Those situated in the UK faced another setback whilst trying to get their hands on a PlayStation 5 today as a scalper group claims it has made more than 2,000 online orders through GAME. The online retailer had a restock of the next-gen console earlier today, but it's hard to judge how many went to customers who will actually unbox and play the machine. As Eurogamer reports, a Twitter account has set itself to private itself following intense backlash to tweets boasting of "over 2000 checkouts successfully logged". It apparently "just keeps getting easier every time", one scalper posted.
This has led to the #PS5StockUK hashtag trending across Twitter, where users are detailing their frustration at the situation. The Carnage Bot, which is believed to be the account in question, advertises itself with an initial £250 entry fee along with a £25 monthly cost thereafter. From there, you would be given the tools to skip queues online and gain access to a community of scalpers.
GAME has responded to the claims of scalping, stating that each pre-order will be thoroughly checked and limited to one per customer. "We have strong measures in place to help ensure that our '1 per customer' statement is maintained to allow for as many individual customers to successfully purchase as possible."
"All pre-orders are subject to automatic checks and order updates such as cancellations following these checks take place after a customer will have received a valid order confirmation email. At the present time these orders are still pre-orders and as such no payments have yet been taken from customers. Payments will commence once our order checks have been completed." For more information on PS5 Stock, head on through the link.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 73
It’s an absolute disgrace.
Shame on stores for not doing more to clamp down on this (although props if Game actually follows through).
Shame on Sony for not addressing this situation more honestly (they are just silent).
Shame on Scalpers for being the literal scum of the earth.
And shame on anyone who actually buys overpriced PS5’s and funds this corrupt system.
@Kienda why is it Sony's problem if stores are choosing to sell the consoles indiscriminately?
Meanwhile in Canada EB Games had a """restock"""" of consoles that took like 2 minutes to sell out presumably because of bots and everyone who genuinely wanted a console got stuck in an endless waiting room that might as well be solitary confinement
Shame on scalpers but also EB Games is a literal embarassment for their lack of awareness towards this crap and the country needs to publicly disown them
I was hoping to get one of the new consoles in the spring/summer, but unless the stores and manufacturers actually work together to combat this, Christmas 2021 will still be scalper central. An appalling state of affairs
Simple Asshattery!
While there are people with more money than sense coupled with keeping up with the Joneses, scalping of non limited edition items will be a thing.
If you have that much money, wait for stock to be plentiful and give that extra £200 to a worthwhile charity instead.
Doesn't help when Game don't advertise anymore. Its supposed to be to stop scalpers but scalpers stay on the site constantly. Normal people can't do that
I think it's time Sony and stores set up some kind of waiting list. This way people can get an idea of when they will get their console and put a huge dent in the scalpers' plans to stop people from getting a console legitimately.
Stores and companies should be forced to stop wasting peoples' time for clicks and store engagement. Set up a waiting list and contact people when it's their turn to buy the thing they want. It's that simple.
Jokes on them, I'll keep playing PS4 and Switch until Sony can fix this mess by the summer.
Everyone can play the blame game but fact is until I can easily just go on a site and order one... I won’t be buying one, or an extra controller or all the other junk and I won’t be buying games. Sony is missing out with all these consoles boxed up so a few people can make £400 here and there. This is not a get rich quick scheme as people aren’t queuing and paying hand over fist and hopefully they won’t.
Sony sort it out and bring in some ability for people to be able to preorder from their gamer tag.
Why dont they just open preorders again, check all potential customers, remove scalpers/bots and slowly distributing it to real customers.
I know it sounds easier than it actually is but could that be an option?
Honestly if you are thinking of getting a ps5 don't buy it at stupid prices. I was lucky and got mine day 1, but honestly at the moment you are not missing too much. Don't get me wrong it's a great system, but you can easily wait until they are properly stocked not missing too much at the moment. I honestly think I could have waited until maybe September till I bought it, think I got caught up in the hype lol. My m8 bought one for 600 and told him you should have waited not missing much, but he really wanted it, spoke to him few weeks back and he said wished I'd just waited a bit lol.
