You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Simply add waiting lists and a max limit of one order per person. Sucks for large families but only until the initial hype is gone.
There’s a reliable way to combat scalping in general. Start selling the item at a high price or in larger quantity and then cut the price whenever sales drop off.
Scalpers can only make money by scalping something when it is being sold below what the market is willing to pay for it in the quantity in which it is available.
On a non-economic note, I’d add that I don’t think I’d want to buy an easily-modified Linux computer system from some random person unless I planned to wipe it. How do you know that the thing hasn’t been rootkitted?
There’s a reliable way to combat scalping in general. Start selling the item at a high price or in larger quantity and then cut the price whenever sales drop off.
That alone might be effective at reducing scalping, but would also put the item beyond the reach of entire income classes.
I've worked in camera retail and the local shops do just that, actually, and it's effective. The FOMO people get their stuff first at a higher price, the shop gets a boost in margins, and everyone else gets to enjoy cheaper prices three months later (and have the early adopters sit through the bugs and first-run issues).
Can’t really do that with such a hot product. Would cause too much PR damage and outrage. Companies don’t do it because this way they basically outsource the PR problem to the scalpers while allowing them to play innocent.
The level of outrage over supply issues for a video game console is disproportionate a lot of the time. Outrage that would be better directed elsewhere, but I digress.
Some desperate scalpers on ebay are already trying to sell the 512GB version for 1000€. Despite the fact that you can still order one for half the price and receive it within 6-10 days.
I could be wrong, but I would bet that launderers are probably not targeting this niche device. I’d guess that the people buying them are more likely from a country that they don’t sell in. Like Australia for example.
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