Scalpers have generated nearly $40 million in profit from this holiday's hottest tech...

[Shawn Knight]

Bottom line: Scalpers have caused shoppers a ton of grief this holiday season but considering how much they're profiting from reselling this year's hottest tech, they probably aren't too concerned. But, just how much are scalpers actually raking in?

We’ve discussed at length just how difficult it has been to get hands on this year’s top tech gifts. Desirables like the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Nvidia 30 series graphics cards are commanding massive premiums on third-party reseller sites like eBay and now we have a better idea of just how much they are making.

Michael Driscoll, a data engineer with Oracle, recently wrote a script that scrapes eBay’s sold listings for specific products and plots the information on a graph for easy digestion.

(Chart courtesy Michael Driscoll)

According to Driscoll’s data, which we should point out is far from perfect, the PlayStation 5 with disc drive generated more than $27 million in total sales on eBay (US only) and created an estimated $14.7 million in profit for scalpers / eBay.

Sales of the Xbox Series X, meanwhile, have spawned north of $20 million in total sales, with an estimated $8.6 million in profits for scalpers / eBay.

In total across the new consoles, new graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia and new processors from AMD, US scalpers have made an estimated $39 million in profit on eBay since September. PayPal and eBay are also benefiting from these sales, netting an estimated $2.4 million and $6.6 million in fees, respectively.

Masthead credit: Roman Kosolapov

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https://www.techspot.com/news/87923-scalpers-have-generated-nearly-40-million-profit-holiday.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

I am fortunate I was able to get PS5 for my cousins and for myself.

I feel really bad for everyone who will wake up on Christmas without one.

Hopefully there will be enough consumer backlash to prevent this sort of nonsense from happening in the future.

 

[Nobina]

I don't think consumer backlash can fix it. It's just what it is.

 

[m4a4]

I desperately wish people would just stop fueling this artificial inflation.

 

[madboyv1]

I don't think consumer backlash can fix it. It's just what it is.

I'm thinking the same, without some seriously draconian registration system that would end up hurting more than helping.

The problem ultimately is that the demand is so high that people are willing to overpay sky high amounts to get these pieces of tech. Out of principle I have never purchased from a scalper for anything, but I don't have a need (or even want right now for most of it) for any of this so it's much easier to talk myself out of it. Call it lack of supply, lack of patience, or both, but as long as there is a captive audience, scalpers will perform exactly as expected.

 

[TomSEA]

I'm thinking the same, without some seriously draconian registration system that would end up hurting more than helping.

The problem ultimately is that the demand is so high that people are willing to overpay sky high amounts to get these pieces of tech. Out of principle I have never purchased from a scalper for anything, but I don't have a need (or even want right now for most of it) for any of this so it's much easier to talk myself out of it. Call it lack of supply, lack of patience, or both, but as long as there is a captive audience, scalpers will perform exactly as expected.

Agreed. With people willing to pay through the nose for the latest toy, there's really nothing to be done about it without hurting consumers in a different way.

I have money burning a hole in my pocket for the latest AMD proc and GPU for a new build. But have simply resigned myself that it's not going to happen until early next year as I refuse to pay scalper pricing. It is what it is...

 

[brucek]

Beyond the dollar count, I'd be interested in how much traffic the botters are generating, both directly and then indirectly (meaning, by making otherwise regular purchasers who just want one for themselves also use a bot to have a chance too.)

Nothing other than more supply will fix the lack of supply. But I do think we should expect a better shopping and distribution system, one that lets consumers easily sign up for the purchase list and one that does not invite and reward bots by using a first-come-first-serve model that sells out in milliseconds.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

The only way to beat them is to prevent them from selling the systems.

No one wants to sit around with a bunch of PS5 consoles.

Eventually they’ll have to make payments on the credit they used to procure them.

They’ll be forced to refund them.

 

[Bulllee]

I know it's only part of the story but the ships are slower for a reason.
All on board but getting there slower than usual without the weather encountered by ONEapus.
Patience has never more become a virtue.
Simmer down casseroles.

 

[Nobina]

I'm thinking the same, without some seriously draconian registration system that would end up hurting more than helping.

