Here’s why you can’t find a PS5 anywhere right now

• PS5 consoles have been nearly impossible to find because of high demand and scalper bots that can reload websites in milliseconds to beat you to an order.
• Walmart says that it has been able to “successfully block the vast majority of bots,” but reseller groups have still collected thousands of PS5 and Xbox consoles.
• Relisted PS5 consoles are selling for well over $1,000, and sometimes closer to $2,000.

If you weren’t one of the lucky few that managed to secure your PlayStation 5 preorder when they suddenly started popping up online in September, chances are you’re still desperately searching for one ahead of the holiday season. Sony has been replenishing stock somewhat regularly, but unless you are very lucky, even being quick on the trigger hasn’t guaranteed anyone a console. Of course, there’s a reason that this process has been so frustrating.

Reuters reports that shoppers are being beaten to the punch by “scalper bot” software which is capable of snagging orders faster than any human ever could. The publication cited Benjamin Karmis, a priest from Wheaton, Illinois, who said that he was unable to buy a PS5 after seven attempts throughout the month of November from retailer websites, such as Walmart and Facebook Marketplace. “There is no possible way that I could have been more prepared to get one, and I have failed every single time,” Karmis told the site when asked about his experience.

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Once resellers acquire a PS5 with their bots, they immediately turn around and relist the PS5 with huge markups on eBay, Amazon, and other online marketplaces. While writing this article, I searched “PS5” on eBay, and the first five listings were each over $1,000, with some priced at more than triple the retail price of the console.

“Given bot scripts are constantly evolving and being re-written, we’ve built, deployed and continuously update our own bot-detection tools that allow us to successfully block the vast majority of bots,” a Walmart spokesman relayed to the publication. “Online volume has already been high this year due to COVID, and the release of next-gen consoles is creating traffic volume and patterns that have never been seen before.”

Perhaps the most surprising revelation when it comes to this scourge of bots is that they aren’t actually illegal. US law does prohibit ticket scalping for concerts and events, but the same protections simply don’t exist for retailers. As such, Walmart and other major chains that have seen thousands of their next-gen game consoles go to resellers are doing the best they can to ensure the integrity of the process without the help of the law.

Walmart said that it blocked more than 20 million botting attempts within the first 30 minutes of a PS5 sales event on November 25th. GameStop and Target say that they employ “high-tech bot protection software” on their websites as well. Nevertheless, top reseller groups such as CrepChiefNotify claim that they have been able to get thousands of PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles ever since the consoles launched earlier this month.