Scalping

Scalping

Ethan Stapleton

According to Investopedia, a scalper by definition is “a person who buys large quantities of in-demand items, such as new electronics or event tickets, at a regular price, hoping that the items sell out. The scalper then resells the items at a higher price”. These scalpers will often use bots to automatically purchase as much of an item as possible as soon as it’s available (netacea.com). An example of scalping in recent times is the Playstation 5. This is the newest Playstation model, and it has gained the attention of scalpers. Starting at a retail price of around $500, a consumer looking to purchase a PS5 would need to pay around $800-$1000 because of scalpers. It’s becoming a really big problem especially now with the chip shortage and supply shortage in general. Because of this, scalpers should face some form of punishment if they are caught. Below are the current prices I found on ebay for a PS5. 

Although it is very annoying that electronics like the PS5 and computer parts are becoming way more expensive and are becoming too expensive for a lot of people, at least it isn't putting people at risk, right? Wrong. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, some scalpers took it upon themselves to buy large quantities of $1 bottles of hand sanitizer and sold them for as much as $70 (breezejmu.org).This made hand sanitizer extremely hard to find and put many vulnerable people at risk because of it. Below is one of these scalpers who bought a very large quantity of hand sanitizer and had nowhere to sell them. 

One of the ways this scalping problem has affected me is the raised graphics card prices. A graphics card is a computer part that needs to get upgraded from time to time in order to run the newest games smoothly. They are already very expensive as is, but they are even more expensive because of these scalpers. Although my graphics card still works fine for most of the newer games right now, I know that it’s becoming an older and older model as time goes on. I'm torn between whether I should spend the extra hundreds of dollars to buy a graphics card now or to wait for who knows how long to buy a graphics card at a more reasonable price. 

Because of the detrimental effects scalpers have on the already poor supply chain and vulnerable peoples’ safety and wellbeing, and because of how frustrating they can be in general, scalping should be illegal or there should at the very least be some sort of consequence when a scalper is caught. 

Works Cited

“3,801 Results for Playstation 5.” EBay, www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1311&_nkw=playstation+5&_sacat=0.

Breeze, Evan Holden | The. “Opinion: Retail Scalping Should Be Illegal.” The Breeze, 4 Mar. 2021, www.breezejmu.org/opinion/opinion-retail-scalping-should-be-illegal/article_776bbfac-7c60-11eb-8afa-c7bc2d3287f0.html.

Chen, James. “Scalper Definition.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 19 May 2021, www.investopedia.com/terms/s/scalpers.asp.

“Scalper Bots.” Netacea, 7 Oct. 2021, www.netacea.com/glossary/scalper-bots/.