News PS5 restock disaster: Sony addresses massive shortage

TheKLF99

Distinguished
Feb 7, 2014
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One thing I don't understand with this is that a lot of these consoles are very quickly ending up on eBay with purchasers blatantly price gouging them and eBay allowing them to break their own policy on this - eBay keep claiming that it's not breaching their price gouging policy as they don't see it is an essential items - however their price gouging policy does include price gouging of any items in response to an emergency or disaster in the second bullet point - is the current COVID crisis not classed as a "disaster"? - and even Sony's CEO states production is down due to the covid pandemic

"Jim Ryan, PlayStation’s CEO, has some good news, however: Sony is doing its darndest to increase PS5 production. The bad news, of course, is that the world is still in the middle of a pandemic, and that slows down the supply chain considerably."

Therefore I believe eBay are allowing many sellers to blatantly go against their price gouging policy at this time as detailed below (I've highlighted and underlined the bits I believe are in breach of their own price gouging policy

eBay is an important source of goods for buyers during emergencies and when supply chains are disrupted. Sellers offering essential items must offer them at reasonable prices, and may not attempt to unreasonably profit from increased demand or decreased supply caused by emergencies or disasters.

What is the policy?
  • Items that are considered essential must be offered at a reasonable price
  • Inflating the price of goods in response to an emergency or disaster is not allowed
  • eBay may restrict the sale of items that are susceptible to price gouging behaviour - for example, by only allowing items to be sold by authorised sellers
  • Sellers must follow all applicable laws and regulations that apply to the sale of their items
Activity that doesn't follow eBay policy could result in a range of actions including, for example: administratively ending or cancelling listings, hiding or demoting all listings from search results, lowering seller rating, buying or selling restrictions, and account suspension. All fees paid or payable in relation to listings or accounts on which we take any action will not be refunded or otherwise credited to your account.