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[BluRayHiDef]

This current fall season has been flooded by releases of new gaming products.

Back in September, two entries in Nvidia's RTX 30 Series were released: RTX 3080 and RTX 3090; and in October, a third entry in the RTX 30 Series was released: RTX 3070.

In the current month, November, two entries in AMD's competing RX 6000 Series have been released: RX 6800 and RX 6800 XT.

Three consoles have been released this month as well: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.

Furthermore, there are more products coming: RX 6900 XT and RTX 3060Ti, and who knows what else.

So, one would think that gamers would be happy now that they can acquire new tech to improve their gaming experiences or engage in new ones. However, that has not been the case due to the pandemic and subsequent supply shortages, which has been exacerbated by scalping.

All of the aforementioned products have been very, very difficult for actual gamers to purchase because scalpers have bought bulks of them and have been selling them on eBay and other similar sites at twice their Market Suggested Retail Prices (MSRP) or more!

So, I ask the following: Do you think that scalping should be illegal?

___________________​

What prompted my creation of this thread is a video that has recently been published by Review Tech USA, which is below. In it, Richard reports about a scalper group that has acquired 3500 units of the PlayStation 5, which is more stock than some retailers have had. He states flat out that scalping should be illegal.

 

[German Hops]

Nah, making money off of idiots is how great civilizations are built.

 

[Forsythia]

Illegal, no, but stores should do more to prevent this from happening.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Another thread about this?

No dude, how could that be ilegal?. People buying cheap and selling at a higher price is how the market works.

If you don't like it just wait. Or ask the stores to limit their sales to one product per customer.

 

[yurqqa]

We did it in USSR. Didn't work exactly as you imagine.

YOu shouldn't try to regulate everything you don't like.

 

[Methos#1975]

I think making scalping illegal would be very hard from a legal perspective, retailers though should be doing more to prevent the usage of bots

 

[BluRayHiDef]

What prompted my creation of this thread is a video that has recently been published by Review Tech USA, which is below. In it, Richard reports about a scalper group that has acquired 3500 units of the PlayStation 5, which is more stock than some retailers have had. He states flat out that scalping should be illegal.

 

[Eimran]

Idiot buyers should become illegal

 

[INC]

You wanted capitalism, you got it

 

[KingT731]

Any scalping is the fault of retailers. There was a reason Sony limited their orders to 1 per household.

 

[MrFunSocks]

Lol bit of an overreaction to people not getting a game console that they wanted when they wanted it.

You can’t stop people buying things and then re-selling them for a profit.

 

[brian0057]

No.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Lol but of an overreaction to people not getting a game console that they wanted when they wanted it.

You can’t stop people buying things and then re-selling them for a profit.

Stores can. But they won't as long as they get their money.

 

[TheDreadLord]

I do not think it is illegal. The issue is that they are using bots and things like this which violate pre-order policies stores make. I guess is up to the retailers to fix this, of course if they care about their consumers.

 

[-Arcadia-]

There’s really no need to go this far.

Customers should instead pressure retailers to have better, or anything beyond the bare minimum really, systems. Things like Walmart customers getting systems snatched out of their cart were utterly ridiculous.

 

[kraspkibble]

it's a shitty thing to do but no need for it to be illegal. stores can implement better policies and procedures to prevent it.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

I have no opinion, but I wanted to make a clunky reference to the Bear Jew.

 

[RedVIper]

Scalping something essential like medical supplies or food? Sure.

Scalping a video games console? No, grow up.

 

[Soodanim]

There would be nothing stopping you buying one, then for whatever reason deciding you don't want it and selling it. The reason is irrelevant, which is key. The price you sell it for is dictated by the market. If you put it up for bid and the bidding went up way beyond the RRP without your input, then who are you to say no? The rule of supply and demand is constant.

I think sites should make efforts to stop it being intentionally done on a wider scale, but that's as far as they can or should go. The rest is up to consumers to buy or not buy. If someone wants it more than you do, then they'll pay more than you will for it.

 

[nush]

Stores can. But they won't as long as they get their money.

Theres no motivation for them to do it, why invest in building systems to stop it so they can just make the same money without doing that?

 

[and 3 others]

My rational side says no, but I've been trying quite a bit without success to get a PS5, so that side says yes. So...perhaps?

 

[phil_t98]

while its bad its down to the company's who produce the products to make sure that they have more supply. if they had more supply the scalpers wouldn't bet able to charge the high prices. so blame Microsoft and sony I guess

 

[BluRayHiDef]

At the very least, buying bulks of a product in order to scalp the units should definitely be illegal. Bulk removals of supply from the market severely alters demand artificially.

No person or group should be allowed to purchase dozens to thousands of units of any product to resell them for profit.

 

[Rick Monster]

It's not illegal to hoard PPE during pandemics, and this isn't illegal either.

 

[Warnen]

Nope but retailers could do better. Not that it matters to them

 

[TLZ]

The usage of bots should be illegal. It's simply unfair and defeats competition. Human reflexes cannot beat bots. This is cheating and should be banned.

Be my guest and fight my finger fair and square.

 

[BluRayHiDef]

while its bad its down to the company's who produce the products to make sure that they have more supply. if they had more supply the scalpers wouldn't bet able to charge the high prices. so blame Microsoft and sony I guess

The companies cannot do anything to combat scalper groups purchasing thousands of units; when scalpers can acquire that many units, then companies simply cannot produce enough supply.

