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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsQuestion? My daughter wants to purchase the new Xbox series X
for my grandson in college. He is doing so well in this pandemic year and missed out on any senior fun due to the virus in his high school senior year, so I told her I would split the cost with her.
The price? $500. The catch? It is the gift of the season and sold out. Apparently Walmart was taking orders at 9 pm for a new batch, and daughter was online from 8:45 to reserve one. At 9:01 they were sold out. At 9:10 there were dozens on EBay for sale for $1,000.
How is this legal?
Pisses me off. The country is full of grifters and they always seem to get away with it.
Response to tavernier (Original post)
Skittles This message was self-deleted by its author.
tavernier
(12,322 posts)but it isnt the purchase of an airplane or yacht. Its a Christmas present split two ways for a pretty good kid who works hard for his grades. He didnt have a prom or a graduation and college has been masks and some classes but mostly a semester confined to his tiny dorm room. All activities are canceled. So we hoped to make his Christmas a bit brighter.
TDale313
(7,820 posts)Bettie
(15,998 posts)the sold out three seconds after they went on sale.
Then, they were on ebay for 1200 bucks each.
It sucks, but people are awful.
TDale313
(7,820 posts)Cause sounds like supplies were even more limited.
ChoppinBroccoli
(3,764 posts)I remember the same thing happening when the PS3 came out. People rush out and buy them up hoping to make a killing re-selling them on Ebay. It's disgusting. Capitalism run amok. I think they should take a page from Trump and bring back firing squads for people who try to fund their retirement by buying up all the new consoles and then re-selling them at outrageous markups.
The way you beat them is you just wait a couple of months. Soon the stores will have so many lying around that they won't know what to do with them. And the added benefit of doing this is that it's become a not-very-well-kept secret that the new consoles are rushed out before they're completely quality tested, so they're generally full of bugs. It's always best to wait a few months on the new consoles to allow the bugs to be worked out. If you got one right now, chances are good you'd be spending most of 2021 wrestling with problems and/or waiting for it to be shipped to or from the manufacturer for repairs. You're better off waiting a few months.
tavernier
(12,322 posts)madwivoter
(539 posts)I'm a gamer and have been going through this since N64 and PS3
You might even be better off waiting a bit as you might get the next gen hardware which is usually better (you never know though).
When a new system comes out (hello there PS5...), I just dig into some of my older games and have some fun while I wait for the hype to dissipate. The tough thing is that it's hard to say when it will happen with the virus this time around.
Good luck to you! I think it's a great thing you guys are doing!
Withywindle
(9,988 posts)And a card with a promise of this in a few months when the price is reasonable and bugs are worked out. He'll be happy.
Times are tough. Everybody is under stress. I'm sure he misses his friends - I certainly miss mine, and I'm 51. We're all doing our best. Harmless pleasures that don't involve plague risk are especially important right now.
TDale313
(7,820 posts)LiberalFighter
(50,495 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)bottles of bourbon that are in short supply for hundreds of dollars more than the usual retail price a few years ago.
TDale313
(7,820 posts)Not illegal, but the retailers could be doing more to combat this. Ive been trying to secure a PS5, but no luck. But its a gift for myself, so if it has to wait, in my case nbd. Feel for anyone hoping to get one to give as a Christmas present.
Alliepoo
(2,195 posts)I was online at 9 and it was 30 seconds that they were sold out. My son said people use bots to buy multiple consoles. I was looking on eBay and saw sellers with pics of a big stack of Xboxs and asking $1500 -for something that sells for $499. Bunch of money grubbers. Ticks me right off. I tried Walmart last week, Best Buy on Sunday morning and Target never has them in stock. Ive about given up. Wanted one for my 13 yo grandson-its the only thing hes asked for Xmas. Ill keep trying but its not looking good. Good luck to you!!
tavernier
(12,322 posts)A shame that there isnt a way for them to allow real people to order. No wonder we worry about voting machines.
Alliepoo
(2,195 posts)My son told me last week exactly the same thing CB said. He said after Xmas itll be easier to get one. The eBay jerks return what they dont sell and supply also increases. He also said that first gen gaming systems usually have problems and it would be better to wait til theyre worked out. I know all of this but I guess its easy to get caught up in wanting to give a kid something they really want for Xmas. I think Im going to look at a virtual reality system for my grandson and his siblings can enjoy it, too.
TheBlackAdder
(28,072 posts).
No way do you buy into the scalping, and there's marginal protection. I would wait until GameStop or Target has it. Buy it at some place that you can get an extended warranty, because the red ring of death is not uncommon, and since it's a new system, it's kinks have not been worked out.
You don't want to pre-order a Series X. Here's Why
A lot of Xbox fans have already pre-ordered the Xbox Series X and Series S. Some, however, didn't manage to reserve a new Xbox for themselves, but are still keeping their eyes peeled for additional stock at retailers. If you're one of those people, this may be a good time to look back at previous Xbox console launches. While it's understandable you'd want to snag a next-gen Xbox as soon as possible, there are a few good reasons why you should wait a bit before buying one of these new machines.
