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Can't get a PlayStation 5? Meet the Grinch bots snapping up the holidays' hottest gift.
Consumer Tech
Can’t get a PlayStation 5? Meet the Grinch bots snapping up the holidays’ hottest gift.
Bots, easily gamed retailers and supply shortages have caused consoles to sell for double the price
By Geoffrey A. Fowler and Heather Kelly
Dec. 16, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EST
This Christmas, it’s boy vs. bot.
Thirteen-year-old John Coleman has tried everything to buy a Sony PlayStation 5. Coleman, from Bowie, Md., spent his summer cleaning and mowing lawns to save up the $500 the game console is supposed to cost. He stayed up until 5 a.m. when Target’s first units went on sale, and camped in front of a Maryland GameStop on Black Friday. A month after the PS5’s debut, he checks inventory alerts every day after virtual school but still doesn’t have the console.
Ted Brack, 47, chases down new PlayStations in front of two computer monitors in Las Vegas — with very different results.
Brack has bought eight of the consoles so far from online retailers including Walmart, selling them for as much as $1,160 on eBay. His secret weapon: bots, or software that helps him know when products are in stock and can hammer retailers with orders faster than any regular customer could hope to on their own.
The technology has earned a bah-humbug nickname: Grinch bots.
{snip}
Geoffrey Fowler
Geoffrey A. Fowler is The Washington Post’s technology columnist based in San Francisco. He joined The Post in 2017 after 16 years with the Wall Street Journal. He won the 2020 Gerald Loeb Award for commentary. Follow https://twitter.com/geoffreyfowler
Heather Kelly
Heather Kelly is a reporter covering the ways technology affects everyday life. Based in San Francisco, she joined The Washington Post in 2019 after seven years at CNN, where she worked as a writer and editor covering consumer technology trends and Silicon Valley. Follow https://twitter.com/heatherkelly
Can’t get a PlayStation 5? Meet the Grinch bots snapping up the holidays’ hottest gift.
Bots, easily gamed retailers and supply shortages have caused consoles to sell for double the price
By Geoffrey A. Fowler and Heather Kelly
Dec. 16, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EST
This Christmas, it’s boy vs. bot.
Thirteen-year-old John Coleman has tried everything to buy a Sony PlayStation 5. Coleman, from Bowie, Md., spent his summer cleaning and mowing lawns to save up the $500 the game console is supposed to cost. He stayed up until 5 a.m. when Target’s first units went on sale, and camped in front of a Maryland GameStop on Black Friday. A month after the PS5’s debut, he checks inventory alerts every day after virtual school but still doesn’t have the console.
Ted Brack, 47, chases down new PlayStations in front of two computer monitors in Las Vegas — with very different results.
Brack has bought eight of the consoles so far from online retailers including Walmart, selling them for as much as $1,160 on eBay. His secret weapon: bots, or software that helps him know when products are in stock and can hammer retailers with orders faster than any regular customer could hope to on their own.
The technology has earned a bah-humbug nickname: Grinch bots.
{snip}
Geoffrey Fowler
Geoffrey A. Fowler is The Washington Post’s technology columnist based in San Francisco. He joined The Post in 2017 after 16 years with the Wall Street Journal. He won the 2020 Gerald Loeb Award for commentary. Follow https://twitter.com/geoffreyfowler
Heather Kelly
Heather Kelly is a reporter covering the ways technology affects everyday life. Based in San Francisco, she joined The Washington Post in 2019 after seven years at CNN, where she worked as a writer and editor covering consumer technology trends and Silicon Valley. Follow https://twitter.com/heatherkelly
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
His friend finally told him some techniques to increase his chances. He still missed out several times. He was finally able to get one. It just sucks that it is so hard for regular people to get one. I tried to help him get one at one point and I had it in my cart and it would sell out before I could pay. I was like what the hell.. They have to do something about those bots. 