Every year, parents across the world scramble to get their kids the latest and greatest presents for Christmas. Frantic Black Friday shopping has always led to empty shelves nationwide, but this issue of sold out items has gotten much worse within the past year. 

With the rise of online shopping, the ease of accessibility to products has revolutionized the way that people shop. However, the downside to this is the ability for individuals to buy out an item’s stock with the intention of reselling the item. One of the most prominent examples of this issue is the release of the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. These consoles were released online for the public in November and were sold out within seconds. 

Although this is to be expected from the release of a hot new toy, every single time that these toys are restocked online, they get sold out instantly time and time again. They are being bought by resellers who are reselling the $500 consoles for upwards of $750. This forces parents attempting to purchase these new consoles to have to pay 1.5 times the MSRP.

One of the main causes for the instant buyouts of these items such as new toys, sneakers, clothes, and more is reselling bots. According to Business Insider, “In the sneaker resale world, a ‘bot’ refers to a software application that expedites the online checkout process and helps resellers nab hyped pairs in seconds…Bots are specifically designed to make this process instantaneous, offering users a leg-up over other buyers looking to complete transactions manually.” These applications allow resellers to purchase multiple of an item instantly when it releases, before a regular buyer could even purchase one. 

The largest market for reselling currently is through sneakers. Due to the popularity of their shoes, Nike has created an app that allows users to enter to get their newest pair of shoes for the retail price when they release. As expected, these releases are flooded with resellers and their 

‘bots,’ ready to steal all of the new sneakers away to resell. Some notable shoes that underwent massive price hikes due to resellers are the Jordan 1 Off-White Chicagos, which retailed for $190 and are currently reselling for around $9,000; the Jordan 1 Dior reselling for around $10,000; and the Nike Air Yeezy Red October for around $20,000. 

This creates a big problem for everyone trying to purchase items, and even specifically as presents in the holiday season. To combat this, Congress rolled out legislation called the Stopping Grinch Bots Act, which if passed would dish out serious punishments for anyone using bots to buy out items. This would be a massive step in combating the issue of these resellers buying out and increasing the price on goods.