Let's Talk About Scalping

 

NO! Not THAT kind of scalping! Jesus Christ... I'm talking about console scalping. You know, buying up available product before customers who actually want it for themselves can get to it, and then marking up the price astronomically. 

That kind of scalping.

The PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series S|X launched today. To the chagrin of everyone still trying to find one, many stores' extra stock was bought just as swiftly as preorder day and found immediately on places such as eBay and Facebook Marketplace. I took a quick glance on eBay and at the time of this writing, we have Xbox Series Xs going on average for 1,100 dollars, the S for 500 dollars (only a 200 dollar mark up really demonstrates the demand for this thing...) and the PlayStation 5 for 1500 for either version. These prices have actually gone up from when I first checked them on their respective preorders. Now that the systems are actually out and in-hand, I'm sure that's what's driving up the prices. 

Now, let's go over some discussion points:

Hey, don't blame me. If they weren't stupid enough to buy them for that much, I wouldn't do it. 

True. Supply and demand. If people are willing to buy for a certain price, then that's what the market should dictate. 

... that this is nothing but victim blaming You are victimizing desperate people who really want these machines for themselves, their loved ones as Christmas gifts, and even tech reviewers and streamers/YouTubers who NEED - not want - these do their jobs. Yes, people who buy into these absurd prices are part of the problem but when you scalp, you are CREATING the problem. Let me repeat: YOU. ARE. CREATING. THE. PROBLEM. Anyone who tries to victim blame the buyers need to seriously step back and do some soul searching, because that kind of rationalizing is seriously disturbing. I mean, do you really justify the drug dealers who created the opioid epidemic because it's nearly impossible for drug addicts to stop buying them? Come on... 

Well, it's not illegal. It's capitalism. They can do it, too!

True. What scalpers do with these consoles is perfectly legal. If it weren't, then they wouldn't be able to list them on eBay, Amazon, Facebook Marketplace, etc., etc. It's a free market: buy low, sell high. It's capitalism; it's how this country was built. 

Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's moral or ethical. One of my favorite sayings is just because it's your right doesn't mean it's right. Saying "well, there's nothing illegal about it" is such a problematic stance to have. Was it legal for Martin Shrkeli to jack up the price of Daraprim from 13.50 to 750? Yes. Should he have done it? Absolutely fucking not, and look what happened to him when he did. He price gouged so hard and garnered so much negative attention, he was investigated and convicted for securities fraud. If I want to  use extreme examples, slavery was legal. Killing Jews in Nazi Germany was legal. Not going to continue down that path, but I'm illustrating a point here that just because something's legal doesn't make it OK, and if enough people are bothered by it, they will actually make it illegal. The law is fickle, but unfortunately, I don't see the law stepping in anytime soon regarding scalping. 

And yes, other people can do it, too. But why doesn't everyone? Because again, it's a matter of morals and ethics, and the people who don't are the people who have them. A strong moral and ethical fiber is tantamount to a well-performing society. Economic, socionomic, and governmental problems all arise from our leaders' questionable moral and ethical stances. We should all want a stronger society, and that begins with stronger citizens, and we need to always work on our moral and ethical alignments. We have got to start shedding our apathy and indifference and stop rationalizing our actions just because it's "legal" or we really are no better than Martin Shkreli. 

They can just wait. No one needs consoles on launch day.

True. They can wait. It's not like MS and Sony stopped making Xboxes and PlayStations. It can even be argued that waiting will ensure MS and Sony have worked out their bugs, of which several reports of defective systems are already making the rounds on the Internet. 

Let's just flat out address this one. Who are you to decide when someone should buy something? We're all excited for these new machines, and we should ALL have the equal opportunity to buy these machines. The problem is, we haven't. Scalpers have created artificial demand by buying up stock before people can get to it, and this time around, the problem has been exacerbated by bots to a degree that I've never seen before. People have made plans to spend time with their machines this holiday, and they shouldn't have to wait because some seedy individuals broke the system. Again, there are even people who need these systems to do their jobs, and there are families who don't want crying children at Christmas because Santa couldn't find a console. So I'm definitely sympathetic when it comes to why people get desperate and pay way too much for them on eBay. They're paying more for peace of mind at that point, so maybe try not to be so dismissive of people in those situations by telling them to just wait. 

