Consoles, and Scalpers and Bots, oh my!

I am a Libertarian, so making the argument I am about to make is painful for me, as I generally prefer that market forces sort problems out, wherever possible. But as we enter the ninth generation of console gaming, the shortages of the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox System X has made me realize something… there aught to be a law to stop scalpers. 

 

Hear me out. While the normal Libertarian argument would be that you should be free to do what you like with a product you purchased, and that demand for your supply should ultimately set the price, the fact is that Scalpers are engaging in activities that are dishonest and entirely unfair to the actual market, by swooping in and buying from mainstream sources before the actual end user has a chance, then reselling them through after market sources at an extremely elevated price, thus ripping off desperate gamers who probably would have been able to get their system at the regular price had scalpers not Intervened. Scalpers are ripping people off, and there’s nothing moral about that. 

 

It’s important to note that the law already prohibits this behavior with concert and movie tickets, so why do we allow it with game consoles? Simply put, scalping of game consoles should be illegal. Especially since they are now using bots (programs) to buy out entire stocks of consoles the moment they become available, making it almost impossible for the average consumer to get the system of their choice. Moreover, the mass buying and reselling of a product is behavior of a business, and at the very least, mass scalping like this, greedy and dishonest as it is, could require a business license, and the biggest thief of all, Uncle Sam, should be able to collect taxes on it. This would likely discourage a number of scalpers… but really, there is a market solution here too. Don’t buy these consoles from scalpers.

 

 Make them eat their investments. If you have a friend considering buying from an after market source, encourage them to wait. No Ebay, no 3^rd party sellers on Amazon. Make these fraudsters eat their investments. Sadly, even if we regulate this after market, or make it illegal, it won’t stop all scalpers. If crime didn’t pay, there would be no crime, and we have to recognize that reality. But we can and should create a pressure campaign to encourage people to wait until supply keeps apace with demand, and make the scalpers stop by causing them to lose their money. That would be the ultimate Justice.