The problem ultimately is that the demand is so high that people are willing to overpay sky high amounts to get these pieces of tech. Out of principle I have never purchased from a scalper for anything, but I don't have a need (or even want right now for most of it) for any of this so it's much easier to talk myself out of it. Call it lack of supply, lack of patience, or both, but as long as there is a captive audience, scalpers will perform exactly as expected.

Those principles are something many seem to lack. Scalping wouldn't be an issue if we didn't have so many desperate people willing to sell their kidneys for the latest graphics card, processor or a console to show it off on a tech forum. I think they're sick, but that's just me.

 

[kiwigraeme]

I am fortunate I was able to get PS5 for my cousins and for myself.

I feel really bad for everyone who will wake up on Christmas without one.

Hopefully there will be enough consumer backlash to prevent this sort of nonsense from happening in the future.

I just hope lots of folks wake up to caring friends and family and are able to put food in their bellies

 

[Lounds]

I can't believe people are willing to pay 100-200% more for something, just wait! And why would you buy second hand with no warranty on a brand new device.

 

[Shadowboxer]

If Sony sold them in the first place for say $1000 a unit then there would have been far less demand, the scalpers would have been far less likely to bother. You could then drop the price to $500 or $450 or however much it’s current price is once the supply has normalised. This would prevent scalpers from taking all of Sony’s profits and those who want a console would be able to get one as long as they are happy to pay the premium.

 

[captaincranky]

Those principles are something many seem to lack. Scalping wouldn't be an issue if we didn't have so many desperate people willing to sell their kidneys for the latest graphics card, processor or a console to show it off on a tech forum. I think they're sick, but that's just me.

Basically, computers have taken the place of fast cars and modding them.

People of the obsessive compulsive persuasion, tend to base their sense of self worth, and even their identity on such a machine, gaming computers included.

That's my most charitable take on the phenomenon. What paying double or triple the MSRP for any given entity amounts to, is basically ego driven stupidity.

 

[franticfrosty]

A few friends have been buying from scalpers and I've been helping them successfully get their money back for "a box with rice in it" because hey, if you don't rip off scalpers and make them bleed what are you even doing lol..

They lose not JUST their investment of said console but the money from the sale because "its a box with rice in it" baha, faaak em I say gotta rip off the people ripping others off

 

[tacobravo]

People should stop buying these items at outrageous prices.

 

[Shadowboxer]

People should stop buying these items at outrageous prices.

They won’t. And I think people would happily spend more, I mean people buy handbags that cost more and they can’t play games! There are hundreds of millions of millionaires on this planet and gaming is very mainstream these days, consoles are probably more common than dishwashers in peoples homes these days and certainly more loved.

 

[Leuten]

We need a modern take of the movie Jingle All the Way.
Starring PS5 instead of Turboman and ebay scalpers instead of Jim Belushi's bootleg santas.

 

[Reehahs]

Fools and their money are easily parted.

 

[DefaultD]

The solution is easy. Go back to brick and mortar. I'm lucky enough to have a microcenter near me. They do all their launches at physical locations. I picked up an AMD 5600X on launch day. I also picked up an RTX 3060 TI on launch day for my brother-in-law. I didn't even have to show up early. Stores open here at 9 am (US EST) which coincided with the online launch times. I strolled up at 9:05AM and 9:15AM respectively and there were still products available both times. This was crazy when you think most stock disappeared almost instantaneously online at 9:01:01 AM.

Scalpers are clearing out inventory because retailers have made it so easy to purchase items online. I like Microcenter's approach, and I wish more retailers with a physical footprint would go back to doing business the old way (looking at you Best Buy). It would drive people back to the physical stores, which is good for retailers as people would also potentially buy other things while in the store (like I did). It might be the only way to actually get around scalpers. As long as a product is in high demand, scalpers can clear out online inventory as soon as it's added with bots. It's like the online version of High frequency Trading.

I'm also waiting to see when the government gets involved. If scalping becomes so widespread that it is the new norm, and secondary marketplaces become the de facto primary marketplaces, Uncle Sam (or any other government) is going to get involved since they'll want their cut of the taxes on the actual price of the items (I think lost tax revenue would trump consumer protection as a motivating factor for government to get involved).