Even though she got her money back, Brittany still doesn’t have a PS5. “I’ve tried every restock at Target, Walmart, Amazon, GameStop, Sony, and Best Buy with no luck,” she explained. “Bots buy entire stocks out within seconds then resell them for over $1,000. I really want one, but it’s starting to seem impossible (this is me asking if Sony wants to send me a PS5 digital edition).”

And she isn’t alone in this situation. Sony has created one of the hottest gadgets of recent years in the PlayStation 5, but its launch has been spoiled by scalpers who are buying up scarce supplies and threatening the long-term health of the company’s most important product.

Scalpers, who buy the PS5 at retail and then resell at a higher price, have long been a challenge in the gaming business. But the problem at this particular time is even bigger since the coronavirus has squeezed production and pushed more console sales online — where scalpers use sophisticated bots to buy up the PlayStation 5 (and the new Microsoft Xbox).

These bots constantly monitor online stores for changes in inventory and supplies, then automatically place orders and check out in seconds when the goods become available. The technique is based on familiar web-crawling or scraping technology, but specifically tailored for e-commerce and can sometimes jump to the front of order queues.

A console’s debut is planned to set off a virtuous cycle of consumers rushing to buy the devices, while developers release games that capitalize on new graphics and processor capabilities, increasing the demand on both sides.

“The PlayStation 5 could miss a critical chance to get into a good hardware-software upward spiral,” said Kazunori Ito of Morningstar Research. “The peak of the platform will likely be low and the platform’s total revenue earned won’t be as strong as we hoped for.”

As for Brittany, she isn’t ashamed she got herself into this mess and thinks other people shouldn’t be too. “At the same time, don’t let the scammers/scalpers get away with it! Hold them accountable for the terrible way they’re treating people,” she added.