 

[LeftThumbstick]

No.

How can you stop people selling things they legally bought? It’s up to the retailers to make bot-proof systems.

People want less government oversight, not more.

 

[Elog]

You have the right to sell what you own. Anything else is a dictatorship.

MS and Sony should be better at managing the channel though to minimise purchases to one console per person - that would increase their customer satisfaction and is within their right since they own the consoles until they have sold them.

 

[brian0057]

Scalping something essential like medical supplies or food? Sure.

Scalping a video games console? No, grow up.

No, it shouldn't. For neither.

 

[Birdo]

I voted yes because it would also apply to morons who panic buy.

Just make it illegal to sell someone x-amount of one item.

 

[Blood Borne]

Genuine question.
Define scalping?

If it’s buying items with bots, that’s no different from hacking and it’s already illegal and companies need to tighten their IT security. So other than bots, I just can’t see how buying and selling items can be illegal. Hence it’ll be nice to have a clear definition of what scalping is.

 

[lock2k]

Scalping only happens because retarded people pay the prices.

If someone starved the scalpers, it wouldn't happen again. But since there are idiots willing to pay the price, fair game.

 

[Rbk_3]

Retailers need to implement better systems for purchasing these high demand low stock items so that they aren't scooped up by bots, including 1 per address until supply outweighs demand.

 

[brian0057]

Retailers need to implement better systems for purchasing these high demand low stock items so that they aren't scooped up by bots, including 1 per address until supply outweighs demand.

You know what solves that problem?
A price hike. But since over 38 states made it illegal, here we are.

 

[ReBurn]

I understand the frustration with not being able to get something you really want. It really sucks and people are stupid to pay as much as these things are going for. But this isn't a life or death situation. It's just the holiday's hottest toy. Nobody Is going to die if they don't get to play Astrobot until April.

 

[Roufianos]

You want to send people to jail for the re-selling of goods for a profit?

If infringing on people's basic liberties is a passion of yours OP, maybe you'd feel more at home on ResetEra.

The answer to scalping is really simple. Retailers, Sony and MS could have easily created a system where their best customers get first dibs.

Sony kind of had this idea but completely half-assed it.

 

[Nico_D]

Of course not. People are free to buy what they want in quantity and quality.

Not really a big problem if you are not able buy something immediately. Adults should possess an ability to wait and if they don't, something as irrelevant as a gaming system is a good place to practice it.

It is up to seller to restict sales to 1/person if they want to. If there's a way around that, c'est la vie.

 

[Hudo]

If scalping is banned, people would find other workarounds to do exactly the same shit again. The problem is the greed of people and the stupidity of people.

 

[RPSleon]

Exactly this.

Illegal, no, but stores should do more to prevent this from happening.

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

I blame Sony and co for not organizing everything better.

 

[Miles708]

it's a shitty thing to do but no need for it to be illegal. stores can implement better policies and procedures to prevent it.

Yeah but.... why should they?

 

[DelireMan7]

It was already said many time already but 2 things have to be done to stop scalpers :

-Stores restrict the buying to 1/2 per person even so they don't have really an interest in that
-People should not buy a system at an higher price than the retail price...

 

[BluRayHiDef]

You want to send people to jail for the re-selling of goods for a profit?

If infringing on people's basic liberties is a passion of yours OP, maybe you'd feel more at home on ResetEra.

The answer to scalping is really simple. Retailers, Sony and MS could have easily created a system where their best customers get first dibs.

Sony kind of had this idea but completely half-assed it.

Send people to jail? No.

Subject scalpers to a fine equal to their profit? Yes.

 

[nush]

If scalping is banned, people would find other workarounds to do exactly the same shit again. The problem is the greed of people and the stupidity of people.

I'm sure scalpers would like to be able to buy wholesale from Sony, but they can't becuse Sony will only sell directly to certain accounts.

 

[BlitzerRadic]

All of the aforementioned products have been very, very difficult for actual gamers to purchase because scalpers have bought bulks of them and have been selling them on eBay and other similar sites at twice their Market Suggested Retail Prices (MSRP) or more!

Actual gamers are in fact buying these items - from the scalpers. These are luxury items. So it seems appropriate whoever is willing to pay the most should be first in line to purchase.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Ok why it shouldn't be illegal ?

I mean hoarding say vegetables or Onions to hike the price in the market is illegal in many countries. Why can't same be implemented to the electronic devices ?

Edit : oh yeah. Consoles are luxurious not essential.

 

[nush]

I mean hoarding say vegetables or Onions to hike the price in the market is illegal in many countries.

Those examples are perishable products, so not the same thing.

 

[Radical_3d]

I sense statism. Waiting for the fellow Americans to wake up and fix this pool.

 

[brian0057]

Ok why it shouldn't be illegal ?

I mean hoarding say vegetables or Onions to hike the price in the market is illegal in many countries. Why can't same be implemented to the electronic devices ?

1. The price hike forces those that don't need but want the product to think again if they really want it, thus leaving supply to those that actually need it.
2. The profit incentive is a signal to those that have the product to compete, thus reducing the price for everyone.
3. Even if you make it illegal, now you are in a situation where you no longer have access to the product, forcing you to wait for the manufacturer to increase supply... which is something you could already do with or without the scalpers so... what was the point.