Two of the most popular holiday gifts went on sale in November, with Microsoft launching its Xbox Series X | S rolled out the video game console and got into Sony’s rival PlayStation. The only problem: actually got one of the $ 499 devices in stock.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday came and went with a few recocks, but the console is hard to find. There may be some hope for holiday shoppers, though: Sony tweeted that there will be more inventory on retailers before the end of the year.
Still, expect the console to be a hot item and hard to find. Demand for the PlayStation 5 was so high that it sold out on November 12, causing Walmart’s website to slow down and show shoppers some error messages. When Walmart re-stocked the devices on November 25, the PlayStation sold out within 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Xbox Series X, released on November 20 S, Microsoft called it “the biggest launch in Xbox history.”
While some customers were puzzled by the inability to buy a console, the reseller was busy listing new games on eBay, where the resale price for the new PlayStation 5 has reached $ 32,000 and for the new Xbox Series X, 8,000. To be sure, most of the consoles offered for resale are in the 1,000 to 500 1,500 range – still not a bad profit for those who were fast enough to pull off fast.
Amy Pitchie
It remains to be seen whether consumers will pay more than 60 times the retail price of the PlayStation 5, but exorbitant re-sale prices intersect a few epidemic-era trends: the rise in popularity in gaming as well as retail online retail during the transition crisis.
“Releasing a new console is always exciting – it only happens every five to seven years,” noted Jordan Minor, PCmag’s software and gaming analyst. But, he added, “their rollout was kind of a mess, although it’s a mess whenever a new console starts.”
PlayStation Barriers?
Some customers who were lucky enough to secure the console reported problems with the devices, which is not uncommon when a new product is rolled out, tech experts say.
PlayStation issues included controllers that did not charge properly, games that were uninstalled without notice, and the console crashed, according to ScreenRant.
The combination of expensive devices and limited availability is proving frustrating to consumers who have resorted to social media to alleviate their frustrations. On top of that, there were some Black Friday deals on video game consoles, a research note noted by Wadebush analyst Michael Pachre, who calls the available offers “underwhelming”.
Xbox fans may have to wait longer to get their hands on the new console than PlayStation fans, Patcher noted, noting that Micro .ft is expected to catch up with demand until the second quarter of 2021.
Battling bots
One of the issues facing consumers is their reliance on online sales of both products. The PlayStation 5 debuted exclusively through retail online retail sites such as Walmart.com and BestBuy.com. Going in boots And buy in milliseconds ahead of real human customers, Sequence Security “Hacker-in-Residence” Jason Kent told CBS Moneywatch.
“What they do is basically look at any high-demand item, and they see how you buy it and then develop a bot to do it,” Kent said. “Then they go to their ‘market’ and say, ‘I have a butt that will buy PS5s – it’s $ 300 if you want to buy. [the bot]. ”
With a tracking retouch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles, the B2T is also designed to give customers an edge against inventory-grabbing bots. Its Twitch Channel live stream shows the results of the pinging of b-retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart. On Tuesday, however, Bate showed a steady stream of red “out of stock” messages.
Disappointed gamers blamed both retailers and manufacturers for the lack of new consoles.
“It’s 2020 Walmart, For Xbox releases you should have 1 per household, “a customer ventured on Twitter.” Buy as much as you want. What a joke. 2020 and you retailers still can’t figure out how to stop b-tots and scammers. “
Wartmart said it is working again and will release more inventory throughout the holidays. A spokesman said in an email, “It’s not uncommon to see boat activity, especially on hot things like the PS5. Our teams work hard to prevent this and make sure our customers get access to these items.”
In a statement, Liz Hammer, executive of Micro .ft Game, admitted that some customers were disappointed.
“We know that not everyone was able to get the Xbox Series X | S right away and over time many of you are working tirelessly to bring as many new consoles as possible and with our partners worldwide and we encourage you to check in with us. Direct to local retailers for more details on availability in your market, ”Hammer said.
Epidemic gaming
Gaming has grown in popularity since the coronavirus epidemic hit the economy in March. With customers stuck at home, many have turned to the game of staying away from the game for hours.
Consumers spent .2 11.2 billion on video gaming between July and September, an increase of 24% over the same period last year, according to the NPD Group.
PCMag’s Minor offers a little reassurance to empty-handed shoppers: don’t worry about missing out on the same day’s release. First, new consoles do not have many games available at launch, and may have obstacles that will eventually be rolled out by their manufacturers.
“Wait a year and it’ll be a year of games on it.” “You may need your money for good things right now.”
.