I read an article about this and how even scalpers were impressed with what Tesco UK had done. I was, too, as I got a console for me and my partner from them. They set up a separate website, accepted only max 2 orders per customer and when collecting you had to show your photo ID matching the name registered. They then walked to the back of the shop and 10 minutes later brought the consoles, marking your name off a list. Anything online-only is ripe for abuse.
Once again, well done, Sony! Keep it up
Not sure why folks are blaming Sony and Microsoft for the scalpers. They just sold the stock to a retailer the same way they normally would. Its the retailers systems that are being highjacked and manipulated and only the retailer can either fix or figure out a way to stop it from happening. Sure, they could cut out the retailers but that then affects their profits and, in turn, can lead to staff being impacted.
Completely agree there must be a better way to do it but pointing fingers at the wrong people wont fix it.
@Milt no they shouldn’t of.
@Kienda I get the frustration, but when Sony sells the PS5 directly from their website, they have loads of measures to ensure they don't sell to bots. They're getting hurt by this too after all. There's reports that loads of hardware has been sold for the next gen (because of scalpers) but not a lot of software (because very little gamers actually have their hands on the system).
If People Were Able To Just Walk Into The Store And Buy The Console In Person This Wouldn't Be a Problem.
But it's not hard to judge how many will 'eventually' go to customers who will actually unbox and play the machine.
100% of them.
ALL PS5s end up in the hands of real gamers.
It all depends on how desperate people are, how much they will pay over the official price.
Try this...
Don't buy from a reseller.
Just stop doing it.
Watch what would happen.
They'll have 2000 units they can't shift and multiple credit cards/loans they can't repay.
After a month or 2, once the bills comes in, they'd take a big poo and reduce the price to near original retail price just to pay their own debt.
Zero profit.
Nice bit of panic for them for 60 days. 🤓
I still don't personally understand why people are buying from the scalpers at inflated prices. Heck, I am not willing to buy a PS5 at the actual price of £450, so people who pay double that just confuse me. Hopefully for those interested, the stock issues will sort itself out soon.
This is getting ridiculous :/
I just got a Pulse 3D headset on Game.co.uk so if you want one and you're quick you might be in luck...
@Brydontk @Hyperluminal ultimately it is Sony’s product and as such it falls on their shoulders.
It is their reputation being sullied and they have the ability/leverage to pressure companies to clamp down on this.
They also need to be communicating better with their customers and fans to reassure them that things are under control or will get better. Some will jump ship to Xbox/PC if they don’t see an end in sight.
The blame must always go to the scrapers and those funding/enabling but Sony has a part to play.
It's an awful situation. Sadly demand dictates this kind of thing so there must be idiots out there that are paying over the odds. Madness.
lol let me just go and look for my surprised face
Some people just suck
Same as 3080s, 6800 and Ryzen 5000
It is just insane. Gaming hardware at MSRP is impossible to find. They vanish in a sec.
@richardclarke
They were there since yesterday morning, a mate ordered one there and no sign of shipping yet.. fingers crossed for you
Of course they are going to be scalped. Seems like stock is trickling in and the demand is still sky high. So easy win for scalpers to bot and resell at a high price and dummies still buy them. Nothing will change this year and the same for high demand PC parts.
Why can't there be a system where you would have to complete the following:
This would cut the scalpers right in their tracks (at most you could get one console and sell that at a profit - not thousands that we are seeing at the moment).
Scalper problems likely won't be properly resolved until it is safe to just go into a physical shop and buy the console of which that is probably a long way off.
@PixelRunner too many reasons to list why that just wouldn't work.
Everyone else, easiest thing to do is do not buy from eBay etc etc but people will coz theres demand and the scalpers have the supply. They do it to make a living like all of us and, whilst it is shady, it is not illegal. Like all businesses you buy low, sell high to the next, so on and so forth. They've just added themselves into the ladder.
@DekuGotNext The ONLY reason I want a PS5, is for the reduction in noise...
And yet still another reason to just wait. Developers need to rethink their next-gen only games...
