Scalpers have been a recurring antagonist throughout the PS5's launch, purchasing the console in bulk and reselling for anywhere from two to four times the original price. Now that it's 2021, we would have hoped this annoyance could be put behind us, but that's not the case.
According to a report from VGC, UK retailer Game had a PS5 restock Tuesday morning, and unsurprisingly sold out in ten minutes. Apparently, a bot referred to as Carnage tweeted out that it managed to secure over 2,000 orders. This is rather upsetting, as it means a large number of actual people might have been cheated out of buying a PS5.
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However, there is some hope. Game will reportedly help to the best of its ability. "We have strong measures in place to help ensure that our ‘1 per customer’ statement is maintained to allow for as many individual customers to successfully purchase as possible," a spokesperson for the retailer claims.
Game has yet to undergo these order checks, meaning there's a possibility that the scalpers could have their purchases cancelled before it's ever even delivered. If the retailer can do what it claims it can, hundreds of previously frustrated consumers might catch a lucky break.
Even then, scalpers won't stop reselling PS5 consoles until the system is frequently in stock, and considering that the Covid pandemic isn't going away anytime soon, who knows when that will be. Microsoft even claims that these supply shortages could go on until April of this year, so don't get your hopes up.
