Thankfully, there are also quite a few troll bidders too.

I don't mind scalping depending on how it's done.

That company who bought thousands just to resell can get f^*cked.

Average Joe who bought an extra console, meh.

I'm biased though. I scalped a series X

Depending on future circumstances and manufacturing, if scalping remains to be this much of a concern, or get's worse, it wouldn't be outlandish to assume even higher launch prices by next gen. The higher the launch price, the less likely scalpers are to bother. They won't scalp if they can't make enough profit, and few people will only go so far to get their hands on a unit, holidays or not. I bet both SNY and MS are kicking themselves for not charging $599. They very well could have gotten away with that for a year this time around. As long as they dropped to $499 by holiday 2021, they probably would have been fine overall, assuming the economy doesn't crash or anything like that.

.... I hardly think that's the case.

If you were trying to make a case that they are having a hard time selling them for $1000+, then I could see it. But independent sellers(like scalpers) are really sensitive to prices and assuming that they are currently not being able to sell for those high prices, they will simply drop the price, thus adjusting to the ''actual'' market price of Sony and MS 9th gen consoles.

Until roughly February/March, the stock situation of the PS5 and Xbox Series will remain roughly the same(demand will outstirp supply), so scalpers will have more than enough time to sell their stock with a decent profit over it. I personally wouldn't read too much into scalpers not being able to sell consoles for $1000, because instead they will be selling them for $750 to $800, and still making some nice money.

Scalping is actually really similar to MLMs. At some point the possible consumers to you overpriced crap will dry out and then you're left sitting in debt. All because you thought making money was easy.

I haven't seen any evidence that there's a widespread issue with scalpers not being able to resell PS5's or Xbox's. I keep track of a site called StockX which mostly sells shoes but has also gotten into electronics. They've facilitated the resale of 17,000 PS5 (disc version) in the US at this point and their pricing history shows no sign of lowering demand beyond what I would expect from increased supply coming in on Black Friday. 

So I would guess no.

I also have seen no proof that scalpers make up a significant percentage of sales from retail stores. Not 100% sure we'll ever have a good idea because I don't think the sales of these things to which addresses are public knowledge that can be analyzed. 

Are scalpers not aware that there is a global pandemic going on that could potentially affect people ability to shell out a thousand dollars on a resell?

I call that karma.

Looks like the same group is now targeting xboxs too. They are in the UK. Wonder if it's possible to point the Tax man in their direction.

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/now-ps5-scalper-group-claims-its-obtained-1000-xbox-series-x-consoles/

Sony and MS should at least produce 10M units when they launch their next-gen consoles come 2027. 5M to be shipped to the retailers and the other 5M is just in the warehouse ready to be distributed anytime to any retailer who sold out the initial shipment. This is the only way Sony and MS pay their loyal and avid customers back. At least the 10M consoles is guaranteed to be sold even if the console flops.

LOL karma

From now on chances for scalpers to profit on units they haven't sold yet plummet. Demand will still be higher than supplies for some time, but a lot less than before Xmas.