Microsoft's limited edition 25th Anniversary Xbox Series X—the Xbox Series X25—recently opened for pre-order. Surprisingly, this most expensive Xbox console in history ($900) sold out within just one minute.
Although some Xbox fans managed to snag this commemorative console, scalpers also grabbed quite a few, and these individuals are now reselling the consoles on sites like eBay to make a hefty profit.
On e-commerce platforms, dozens of Xbox Series X25 units were listed, with prices ranging from $2,200 to $27,426. The highest price of $27,426 represents a 30-fold increase, though this was likely done to secure the top spot in eBay search results.
When Microsoft opened pre-orders, the Xbox Series X25 was priced at $900, so the current price increase is quite staggering. It appears that many consoles have already been sold at marked-up prices, with several transactions on eBay averaging between $1,900 and $2,300 per unit.
This once again brings to mind the similar experience during the early launch of this generation of consoles: due to semiconductor shortages, Xbox Series X and PS5 units were hard to come by. Scalpers used various methods and bots to quickly snap up online restocks, only to resell them at a markup. However, as the supply chain eventually stabilized, purchasing current-gen consoles became somewhat easier.
This is yet another thing ruined by scalpers, as many hobbies have been affected by this speculative culture. The Pokémon Trading Card Game has been particularly hard hit, with scalpers snapping up every restock from retailers. Even Pokémon donuts were not spared.