[GameSpot] - Halo Infinite Edition Xbox Series X Is Already Getting Scalped For Ridiculous Markups

[343iBot]

If you've been one of the millions of people trying to get their hands on one of the new consoles over the past year, chances are you've also experienced frustration with scalpers and bots snatching up the limited supply. Not surprisingly, the recently announced Halo Infinite Xbox Series X console--which had an even more restricted preorder supply than the normal console--is already getting scalped months ahead of its launch.

Spotted by the NPD Group's Mat Piscatella on Twitter, scalpers have started putting up preorders for the console on marketplaces like eBay. These listings are going for huge markups, too. While the console's official listing price was $550 USD, scalpers are selling them for $900 and up.

A search on eBay reveals that a handful of these listings have sold, too. A lot more are currently on sale. Some listings are even trying to fetch enormous prices just for the controller that ships with the console. As you might expect, scalpers are also trying to flip preorders for the Halo Series 2 Elite Controller; its original $200 USD listings sold out immediately, as well. The scalped preorders are selling for not as huge of a markup, selling for roughly $280, but are still part of the bigger issue.

EBay regulates pre-sale flipping and recently took action in a similar situation when scalpers were selling Steam Deck preorders. Its specific policy requires sellers to ship preordered content within 30 days of the purchase, and since this console is still several months out, it is likely that these listings will get taken down. Console manufacturers and some retailers have taken a wide array of different actions to combat scalping, from randomized queues to quotas on the number of items one person can purchase. But when it comes to a limited edition version of an already scarce product, like this Xbox, the conditions make a perfect storm for opportunistic selling.

It's a shame, as this special-edition Xbox does have a pretty cool design, and it's one of the main ways that Microsoft is marking the 20th anniversary of the Halo franchise. For those who are still interested in picking one up through less nefarious means, there will likely be a couple of additional opportunities via Amazon and Best Buy--but we don't know when those listings will go live yet. The console is slated for launch on November 15, a few weeks ahead of Halo Infinite's December 8 release.

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