Scalpers re-selling PS5 consoles for £25k online as 13,000 petition to stop them

PlayStation 5 consoles are being resold for almost £25,000 online by unscrupulous 'scalpers'.

The highly sought-after next-gen video games machines can cost up to a whopping £24,859 on sites such as eBay, StockX and CeX.

The average resale price is about £300 higher than the initial retail price of between £349.99 and £449.99.

Customers fear scalpers are making huge profits by buying up stock and selling them to desperate fans at massively inflated prices.

Research by casino comparison site Top Rate Casinos revealed just how much scalpers are reselling PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles on eBay, StockX, and CeX.

It found that eBay had a listing for £20,000 for a PS5 and £24,859 on StockX.

However, major retailers including Amazon, John Lewis and Very are expected to drop new stock this week.

Meanwhile, Xbox Series X consoles – Microsoft's rival to Sony's PS5 – were being sold for £9,000 on eBay and £800 on StockX. CeX has come under fire before for selling consoles at higher prices.

CeX is currently selling both consoles for more than the recommended retail price. It is selling a PS5 for £790 and a Xbox for £630.

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Scalping has caused MPs to look into new way to deal with the issue.

A petition dedicated to making the process of scalping illegal in the wake of PS5 stock shortages has hit 13,000 signatures.

Change.org is running the petition, title "Prevent/deter the buying and reselling of goods/services at inflated prices".

Its author writes: "I believe it to be an unfair and unjust practice that well funded groups/individuals can deplete the stock of a single item and make it unaffordable/unavailable to the average consumer.

"I believe the law around this practice needs to be reviewed and measures to prevent it need to be introduced."

The Government responds to all petitions that get more than 10,000 signatures.

At 100,000 signatures, this petition will be considered for debate in Parliament.

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