Amazon has finally found a solution to fight against scalping robots, which prevent ordinary buyers from ordering their PS5 or their Xbox Series on the e-commerce site.
Since the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles, it is often very difficult for those who could be called “real buyers/players” to get their hands on one of the machines on sale. And for good reason, on Amazon, scalping robots systematically or almost systematically get their hands on consoles, as soon as they appear on the marketplace. The American online sales giant seems to have found the solution to circumvent the thorny problem.
An invitation button to fight against buyer robots
Scalping has been one of the scourges of recent years in the world of e-commerce. The principle: behind robots (or purchasing bots), hide software that automates online purchases. They are able to buy, very quickly, large quantities of products that are often very coveted, but which happen to be in limited edition. The PS5 and Xbox Series are unfortunately no exception to the rule.
In terms of good news, can you imagine that Amazon has recently been working on an innovative system that is certainly nothing exceptional technically speaking, but which quite simply allows you to bypass robots and undermine scalping? . How ?
This week, Amazon inserted a button on its American e-commerce site Request invitation (Request an invitation), which is an order option that allows the buyer to secure his purchase, while Amazon can verify that he is not a bot, in particular by checking the purchase history of the latter and the date of creation of his account.
A means that could quickly be extended to other products
Using the invite button, which by the way replaces the button that allows you to buy the product directly, costs the customer absolutely nothing, and it is not even necessary to be an Amazon Prime member. If Amazon considers your account to be legitimate, then you will receive an email with instructions on how to finalize the purchase, a procedure which you must complete within 72 hours of receiving the email.
Note that for the moment, the button is only accessible on the American domain of Amazon and for the PlayStation 5 only. It is still offered, from what we have seen, when you choose France as the country of delivery.
This invite option is expected to be enabled in the coming days for Xbox Series X, says TechCrunch. Amazon should also extend it, eventually, to other countries but also to other products that are in high demand for limited stocks.
Source : TechCrunch
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