned you eternal damnation? You know pretty well that you shouldn’t have tried to make a quick buck off of PS5 consoles with your legion of bots that grabbed all available sales.
Now prepare to suffer, as you spend your afterlife walking through an endless series of doorways but your T-shirt gets caught on every single door handle.
Am I overreacting? Possibly, but for those people who have $500 in one hand and hope in the other, every chance to grab a PS5 usually requires them to become a conduit to the Speed Force just so that they can obtain one of the rare Sony consoles whenever stock is replenished. The problem isn’t just people using bots, but rather that these scalpers are incredibly organised and efficient thanks to software that helps them scoop up all available stock.
Here’s a recent story for you regarding the scumbags via The Gamer, as one UK-based group known as Carnage took to social media to show off that it had grabbed 2000 new PS5 consoles from retailer GAME. Carnage decided to gloat about this, caught the attention of many pissed off consumers and now GAME is investigating the mass purchases. These sales are likely to be cancelled, and Carnage’s social account has gone into private mode following the online brouhaha.
Carnage isn’t the only game in town though, although retailers appear to be more on the ball lately when instances of scalpers using bots to get an unfair advantage have been brought to their attention. Recently, CrepChiefNotify got rumbled when it announced that it had secured thousands of PS5 preorders last year, leading to a more vigilant crackdown on this sort of behavior.
For those people who have been able to grab the PS5 or Xbox Series X, they’ve been one of the lucky few million to do so. For everyone else? It’s off to the secondhand market, and a quick round of highway robbery for the clearest case of how supply and demand work in a capitalist society that has been turned up to 11.
Last Updated: January 20, 2021
Insomnia is fun
January 20, 2021 at 05:11
Why do retailers care, they’re making money no?
Insomnia is fun
January 20, 2021 at 05:12
Also screw scalpers with a flaming cactus
Mandalorian Jim
January 22, 2021 at 06:37
Hey, you have to admire and respect their dedication to the capitalist dream. If you can scalp a few consoles and then get away with selling them at grossly inflated prices, can you really blame the hussle? Or the entrepreneurial spirit?
I’d say the real group that should get a few flaming cacti up their behinds are the ones buying the consoles (at ridiculous prices). There’s clearly a demand, and if there wasn’t the scalpers would be forced to sell at more reasonable prices.
So, quite frankly, I’m not going to come down on some guy making a profit on the back of idiots. I’m actually impressed and slightly envious.
Insomnia is fun
January 22, 2021 at 06:52
Lotta idiots with too much money
FuzzyBoots007140
January 20, 2021 at 05:35
Scalped devices do not generate additional profit for the retailer.
You walk into a store, get a PS5 and grab a game or two, maybe an additional controller. A scalper buys the device and the person who purchases it will potentially buy those extras elsewhere.
It makes sense for retailers to want to sell to actual customers.
Insomnia is fun
January 20, 2021 at 05:39
Makes sense
HvR
January 20, 2021 at 05:42
Added to that is if you are seen as compliant you risk alienating a big customer base when it comes to other products or when the PS5 stock shortage is over that then supports the competition.
MechMachine
January 20, 2021 at 08:51
It actually irks me that these scalpers post images on Twitter. What gives ? It’s really sinister.
Mandalorian Jim
January 22, 2021 at 06:41
A sale is a sale, and while you make a fairly good case about the peripherals, if I was a retailer, all I would really care about it selling my goods (rather than going through some draconian process to vet people. Are they a scalper? Are they a “real” customer. In my book, both are real customers.
As I said earlier, the real idiots are the ones who would actually buy a console at an inflated price, when all they have to do is wait. The other culprit is Sony and Microsoft for drip feeding retailers stock, which then creates this situation where demand outstrips supply and you make it profitable for scalpers to sell at crazy prices.
MechMachine
January 22, 2021 at 08:32
I agree to an extent. But here is an example, my good friend has been waiting patiently to get a PS5. He even bought the Series X just to use until he could get his hands on one. He is in the exact same situation he was before launch. There is no stock in sight and no indication as to when there will be an abundance of stock. He found a guy who was willing to sell him one for 13k ( ouch ) with 2 games but that guy ended up dropping him.
Personally, I would never buy from a Scalper, on principle. I never have. But the situation has never presented itself either. I empathize with anyone who is as passionate about it as I am. I wanted a PS5 so badly. I got one. I can only imagine the frustration one would feel if they couldn’t find one. Especially two months down the road.