The biggest fiasco in the history of Xbox console launches is easily the Red Ring of Death. When the Xbox 360 was first released, there was a decent chance that it would quickly stop working altogether, effectively becoming a super expensive paperweight. Gamers would switch on their Xbox 360s and would be greeted with an upsetting sight: the usual green power light around the Xbox logo would instead have turned an ominous red. This was an indicator for a fatal system error that essentially rendered the system completely inoperable. After displaying the Red Ring of Death, 360 consoles couldn't even load the dashboard, much less play any of the new and exciting games that fans had just shelled out for.
While it appeared as though these were merely a series of isolated incidents, the problem became more and more widespread. With people quickly becoming furious with Microsoft, the company made the decision to recall and repair all of the defective consoles at no extra charge for the customer. This ended up costing Microsoft well over a billion dollars and gave many an Xbox customer a headache, but it ended up being a move that restored a lot of faith in the Xbox brand.
Still, the specter of the Red Ring of Death will hang heavily over every Xbox console launch. In fact, a similar problem occurred when the Xbox One finally launched in 2013. Within days of the console's launch, some customers were reporting that their Xbox One units were completely dying after only a few hours of use. Those who didn't have a console immediately "brick" itself ran into other issues with the new system. Some gamers reported that the Xbox One couldn't load any games; the console would instead constantly crash and reboot. Others said their games worked alright, but that the disc drive was absurdly loud, with some customers mentioning loud grinding sounds from the console that made them fear for their game discs.
https://www.svg.com/250341/you-dont-want-to-pre-order-a-series-x-heres-why/
The more you save, the more you can get additional options, games, controllers, etc.
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TheBlackAdder
(28,072 posts).
The Xbox Series X is officially a week old, and like all video game consoles at launch that means early problems have already been reported by users. While some of these problems with the Xbox Series X are pretty minor - like app issues or a controller not pairing with the console - there are some bigger problems out there. Microsoft has remained fairly quiet regarding most of them, but they'll hopefully be fixed soon.
https://screenrant.com/xbox-series-x-problems-shutting-off-quick-resume/
Its console launch week, which means that many fans are now opening and starting up their new hardware. While for the most part the Xbox Series X debut seems to be going well (now that Xbox Live is back online), some fans are reporting issues with their disc drives.
https://www.polygon.com/2020/11/11/21560233/xbox-series-x-disk-drive-sounds-inserting-game-issues-microsoft
Microsoft has warned Xbox Series X and S owners of a host of bugs with the new consoles, which are due to launch tomorrow.
The bugs include:
Problems with Blu-ray and DVD playback
Compatibility issues with selected 4K televisions
Failure to launch the EA Play app
Incompatibility with TV apps such as the BBC iPlayer and PeacockTV
Issues with the new Quick Resume games feature
https://www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2020/11/09/xbox-series-x-hit-by-several-big-launch-bugs/?sh=7a16fe43453e
Link to the Known Bugs that are published in the Microsoft Community (might be unpublished ones that are at Level 3 support being investigated):
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/xbox/forum/xba_console/known-issues-on-xbox-series-xs/221c9d7f-dc91-4067-ba81-33ab671179b5
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Alliepoo
(2,195 posts)It makes me feel much better actually reading about the bugs and problems folks are experiencing with new systems. It makes sense to delay the purchase and wait for the problems to be resolved and its something I can explain to my grandson and point him in the direction of these articles so he can read it for himself!
tavernier
(12,322 posts)TheBlackAdder
(28,072 posts).
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Initech
(99,912 posts)I want a RTX 3080 GPU for my PC but they are near impossible to find and retailers sell out faster than they can get them in. It sucks but I bet give it a few months and once the vaccine starts getting distributed that demand will be going down.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)He seems mature and will understand. In a few months it will be available at the retail price.
As far as legal? They have something and set the price. You pay it or not. Its not like gas after a hurricane where you cant Jack up the price. It a game. We dont need the government setting the price people can charge for game consoles. He can ask 10K for all I care. Someone will pay it.
Ace Rothstein
(3,102 posts)I don't think there are any games on the X that you can't get on the Xbox. I would wait 6 months, that's what I'm doing.
Willto
(292 posts)Wanted to get a PS5 for my 13 year old but it looks to be impossible. The large retailers like Wal-Mart could take some very easy steps to stop the bot accounts and the scalpers but they apparently don't give two shits about their customers.
All it would take to stop the bots is a captcha type step in the ordering process. You know one of those deals where you have to identify certain images to proceed. And then the simplest step would be to limit each customers online purchase to one or two units at a time.
Archae
(46,260 posts)But I have an XBox 360 and an Xbox One.
So far I still have most of my games just for the 360, especially the Skylanders games.
But I still also have a Gamecube, and PS2.
Nevilledog
(50,669 posts)quakerboy
(13,901 posts)I was much more upset about people doing this with TP and PPE and hand sanitizer than with games.
With games, thats just the natural product of capitalism. No one will die if they dont have the first issue of a mass produced gaming system. give it a little time and they will have plenty on the shelves at the regular store price.
Bengus81
(6,907 posts)That she will buy for him in the first week or two after Christmas when the raping ends. So he has to wait a bit but she doesn't need to get nailed by some shyster playing scalper.
tavernier
(12,322 posts)She was the one disappointed because she wanted to surprise him with it and spent hours trying to find one.
Moms are funny like that.