PS5 stock is borderline impossible to find right now, and consoles are selling for over £1,000/$1,500 on eBay – significantly more than Sony’s recommended retail price. Now an interview with Business Insider has shed light on the sordid reseller market, with one British group claiming that its members have purchased 3,500 systems to date.
So, how does it all work? Well, the organisation sells subscriptions to wannabe resellers, and then provides them with access to a variety of different services which help them to source highly sought-after products. That ranges from, yes, bots all the way through to insight and advice. The idea is that, once purchased, those items can then be resold at a profit.
Part of the group’s goal is figuring out what’s in demand; apparently hot tubs were huge at one point during the coronavirus pandemic. Currently, the big tech product is the PS5, and, of course, with resellers scooping up all of the readily available stock, the demand is rising higher – thus lining the scalpers’ pockets further.
Exactly what can be done here remains to be seen. There are bots available to circumvent online wait times, jump queues, and complete transactions quicker than the average person ever could. However, the group claims that many of its members are actually purchasing the consoles manually, meaning they’re doing this professionally like a job. The only way to beat them is to match them.
Unfortunately, that’s unrealistic for the average person who just wants to get a console to enjoy this Christmas. Sony admitted recently that it’s sold every single PS5 it’s manufactured, and it’s unclear when it will be able to meet the demand. Unfortunately, we could be in a situation where PS5 stock is limited deep into 2021.