Scalpers and Consoles

      In the world of scalping, basically, any kind of product can be bought and sold at a higher price. A few weeks ago, I saw Walmart trending on Twitter, and a lot of people were angry at their online store. Upon clicking the tag, I saw that people were posting about a $1000 Play Station 5 (PS5) console being sold on the website. This price is double what the console was originally worth. Since the new console released it has been selling out fast, and due to the Pandemic, restocks are less frequent. Because of this, stores have been trying to get their hands on the new console as soon as they restock. Since Walmart's online store works as a marketplace, where other authorized sellers can sell their products, the company allowed people who were looking to resell the new console. While this got more people going to the Walmart website to get the console, it was not as helpful, since the majority of the resell marketplaces on the website were selling the product at over double the price.

    This has been a problem for a long time, after every major video game console release the topic of console scalping is brought up again. This time, to combat the scalpers, stores such as Gamestop are selling the console in bundles. This means that the user pays more because they are getting more products alongside the console. Usually, scalpers operate bots that flood websites and buy out products, hence why we are sometimes asked to confirm we are not a robot when we check out from an online store. However, since these bundles come at a higher price, scalper bots are less likely to buy the product. This is especially because no individual part of a bundle can be returned, therefore if scalpers were to only sell the console, they would lose the money for the extra products included in the bundle. Although this does not stomp the issue entirely, it is a pretty smart strategy. There are some downsides for the buyers, though. For instance, the product is now more expensive, so even though have a higher chance of getting the console, they are also forced to get everything included in the bundle, even if they are not interested. 

Articles cited: 

https://screenrant.com/ps5-scalpers-resell-walmart-website/

https://gamingintel.com/how-ps5-bundles-stop-scalpers-bots-buying-restocks/