The PS5 was easily one of the most sought-after items on the market in 2020. The demand for it was extremely high, not just because of the computational power and the new haptics it introduced, but also because it was reasonably-priced. The new tech and the new gaming experience the PS5 brought to the market is worth far more than its $500 price tag. This was all good news, except for the fact that scalpers were quick to take advantage of the high demand and pricing, and they continue to do so today.
Scalping Definition and Legalities
A scalper is a person who buys large quantities of an in-demand item at regular price with the intent of reselling the items at an exorbitant price. While this practice is deemed illegal for some items (such as Super Bowl tickets), the resale of consoles is not illegal, as it is justifiable under the guise of conducting business. The moment a scalper buys a PS5, the item becomes their property, granting them the full rights of ownership, which includes the right to sell the item at any price they deem suitable.
Is Scalping a Method of Market Manipulation?
There is a distinction between scalp trading and scalp reselling. While the rights of ownership transfer to buyers in both cases, the demand for a particular security is not as high as it would be when the security is purchased in huge quantities, This means that the increase in market value of the scalped security is artificially created. On the other hand, the demand for PS5s is already high. The market value of PS5s is not altered by its purchase in large quantities (It still retails for $500). The high demand for the PS5 is naturally created and scalpers are merely capitalizing on that demand.
Sony’s Failed Countermeasures
Sony was aware that the demand for the PS5 would be incredibly high and that supply would be low, so they implemented a policy limit of one PS5 per purchase. However, scalpers were able to circumvent this policy by using bots, the most notorious of which is the All-in-One bot (AIO) that scans hundreds of websites to check if a PS5 is in stock. The moment a PS5 is available, the bot buys it far faster than the time it takes for a human to type out purchase details. These bots are loaded with multiple credit cards, which allows them to purchase large numbers of PS5s almost instantly.
Even though PS5s are being restocked, the harsh reality is that it’s likely that you’re going to be unable to purchase one online for the foreseeable future. Your best bet will always be to buy them from physical retail stores, and even then, they’re quite difficult to get a hold of. You might want to wait until PS5 scalpers get stamped out. Until then, you might want to check out which games you might want to try out other platforms like the ones featured on sites like High Ground Gaming.
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