Social Chain’s GameByte has solved PS5 price gouging and resales

The gaming brand is taking a stand against console resales that have plagued the PlayStation 5 launch for retailers

• GameByte has devised a system to ensure only its real fans can buy the PlayStation 5 from them

• A £1 raffle ticket system will ensure that bots can’t interfere, while all ticket proceeds will go to mental health charity Safe In Our World

• Gamers hoping to get their hands on a PS5 bundle at RRP for Christmas can sign up to GameByte’s newsletter to register their interest

Manchester-based gaming retailer and social publisher, GameByte, has devised a solution to the rampant bots that are buying up PlayStation 5 stock and reselling them for a personal profit.

They are making their PS5 stock available to their newsletter community only and have put a mechanic in place on the backend that bots can’t get around. Using GameByte’s newsletter list also adds an exclusivity barrier that will deter price gouging.

Resellers pose a huge problem for legitimate retailers every time a new console launches.

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Recently Sky News reported that Very had fallen victim to price gouging at the hands of CrepChiefNotify, which bought over 1000 consoles from Very at its RRP and resold them online for a profit.

Social Chain head of gaming, Rich White, said: “The problem is that bots can check out much faster than humans, meaning real gamers miss out. It’s an issue that affects almost every retailer, yet a solution like GameByte’s hasn’t been attempted by a UK retailer before – until now.”

The process will function around a raffle competition that the brand is running.

GameByte’s newsletter subscribers can purchase a raffle ticket for £1 (limited to one per person) which will enter them into the queue for secure sales of GameByte’s PS5 stock.

Winners will be randomly selected until GameByte’s stock runs out, and those winners will be sent a private link, created just for them, where they can safely purchase their PS5.

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Those who aren’t selected on the first round of the raffle will be put on the waitlist for GameByte’s next batch of PS5 stock.

The money made from the £1 raffle tickets won’t go to GameByte or its parent company Social Chain, but instead will be donated to Safe In Our World, a mental health charity for gamers for which several members of the GameByte team are ambassadors.

White, said: “We want to tackle this issue head-on without profiting from it directly. Our mechanic allows us to get PS5s into the hands of real people within the GameByte community while also giving back to a cause that our audience is happy to support.”

White added that GameByte would also be “adding a mechanic to all purchases on-site, where shoppers can choose to round-up their purchases to the nearest pound, with the excess being donated to Safe in our World.”