A scalper group that was too fond of bragging about its increasing haul recently had its proclivity for boasting backfire, with more than 1000 of its supposed Xbox Series X orders canceled by the seller in a sweet tale of justice. The scalping group in question is one that not too long ago revealed to have gotten over 2500 PlayStation 5 consoles at release. However, its latest conspiracy has been overturned.
The launch of new consoles is always an exciting time. Unsurprisingly, the arrival of the Xbox Series X|S and the PlayStation 5 a few weeks ago was no exemption. The two launches were filled with controversies, though, because in large part to scalper groups taking advantage of online preorders.
Utilizing various techniques and bots, scalpers were able to secure the next-gen consoles en masse, sometimes getting orders by the hundreds. The newly obtained machines are then resold by various groups or personally, and always cost more than the system’s original price.
One certain scalper group’s orders were recently stopped by a UK video game seller. A few hours ago, the scalpers posted on social media and revealed that they had secured more than a thousand Xbox Series X units from a “very well-known online retailer.”
Allegedly, this was performed by notifying the group members, which pay subscription fees of £30 a month or a lifetime subscription worth £400, about the restock of Xbox consoles at the famous online shop.
A report made by Sky News suggests the seller was no other than UK-based Very, which usually allows its customers to order one console at a time. It would appear that the scalpers found a way around, but has since backfired.
Very’s spokesperson revealed that “as a result of a technical error, some people were able to place orders for PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles for a short time on Sunday.” Since these products were not supposed to be for sale, the orders made on them have been canceled.
However, customers who legally bought one of the consoles, and didn’t order them at large volumes, are similarly affected by the cancellation. Everyone who ordered will receive refunds within 2 to 3 days, the Very spokesperson revealed on national TV.
While this is indeed great news in terms of putting an end to scalpers, it also adds to the ongoing turmoil about Microsoft’s and Sony’s stock issues on their new consoles. Sony has pledged that more stock will arrive at retailers before the end of the year. Xbox Series X|S stocks are also sold out, with no announcement yet about when the next-gen console will be available for purchase.
