PS5 Scalpers used a loophole to buy stock before it lived in the UK

UK retailer Argos has been targeted by PS5 scalping groups, which may have contributed to lower than expected availability during a recent stock update. In the early morning hours of January 26, British gamers were delighted to see the PS5 back in stock at Argos. As we have seen time and time again, the stock has taken too much shorter than expected amid widespread issues. The site was not only next to the app, but there was apparently also less stock than expected on the already limited supply of consoles.

Several sources (who wish to remain anonymous) have confirmed to IGN that this is in part because individuals were able to order PS5 consoles from Argos on January 25, a full day before the aforementioned official stock reduction. This was a loophole discovered by scalping group Express Notify, a paid Discord server that shared links that allowed users to buy the PS5 before the general public even knew about the new stock. Express Notify has received public credit, with many of its users showing their orders for multiple consoles.

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Argos presumably turned off these rogue links quickly, but not without pre-selling several consoles and even picking them up at Argos stores. There has been no confirmation yet of how many PS5s were required before the loophole was closed, but this is just another example in the growing list of frustrations customers face when they want to buy the next generation system.

To magnify the problems, those who tried to buy legally via Argos in the early hours of the morning did not exactly get a head start. Initially, it appears that stock is available in the Argos app – which has repeatedly dropped for maintenance – but not on Argos’ browser-based website. However, even success with the app seemed to depend entirely on your environment and whether it generally wanted to play ball. Some users were successful, others said the money came out of their account without a confirmation email, while many more were left without a console.

We contacted Argos for comment on the issue.

Scalping has become a major problem for the PS5 with low inventory and high demand and is particularly prevalent in the UK. Consoles went missing at Amazon deliveries, they were stolen from moving trucks and retailers canceled large quantities of orders claimed by scalping rings. That was enough for a number of British politicians to have a debate about the illegality in the country.

Robert Anderson is a trade editor and trade expert for IGN. Send him amazing screenshots @ robertliam21 on Twitter.

Credit to @ PS5StockAlertUK for help with information.