Scalping is a process that has been raging since the advent of the PS5 and the Xbox Series: you are aware that a major shortage is currently underway, making consoles from Sony and Microsoft very difficult to find in trade. Some have understood this and take advantage of it to buy them completely legally at the standard price before everyone else, before reselling them at a much higher price to individuals, eager to get their hands on them. A technique that puts customers at a disadvantage and somewhat unbalances the market, widening inequalities: we thus find many PlayStation 5s at 800 euros, or even sometimes well above.
Those who practice this “commercial offer” are called scalpers and in England, they are no exception to the rule. It is on this very principle that Jack Bayliss created Aftermarker Arbitrage, a very privileged platform for those concerned., and for good reason: all subscribers are notified directly of stock replenishments of PS5 and Xbox Series (among others), to buy them at normal prices before everyone else and resell them for a profit. The only consideration, is to pay a subscription to the platform of 30 pounds sterling (36 euros).
Currently, Bayliss has no less than 1,500 subscribers, which gives it a monthly turnover of… €64,830. A gargantuan sum which inevitably raises the crowds, so that the television channel sky news took an interest in his case. In an interview, he delivers his vision of things, which will probably not please everyone.
Photo credit: Jack Bayliss / Sky News
Scalping is definitely Jack Bayliss’ business and he makes no secret of it. Even beyond the generous salary generated thanks to its Aftermarket Arbitrage platform, the Brit says the latter encourages a legitimate practice.
For me, owning the PS5 or an Xbox isn’t a necessity, it’s a luxury, okay? If you can afford to spend £450, spending an extra £100 should be pretty marginal, if you have the money ready to invest in it.
Yes, some families are going to have to pay £100 more, but what you don’t think are our members: they have 30 consoles, they make £100 on each. And they earn a good month’s salary in a few days.
Above all, Bayliss admits that many of the subscribers to his service are “young”… but that he simply creates real “entrepreneurs”.
In reality, they are entrepreneurs, they go out, create a side income, and they do something that 90% of the population doesn’t bother to do.
Now they spend more time with their family, with their children. We’ve had people who have been able to renovate their homes, they’ve bought the kids a climbing frame, they’ve bought their wives new cars, they’ve bought themselves new cars.
We also had one of our members who had a gambling debt of £20,000. We hired him. He’s been with us for a year, he’s safe now and he’s made, I think, a lot of money.
The feedback from the general public is obviously overwhelming. Some do not hesitate to call it “Cancer” or of “Martin Shkreli of gaming” : whatever some may think, its platform works terribly well and puts the finger on a societal problem, almost trivialized.
In the United States, where the trend is also present, some are trying to shake things up: we were talking to you a while ago of a US Democratic representative, who was trying to pass a law to ban scalpers. He even had the support of several senators from different states.
What is your opinion on the question of scalping? Do you understand with the words of Jack Bayliss?
