ONLINE retailer Very has cancelled hundreds of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X orders placed on its website over the weekend.
Purchases made by legitimate customers are affected as well those made by scalpers, who buy up stock of sought after items and sell them at marked up prices for huge profits.
The practice is technically legal, but retailers are fighting back after scalpers scooped thousands of Microsoft and Sony’s consoles last month.
The £450 machines sold out within minutes when they launched in early November, with one scalper group claiming it bagged 1,000 Series X units.
With nowhere else to turn, desperate gamers have been paying up to three times the asking price for the consoles on online shopping sites like eBay.
According to Sky News, more than 1,000 orders for the Series X and PS5 have now been cancelled by Very.
They were placed through Crep Chief Notify, a business which charges members £30 a month to send them alerts when consoles become available.
The group claimed last month that it had exploited a link to make high-volume orders from Very for the Series X and PS5 for its members.
After Very was alerted to the practice, the orders were cancelled, a spokesperson told Sky News.
“As a result of a technical error, some people were able to place orders for PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles for a short time on Sunday,” they said.
“However, these items are not on sale and affected customers have received notice that the orders have been cancelled. We apologise for the confusion caused.”
The cancellations also affect legitimate customers who did not place orders through scalpers, according to Sky.
One unlucky customer, Piyush Tushar, said he placed on order for the PS5 through Very that was rescinded by the retailer.
The company told him it could take up to 10 days to refund him.
Piyush told Sky News: “Please can Very just refund the money so we can buy our consoles from elsewhere?”
CrepChiefNotify (CCN) provides advice on how to buy up desirable items and sell to people who are desperate for them.
The company got started in the sneaker game, buying up stock of high-demand shoes like Yeezys and selling them on to members.
However, it has pivoted to consoles this year as demand for the next generation of gaming has soared.
Congratulations to our members
— CrepChiefNotify (@CrepChiefNotify) November 20, 2020
In less than 24 hours of the release of the PS5 and our members have secured over 2,500 consoles this morning.
Stop missing out, reselling isn't going away so jump in fast and maximise your profits. pic.twitter.com/WUTBFWNHfE
CrepChiefNotify came under fire recently for boasting that its members bought 3500 PlayStation 5 consoles to sell for profit.
The PS5 sold out almost everywhere and then appeared online for hundreds and even thousands of pounds over the original asking price.
CrepChiefNotify is said to use a bot system to buy up consoles.
It recently posted on Instagram to reveal its Xbox Series X success as its members were said to scoop up over 1000 of the consoles during the latest restock.
View this post on Instagram
The company wrote on Instagram: “We just notified our members of a Xbox Series X restock on a very well known online retailer.
“They have now managed to secure over 1000+ today and there’s still many hours left. You snooze you lose.”
The post received a lot of backlash.
One Instagram user replied: “You people suck.”
Another complained: “You guys are litterly making it impossible to secure xbox’s n ps5s…”
The group issued a statement last week to defend its resell actions.
It said: “Lots of our community have been furloughed, made redundant, or at some form of disadvantage due the pandemic.
“These people have managed to cover their bills, put food on the table and supply Christmas presents to their children.
“It may be unfortunate that a child won’t wake up to a PS5 this Christmas, but another child may have woken up to nothing. We have no regrets.”