Also, there's the fact that you'll be missing out on the discussion if you're really involved in the gaming community. Demand for theses systems will most likely last for several months, which means your chances of getting one any time soon is slim to none. That means you'll get to watch everyone else play these amazing systems with no opportunity to share your own thoughts and by the time you do finally get it, most everyone will have beaten those games and your opinion will have lost some relevancy. I get that FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is something we shouldn't be struggling with, but I know first-hand how powerful that feeling is and remember, this FOMO is not generated by normal demand. Scalpers have created artificial demand making it harder for everyone. 

So what you didn't get a next-gen console? All the games are available on current gen!

True. You're not missing out on any games by not getting the next-gen systems, so if you only care about the games themselves, you shouldn't be fretting.

You will be missing out on the enhancements. Gone are the days where leaps in graphical advances were easily apparent. Now, it's all in the finer details and the user experiences. It's about more consistent framerates and higher resolutions, user interfaces, features such as reduced loading times and quick resume for multiple games. Most importantly, it's about new controllers. Well, the PS5 specifically as there's nothing much new about the Series S|X controller. I know I could easily play Miles Morales on the PS4, but I want to play it on the PS5 and experience this highly touted ray tracing thing, and I want to feel what it's like to play it on the PS5 controller. I've read that you can actually feel the web shooters in the adaptive triggers, and that's just awesome. Hell, Astro's Playroom is all about showing off the new controller, and you can't get that at all on the PS4. So yes, for the most part, you can play all the next-gen games on current consoles, but it's the improved experience that you'll be missing out on. 

Well... you're just mad you didn't get one!

My Series X arrived Tuesday, and my PS5 will be here tomorrow. 

But let's just say that I didn't get one. I have YOU and your ilk to thank for that. How can negate someone's argument that you're making life harder for them by telling them "Oh, you're just mad," when it was YOU who created the problem in the first place? That takes a special kind of asshole to think like that. And even though I did get both, I'm still mad for the people who didn't. For one, I can empathize and also,  as much as I'm ashamed to admit it, I've been there. I paid about 200 dollars extra and about a 100 extra for the 360 and PS3 respectively. Honestly that seems a lot more reasonable than today's standards, but I didn't want to miss out. I legitimately tried to get them launch day. All sold out online, went to stand inline for them at multiple stores, nothing. I had one dude try to sell me his spot in line for 800 dollars.... 

I know scalpers don't like getting attacked by honest consumers, but hey... honest consumers don't like getting scalped. And yes, at the end of the day, video games are luxury items. The law won't step in, unless a good is deemed essential like hand sanitizer, soap and TP, but MY GOD! Have you not been paying attention to what's been happening in the world this year? Have you not seen how stupid it's been trying to find things such as TP? Doesn't walking into a store and seeing shelves stripped bare trigger something in you that makes you go, "This is fucked up. People are so greedy. We should do better." Again, those are essentials whereas video games are luxury items, but it's the principle that's the same here. People who buy up way more than they need and flip it for a higher price are greedy. Yeah, yeah, capitalism and all that... but stop justifying that by further creating problems for people. Be a better person.

As far as I'm concerned, if you're a scalper, you're no better than someone who flips hand sanitizer and TP. You're no better than a drug dealer selling oxycontin to a drug addict. You're no better than Martin Shkreli. You're no better than EA, Activision, and all those companies who prey on consumers who have weak will power by feeding them with exploitive microtransactions. You're not a capitalist; you're not an opportunist; you're not an entrepreneur. You're a predator, plain and simple. You're looking to make a quick buck doing way too much mental gymnastics so you can sleep at night. Please, people, try to do better and remember....