MechMachine
January 20, 2021 at 08:48
Simple question to answer. Retailers spend big money in the attempt to relate to their market so they can rip them off later. It’s not good for business when scalpers come along and snap up all the stock and the retailers have nothing but a promise note. Sony needs to nip this in the butt rather quickly or they will come across as uncaring and money hungry. I do feel somewhat sorry for them as it’s up to the regulatory authorities to solve these issues in each region. It can get wildly out of control, the message has spread. But for whatever reason, 2020 seems like it was worse than any other year by a country mile.
mike
January 20, 2021 at 16:57
Ur dumb , bcuz consumers aren’t buying them directly all warranty is voided these selfish a-holes are ruining warranty and the excitement, hope anyone scalping gets caught and all their ps5 seized!
Insomnia is fun
January 21, 2021 at 09:59
*You’re
*because
I might be dumb, but at least I can use grammar.
mike
February 13, 2021 at 11:14
I apologize but I was driving as I was typing, you can continue being dumb, bcuz winning a spelling contest will only get you a job McDonalds ??♂️
Skyblue
February 14, 2021 at 03:18
Still driving?
Insomnia is fun
February 15, 2021 at 04:01
“I was driving as I was typing”
How irresponsible!
Mandalorian Jim
January 21, 2021 at 11:44
Exactly, and neither would Sony or Microsoft, because it’s a sale.
The only idiots, I can see are the ones without any self-control who’d actually pay inflated prices for a console, when all they have to do is wait. I hope they ask themselves the simple question “Do you really need a PS5 now?” I mean what are they going to play, games from their PS4 library? They can do that in a year as well. And, let’s be honest, are there any launch titles that you really need to play now? And at R1400 a pop? lol!
In a few months to a year, those prices will all come down and you can get those launch titles for R300 or less in a PSN sale.
MechMachine
January 20, 2021 at 08:41
Another gift 2020 gave us. Scalpers turned up to max volume. F*ckers.
Gr8_Balls_o_Fire
January 20, 2021 at 08:44
Just wait a few years for the launch problems to be fixed, and the games technology/developers to be able to actually justifiably utilize the extra power and cost of the console. Also, possibly lower price for older tech 🙂
Why the rush? Backlog finished?
MechMachine
January 20, 2021 at 08:52
No. It will never be finished.
HairyEwok
January 21, 2021 at 02:13
There’s already rumours floating of a PS5 Pro and Slim editions so OG consoles not sold by the scalpers when those come out will probably be at a loss for them.
Mandalorian Jim
January 21, 2021 at 11:39
Absolutely, we all know the first one or two generations of the new consoles are always a mess, and if you’re Joe Public, why put yourself through all the heartache and headache of a bricked launch console? Just be patient. There’s no reason to be one of the firsts, unless you’re a game’s reviewer or one of those super rich idiots from Sandton who has more money than sense, and you don’t mind going through one, three or five new launch consoles…
Play the games in your current backlog, go for a walk, start a new hobby, like painting, online trolling or a martial art.
mike
January 20, 2021 at 16:55
Any one scalping ps5 needs to be arrested lame fawks!!!!!!
SyCoREAPER
January 20, 2021 at 18:53
I’m not giving Microsoft or Sony any of my money out of principle. They could put safeguards in place since retailers don’t care but don’t. As long as they get money who cares right?
Well I’m going the PC route. Microsoft and Sony can suck it.
HairyEwok
January 21, 2021 at 02:12
But but but scalpers and miners are also taking all the graphics cards off the market.
Rusty254
January 21, 2021 at 03:55
The only way I see companies actually selling consoles to players is if Sony starts allowing companies to sell them in store with a limit of one per customer, or even better in store only, with an ID check to see if you’ve already bought one or not. Scalpers just won’t be able to deal with it. I also see many people saying Sony just wants to sell their consoles so they don’t care, but actually they sell their consoles as close to cost as possible and make up the rest with game sales, so consoles that go to scalpers and don’t get game sales are not good for them.
Mandalorian Jim
January 21, 2021 at 11:36
Let’s look at it from a different perspective, the more scalpers buy the first generation of new consoles, the quicker we get to the inevitable updated versions where all the little hardware niggles, bugs and issues have been worked out.
Therefore, scalpers are doing us all a great service. Buy all the first generation consoles, my boys… It just means, when Sony gets around to releasing the more stable versions, I can get it from my local Game or CNA.