A collection of must-have” tech items to cure lockdown boredom – including incredibly rare Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X games consoles – are available at an auction house with a base near Burton.
The scarcity of the next-gen consoles have seen UK John Pye Auctions, which has a branch at Marchington Industrial Estate, bombarded with demand in recent months.
The auction house says the Playstation 5 is currently sold out across all major UK retailers including Amazon UK, Currys PC World and GAME, with children and parents hunting high and low to secure the new console.
However, John Pye Auctions is selling the rare games consoles on behalf of retailers, for who the auction house manages surplus and refurbished consumer tech stock through its John Pye Tech lab and warranty online auctions, holding more than 1,300 general online auctions a year for more than 400 clients.
The auction house has seen its registered bidders grow exponentially during the lockdown to more than 510,000, with some of the biggest spikes in the last two weeks.
Business development director Sheldon Miller said: “We saw laptops commanding retail prices in the first lockdown as everyone migrated to working and studying from home.
“However, the demand for PS5s has been unprecedented in this third lockdown, and throughout the whole pandemic, with PS5s making up to £150 over the recommended retail price of £449. The scarcity and sheer mass market interest of the new model is driving such inflationary market movement; making their availability scarcer than Willy Wonka’s famed golden tickets from the old film classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, as children, teenagers, parents, and gaming adults scour the market for any available units.”
This week’s John Pye online tech warranty auction includes a number of hard-to-find items that will keep you entertained through lockdown 3.0, including:
There are seven PS5s included in this one auction, which is due to go live tomorrow, February 12, and will run until Wednesday, February 17.
The lots are available to view on the John Pye website.
John Pye says it is the first auctioneer to offer warrantied product auctions to the mass market.
All items are inspected and repaired by John Pye’s team of expert engineers to determine the length of the warranty – usually between two and 12 months.
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David Harper, head of the technical division department at John Pye Auctions, said: “If you’re considering buying tech at auction then always look to see if it has a warranty – our John Pye warranty means that you can buy with confidence, knowing an expert team of tech engineers has checked the item over and it is in great condition.
“We are also now offering UK wide home delivery on all items in our lockdown warranty auctions, which run weekly.”
“Buying tech and gadgets at auction usually offers the chance to get a great deal and save quite a bit of money. However, the scarcity of the PS5 is really driving the price up.”
All warranty auctions are now held solely online and items are delivered right to the winning bidder’s door, keeping in line with government guidance.
John Pye Auctions’ head office is located James Shipstone House, Radford Road, New Basford, Nottingham, NG7 7EA.
The firm has 22 sites across the UK, selling a wide range of stock and assets from luxury items, home and garden, vehicles, plant and machinery, property, and more.
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