Xbox Series X and S pre-orders exhausted, consoles show up on eBay

Genuine fans who wanted the next generation Xbox were left frustrated after they were snapped up by people who just wanted to resell them.

Disappointed Xbox fans who missed out on snaring a pre-order for the upcoming Xbox Series X and Series S consoles have been annoyed to find the reservations being sold on eBay hours after pre-orders opened.

Microsoft hasn’t answered questions from news.com.au about how quickly the allocation was exhausted but wanted to “encourage fans to pre-order now”.

But where?

JB Hi-Fi has suspended pre-orders after exhausting its allocation.

EB Games “pre-sold out” of its launch shipment and was accepting orders for the next shipment by midday, with some who tried to order one of the original allocation complaining that the website had crashed.

UPDATE: Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S LAUNCH Shipment has now presold out.

There will be a small shipment expected POST LAUNCH 2020. Current expected presell time of Midday AEST.

— EB Games Australia (@EBGamesAus) September 21, 2020

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Harvey Norman looks to still be accepting orders but only for the less powerful Series S console and Microsoft’s links to other retailers where customers can try and pre-order appear to be dead links.

Telstra looks to still be accepting orders but you have to be a Telstra customer and purchase it through the All Access program rather than buying a stand-alone console.

A similar thing occurred last week when pre-orders for the PlayStation 5 went on sale.

Pre-orders are already being sold for inflated prices on eBay, much to the annoyance of fans who missed out.

Pre-orders quickly showed up on eBay asking for more than the RRP.

@Xbox disappointed, was on the button the second the pre orders went live. Had it in the cart but it wouldn't process, no dice no pre order. Yet you have people on ebay selling 3 pre orders, of my 5 friends only 2 got a pre order..

— Andrew Neubeck (@andrew_neubeck) September 22, 2020

So apparently the only people that managed to pre-order an Xbox were eBay scum

— Alan Downie (@alandownie) September 21, 2020

Larry, the problem is that loyal Xbox customers are getting bypassed by bots. I tried in Australia to preorder off a couple of retailers, and their sites crashed. However, if you look on Ebay, it looked like the scalpers were successful. Surely there must be a better system?

— Robert Tonkli (@Robert_Tonkli) September 21, 2020

Some predicted this would happen, blaming Xbox for announcing the pre-order date so far in advance and citing recent examples of the PS5 pre-order process and the sale of new Nvidia graphics cards for inflated prices.

I have a feeling ebay seller bots are going to screw over loyal @Xbox costumers just like they did with @Playstation 5 and @nvidia 3080 series.

With a KNOWN release time, they will overload servers, almost like a DDoS attack (in conjuction with real consumers).

Gonna suck.. 😥

— Under Ach1ever (@Under_Ach1ever) September 21, 2020

These damn scalpers should be illegal you got the ps5 being targeted by scalpers on eBay and now you got the RTX 3080 being grabbed by bot software as well. What’s next Xbox next gen consoles when they come out?! This is getting rediculas.

— Brent showers (@mike922222) September 19, 2020

Looks like Australia's supply of xbox consoles are on eBay already https://t.co/9sbNaAOuKd

— K-Med (@K__Med) September 22, 2020

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Others suggested gamers should protest about the scalpers by either refusing to buy from them or promising to do so before reneging.

Did you know there’s literally no downside to clicking “buy it now” on every eBay Xbox Series X scalper and just never paying? You’ll lose your account but just make another one. What fun!!

— Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) September 21, 2020

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?

There are a few factors in play.

Firstly, the main point of pre-orders is to gauge consumer interest as well as create demand, so it’s possible Microsoft simply and deliberately under-allocated initial pre-orders.

This can create FOMO or “fear of missing out”, which can “encourage fans to pre-order now”.

It might not be deliberate however. Many have theorised the coronavirus pandemic may have had an impact on Microsoft and Sony’s ability to produce the new consoles, though both companies remained committed to launching this November within days of one another.

Sony was also reportedly having trouble producing the chip used in its console, which the company also disputed.

Consumers are battling with computers to secure a new Xbox pre-order. Picture: Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP

As for the pre-orders, the problem for the average consumer is you’re competing with computers.

Ticket bots (computer scripts that can make reservations faster than a real person) were favoured by scalpers throughout the 2000s, and as e-commerce grew they were picked up by others including streetwear resellers who wait for hyped clothing or shoe drops and use the bots to snap up products before others have a chance.

A Singaporean golf club even called in the police earlier this month after golfers allegedly used bots to book up all the tee times within seconds of them becoming available.

RECORD DEAL FOR GAME PUBLISHER

Hours before the pre-orders went live Microsoft gave gaming fans another reason to try to reserve a new console.

The software giant has just announced it will pay $US7.5 billion ($A10.4 billion) for Zenimax Media, a parent company that owns game publisher Bethesda Softworks.

According to Bloomberg, it’s the most Microsoft has spent on a gaming deal.

The deal will mean Bethesda titles like the Dishonoured franchise, Elder Scrolls games like Oblivion and Skyrim, and the Fallout, Doom and Wolfenstein franchises will be available on the Xbox Game Pass subscription service.

Pending regulatory approval, the deal is expected to close next year.

Xbox Series X and Series S go on sale on November 10.

It could also help Microsoft get an edge on an area where it lost in the last round of battle between the console makers.

Console exclusive titles provide a compelling reason for gamers to choose one console over another.

PS5 has already announced two Bethesda titles – Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo – would be exclusively available on PlayStation (before later releasing on PC).

Xbox chief Phil Spencer said the company will still honour that agreement for a timed exclusive, but future exclusivity deals would be decided “case by case”.