Scalpers Get A Heaping Dose Of Karma

To say that the launch of next-gen consoles has been a frustrating experience for consumers would be underselling things a bit. One of the biggest issues facing customers right now — and a problem that may end up haunting this console generation — is the fact that scalpers and bots have bought up a great number of the available stock of PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles. In turn, these scalpers have taken to reselling consoles for exorbitant amounts of money, and many desperate customers have resigned themselves to paying these prices in order to get a console for the holidays. Now, however, the fans are fighting back.

Over on the subreddit r/scamthescalpers, gaming fans are sharing their stories about how they managed to get revenge on some unscrupulous scalpers. The stories range from simply annoying these would-be resellers to fully tricking them, and they're a pretty amusing read. If you're one of the folks who missed out on a new console and you're bummed out over the number of consoles that were bought only to be resold, then these tales of petty scalper-pranking may act as a balm.

Some of the best stories in the subreddit involve customers arranging meetings to buy a console, only to never show up. One Reddit user shared screenshots of a conversation of one scalper whom they talked into selling three PS5 units. According to this user, they then had the seller drive about an hour and meet them at a Goodwill, where the original poster never showed up. Instead, they recommended that the scalper donate the consoles to the Goodwill while they were there.

In a particularly clever move, one Redditor arranged for two different scalpers to meet each other, effectively wasting both sellers' days. One commenter suggested that this could have actually been the start of a scalper romance, if the two resellers managed to meet and hit it off.

Another post showed a conversation with a scalper who wanted an absurd $1,500 for a PS5 console. This user claimed that they intended to have the scalper drive out to meet them, only for them to then say they decided to buy an Xbox instead. 

Of course, there are plenty of other, wilder stories on this subreddit that should be taken with a grain of salt, but most of these tales of scalper revenge seem to be legitimate. While it is unlikely that these stories will put scalpers off of doing what they do best — being the worst — it is likely to bring a smile to the faces of everyone who has been frustrated with the number of unscrupulous console resellers out there.

Now something just needs to be done about whoever is swapping out PS5 deliveries for random items, like foot massagers and toilet paper.