The problem is that Sony or MS don't care because a sale is a sale to them, no matter who buys their product.
Fact of business life I'm afraid.
Why do people think this is Sony's problem? They are manufacturing consoles NOT SELLING THEM ALL!
Blame, if any, could be laid at the doorstep of the retailers but the levels of scalpery(?) on the PS5 is just unlike anything we've seen before. Do we in the UK not have access to Playstation Direct? At least Sony's site could check your account and what devices you currently have, etc?
I'd already decided to hang fire on the 5 until it was a few firmware and feature fixes old and just now, I think I made the right decision.
Is apple the only one in town that's can defeat scalpers? They sold millions of iphone just fine without scalpers. Sony, and games stores, need to do better!
At least in my country (sea) there's strict 1 ps5 percustomer, you need to give your identity card number to buy ps5.
@orson Blimey, that's an expensive cure! Have you tried hoovering the fan out? My Pro had started to get a bit louder so I followed the YouTube videos, popped the lid, vacuumed the fan out (which was fluff encrusted) and hey presto, a near silent Pro again...
@JapaneseSonic Unfortunately, there are more than enough morons in the world that won't leave a scalper's garage full.
Especially with summat like PS5.
We live in a free market. A free market is governed by supply and demand. There is low supply and high demand. People buy at these inflated prices, so the market exists.
Is capitalism always fair? No. Is it still the most viable economic system if you have even the slightest appreciation of freedom? Absolutely.
As someone who works very hard to buy everything I possibly can at brick and mortar shops, I also see this level of scalping as an unfortunate by-product of our relentless pursuit of convenience. Truthfully, even without bots, you would still have Joe selling his console to Jane at the back of the line. It’s the cost of freedom.
@deathaxe Well, stolen goods are different things. I mean their preorder system is good, and rarely you see there's scalpers situations at iphone (online) launch.
I bet Sony hate this too. Selling loss making consoles to scalpers who have them sit on a shelf instead of going to customers who will actually buy games and subscribe to Plus / Now. Ultimately though, once Sony sell them to the shops, they then lose control over to whom they are sold on and at what price.
@OMGitsLiamT Very true. Simple economics.
I 100% agree the only real way to stop scalpers, is to not buy from them.
There must be ways that Sony could put in place to help the situation (if they really wanted to).
A few hoops for an individual to jump through could stop scalpers (and people wouldn't mind jumping through a few hoops to get their hands on a PS5 at a normal price).
I can see this happening all year, infact I'd wager the whole of 2021 will be very hard to find a ps5 in the shops or online
They do like bragging about it 🤔
@PixelRunner very true, more could be done by the companies that sell them. I personally had a very good experience via Curry's in the UK when paying for the PS5. GAME was a shambles I hear from my godson. To UKers though, nothing is surprising with Mike Ashley owning the place. Money 1st, Morals a clear last place
This is not a Sony problem.
This is an issue with the internet. Period.
Gamers are basically only now being subjected to the same things that toy collectors, shoe collectors, and thousands of other product based users have been dealing with for years.
Look at the bright side. There really aren't any system sellers out that require my money.
This isn’t a necessary purchase, but some tips from a ninjas perspective:
Wait the opponent out. There aren’t any OMG MUST HAVE games on the PS5 right now to warrant a purchase, and it plays all your PS4 games so if you still have your old console you aren’t missing anything.
By waiting them out, you miss inflated costs and hurt the scalpers. A true ninja must exercise calm and patience in these circumstances, instead of compulsively trying to get the console.
Next year, it will be easy to get, and anybody that got it through a scalper will kick themselves for paying extra.
NINJA APPROVED
@OMGitsLiamT I was super lucky too with John Lewis.
They took about 13-15 minutes to sell out. If seems they weren't hit by scalpers as well, maybe because you had to log in to your John Lewis account to buy a PS5, and couldn't just buy it without an account (which needs an individual email address to be verified, etc.).
Plus they give you an extra year warranty free of charge!
It’s the general state of chip and console manufacturing with Covid around at the minute also creating high demand.
