It’s a phenomenon of the modern consumer age that has existed long before bots sucked up all the air in the room.
People going out of their way to buy the latest must-have items, only to turn around and resell them at an inflated price, is as old as commerce itself. The major difference between then and now is the ability to leverage technology to scale these efforts. And that’s where many of us get frustrated, hateful even, at resellers because it’s one thing to miss out on a hot item but a whole other proposition entirely not even to have the chance to buy it because a bunch of bots scooped up all available inventory within three minutes of it going online.
This is a problem for companies, too, as they aren’t able to satisfy consumer demand and then, on top of that, might have to deal with angry, disappointed customers who have paid some reseller way above what the product is worth and are now suffering from buyer’s remorse.
Fujifilm is looking to put a stop to that in Japan according to Fuji Rumors.
“In order to better provide products to customers who need them, we have newly specified the following actions as prohibited and have stated that if any such actions are confirmed, we may suspend your “FUJIFILM Members” account.
Prohibited acts
Accessing and ordering products through programs that automate purchasing
Using different names, telephone numbers, or email addresses at the same address to order quantities in excess of the limits set by this service, etc.”
One popular consumer product that has largely followed this method of release is the Sony PlayStation 5 which escaped extreme price gouging by selling directly on the company website, through a waiting list and lottery mechanism, for the hype period following its initial release. While this was controversial for Sony given its relationship with retailers, it didn’t stop the console from going on to sell well and, luckily for consumers, largely free of inflated prices.
Any thoughts on resellers and using bots to purchase popular products online are welcome in the comments.
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