Do NOT Buy From Scalpers

Scalpers. They buy stuff up in mass quantities and resell it at much, much higher prices. Scalpers, in two words, they suck. In a few more words, like most politicians, they are garbage human beings. While it may be perfectly legal to scalp, it creates artificial scarcity and makes it far more difficult for people that want the product for themselves or for someone else, to get their hands on. 

The latest hard to find items due to scalpers is the PlayStaion 5 and Xbox Series X. As if to rub salt into the wound, photos of a myriad of PS5s have been going around online, such as the one above. The scalper resale prices for these things has gone for more the twice the asking price of either version of each respective system. What should be something you should be able to buy at the MSRP is being sold for $2000 or more depending on the region you live in. And there are people out there that are so desperate to get these systems that will pay that much when they shouldn't have to.

I'm sure you've heard the horror stories of people that have tried and failed to get their hands on a PS5 or XBSX through online retailers. They keep refreshing, waiting for the item to become available only to have it sold out in seconds. Or the site crashes. Or the item is in their cart and the then it disappears. No matter how fast you move, you cannot compete with the bot armada that scalpers use and online retailers are not properly set up to counter this. So what we're left with is a plethora of would be new console owners, frustrated that they can't get a PS5/XBSX. Oh, but the scalpers have them suckers in mass quantities. All you have to do is fork over several rent payments to get them. One UK based scalper ground that is highly organized managed to score 3500 PS5s and has, unsurprisingly, faced a lot of backlash.

You've probably heard this simple message a dozen times before, but it needs to be repeated, as many times as it takes to sink in: DON'T. BUY. FROM. SCALPERS. Stop playing their game where you shell out to them out of desperation because little Kara wants that PS5 for Christmas. Be patient. Wait for more to become available and buy these systems at the MSRP. Scalpers are only able to keep getting away with this crap because people keep them in business. If you aren't able to secure a PS5 or XBSX in time for Christmas, there are a wealth of other gaming options available to you that don't require to you break the bank.