In the UK you cannot buy off an official store on line at the correct price the following:
PS5 both editions
Nintendo Switch both colours
Xbox Series x and s.
You cannot buy them online or in shops that are still open, click and collect.
There is just no stock of these game consoles.
Been gaming for decades and have never known it this bad, the world is suffering.
I was one of the lucky ones who managed to get a digital console from Game and can't wait for it to arrive. Says by Feb 5th, hope it's earlier.
Does annoy me though with scalpers and hopefully, Game follows up and manages to cancel as many scalpers as possible.
@SuperJoon Hope you get it mate and don’t fall foul to any potential mass cancellations, given Games statement above.
As much as this situation irritates me, the delay in proper PS5 versions (rather than the bc PS4 versions) has taken the edge off the disappointment of not being able to get one. I expect when stores in the UK are allowed to reopen we’ll have much better luck buying in store to encourage shoppers to visit.
@Madnurz Cheers! Got my fingers crossed, sounds like I'm good as I had the confirmation email and that was only being sent out after the check was complete. Money hasn't been taken yet, but they're doing that when all the checks are done by the sounds of it.
Also don't expect much software wise..i bet all games will have a ps4 version and a beefed up ps5 version and that's it.
I won't need a PS5 until Horizon Forbidden West comes out. Hopefully, by then, the stock situation will calm down. Good luck to those who want it long before then.
I don't know why people are blaming Sony. It's people who are paying over the odds that are to blame. Game is at fault here. I suppose with lockdown it has made the situation easier for scalper's to manipulate. Also people willing to pay extortionate prices are to blame. If they weren't there, there'd be no scalper's.
@UltimateOtaku91
Not a word about it. This problem will be gone in 6 to 9 months. Sony will have flooded the market by then, putting the scalper's out of business.
I gave up and ordered one from CEX. Had to over pay, but I'd rather give it to a business keeping people in work than scum scalpers.
Around Christmas, I was really annoyed with all the scalping...
But now I'm over it and I just don't care anymore.
I can wait for PS5 black redesign and at least 1TB internal SSD.
The style & color is just too goofy, and current drive is too small.
Sony is content in this practice as they still get their money out of it. Same with the retailers. Extra same with the scalpers. We can only hurt it by not complying with the scalpers. We all want one, but in time, they’ll be able to be purchased in person/online without stock issues.
What I don’t get is where the heck are all these getting shipped to? Or charged to? Certainly there must be some names that show up multiple times.
It’s a pain in the butt to get concert tickets legitimately, why is there more trouble getting a mass produced item (console, graphics card, toys, etc)?
@hypnotoad @Itsacardgame They dont make a lot of cash on hardware its the software that makes them money so i believe its not in the favor of Sony or MS to sell without the additional software sales.
@JJ2 it's an advertising tactic. They want people to be like, "if you can't beat them, join them!" KA-CHING!
Seems like lessons have been learnt since the initial sale
Meh. It's not like there is an abundance of nextgen games, we're missing out on.
Also, crisis precipitate change. Sony will do something about it, when peripherals and software numbers are waaaay down. Yes, they are selling units, but games and other accessories gotta be stagnant, cause no one is buying a game/controller, while waiting for a ps5.
If its any consultation for those wanting one, I still play my PS4 waaaay more than my ps5
People blame Sony because they are partly to blame. In the same way Nabisco can get stores to stack Oreo displays a certain way, so too can Sony influence how retailers handle console sales - they just aren't.
Also there's the whole deafening silence aspect that's fairly frustrating/insulting.
@Emperor_Rusty it's not a consultation.
@1_W1NG3D_4NG3L Yes it's not 100% effective, but scalpers still have to try harder to buy the iphone rather than just using bots from home, it's still way better than this ps5 situations.
@Emperor_Rusty
Yes its advertising.
I dont know why everyone takes what they claim as fact and the press implying as much too.
To me it sounds like criminals given a platform to spread their claims.
the scalpers phenomenon is thriving because people let them. Just sit and wait for another few months, let them choke on their 2000 units.
@sanderson72 Cleaned it out several times and they weren't even that bad.
I hope those people get cancer
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