After writing a similar bill earlier this year which failed to pass parliament, UK member of parliament Douglas Chapman has written a bill that would ban console scalping in the country. The politician is looking to renew his bid after Democrats in the United States proposed a similar “Stopping Grinch Bots Act” last week. If the bill passes, it would introduce regulations to prevent the reselling of products at grossly inflated prices.
Scalping has been a particularly difficult issue for the PlayStation 5, which continues to struggle with manufacturing issues due to the ongoing pandemic and chip shortages. The console often goes out of stock as soon as new shipments come in, partly due to high demand but also due to automated scalping. Scalpers then resell the consoles at inflated prices, in order to make a profit off of the scarcity of the PS5. Some listings have even offered the PS5 at prices upwards of $1000.
“This time last year it was brought to my attention by constituents that scalpers were using automated bots to bulk buy goods for resale leaving consumers with either no option but to purchase these items at hugely inflated prices or go without,” Chapman said in a press release. “I have now written for a second time to the new Secretary of State for DMCS, Nadine Dorries, to reassess the need to ‘ban the bots’ to include a wider range of in-demand goods.”
The UK console scalping bill comes just before the holiday season; a time when many consumers and families look to purchase consoles such as the PS5 and drive up demand. The problem extends outside of consoles as well, including other consumer products such as toys and video games.
[Source: IGN]
