North Texas Daily

Ever since the release of the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X, we have seen countless eBay links leading to the consoles being sold for up to $1,000. With a base price of anything from $400-$500, it is clear that people are not buying these consoles for personal enjoyment, but for scamming people out of hundreds of dollars.

There is much to think about when people spend all that time and money, only to make an extra $300 or so. I will never understand someone unironically sitting at a computer and taking the opportunity away from someone who genuinely wants to purchase a gaming console. It is one of those things that feels illegal, yet is almost encouraged as an easy way to make money.

There are all kinds of things, like online bots, that can purchase the console for you, inserting all your card information faster than anyone or anything. These consoles have been released in waves since November 2020, yet some people still open up their devices every day hoping to get their console. This normally leads to the restock selling out in seconds, losing hundreds of consoles to bots and scalpers that will probably never take the product out of the box. It is sickening to think that stripping others of their joy to make some money is a common thing to take part in, but at this point, I am no longer surprised.

I will never understand the websites letting this happen either. Major companies like Walmart and Target just let these scalpers take advantage of their terrible checkout systems, allowing multiple consoles to be bought at once. This means that if there is a bot that can buy a console faster than anyone, why not just let the bot buy the whole stock?

We have seen situations like this happen before. Earlier in 2020, there was a guy that bought as much toilet paper and hand sanitizer as possible, which led to consequences on his end. Would it be too much to ask for these major companies to do the same? I think it is funny that a lot of companies turn a blind eye to stuff like this because at the end of the day, it is making them a lot more money.

Websites should be making extreme efforts to make sure that consoles are purchased fairly. We have pushed past the barrier of nine blocks popping up on the screen and making us choose which blocks contain stop signs, just to prove we are not a robot. That tactic has been used forever, so of course, people are going to find a way around it. There is no sense of care, and I honestly think the companies should just come out and endorse it if they are just going to sit back and think that keeping silent is going to help the problem.

Things like consoles and shoes may not seem like big deals when it comes to scalpers, but sooner or later it is going to escalate to something that does matter. Taking advantage of retail companies is something to frown upon and there is no doubt about that. The real problem is the companies letting it happen.

Featured Illustration by Miranda Thomas