Latest news with #scalpers
Gizmodo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Meta's Xbox-Branded Quest 3S Just Sold Out for All the Wrong Reasons
Everyone loves limited-edition stuff. There's Sony's 30th anniversary PS5, or Analogue's many limited edition Pocket handhelds, or— I don't know—the Shamrock f***ing Shake. But there's one type of person who loves limited-edition stuff more than your average consumer, and it's a scalper. For proof of that, see Meta's recently released Xbox-branded Quest 3S. See Meta Quest Xbox Edition at Best Buy In case you missed it, Meta's new limited-edition Quest 3S bundle just recently sold out, which on the surface sounds like a great thing for VR and XR. You may be tempted to say, 'Oh, wow! People really like XR headsets, huh?' But before you do that, it may also be worth taking a short gander at eBay, because the resale market over there paints a slightly more cynical picture. It's full of Xbox-branded Quest 3S bundles, folks—and they ain't just giving them away. This bundle, for reference, retails at $399, and the average price I'm seeing on eBay is about $600, though sometimes a little more or a little less. Here is the sad state of affairs on eBay as of the time of typing these words: The list goes on and on, unfortunately, which tells me one thing: the scalpers had a field day with this thing. And that's just kind of sad. It's not sad that someone would want to make money from reselling a limited-edition gadget—as annoying as scalpers are, I can't blame anyone for having a side hustle in this economy. But it is sad that Meta seemingly didn't do much to preserve its limited-edition Quest 3S for XR nerds who unequivocally deserve first dibs. It's also maybe a little sad—as someone who borders on said XR nerd identity—that the race to being out of stock may not actually be driven by real demand. XR headsets, while not the most crucial gadget in the world, are pretty cool and deserve more shine than they get, in my humble opinion. It would have been nice to see them really break through with a little help from an Xbox marketing gimmick. But as always, the almighty aftermarket prevails. To be fair, I'm sure not all of the sales were scalpers trying to make a buck off the XR headset's rarity. Some people, I presume, bought it because it's a pretty good deal for getting into XR—you get a sleek black headset with Xbox green details, Meta's Elite Strap for your head, and a limited-edition Xbox controller to top it off. Based on the retail price of all of that, this bundle saves you somewhere in the ballpark of $95. Some people bought this bundle because of Xbox, too. Here's one instance in which someone seems to have pulled the trigger on this bundle just for the controller. Honestly… respect. That's much more pure than trying to spin the whole thing around for $200. The idea that someone buys the new Quest colorway just to nab the limited edition Xbox Controller and sell the rest is really comical.. — SadlyItsDadley (@SadlyItsBradley) June 27, 2025Listen, scalpers are an inevitable fact of life nowadays when you're buying any gadget that's even slightly in demand. Like it or not, that's just the world we live in—one colored by bots and dropshipping. But I'd be lying if I said that it wouldn't have been nice to see a little effort on Meta's part to prevent that. It can be done! Just look at the Switch 2 launch. People have been resorting to cartoonish levels of robbery to get their hands on it—that's how in-demand this thing is—but Nintendo, with a little bit of forethought, has kept the scourge of scalpers to a dull roar. I guess Meta probably doesn't care that much either way, though. A sale is a sale, whether it ends up on eBay or on your dorky XR- and Xbox-loving head. Sadly, if you're in the latter camp, it looks like the aftermarket is your only option right now. Thanks, Zuckerberg. Just because you look like a dropshipper doesn't mean you have to act like one. See Meta Quest Xbox Edition at Best Buy
South China Morning Post
14-06-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
2025 National Games: real-name ticket system may be used, Hong Kong office says
Hong Kong's coordination office for the National Games is studying whether to adopt a real-name system for tickets at prices ranging from a few dozen Hong Kong dollars up to about HK$500 (US$64). Yeung Tak-keung, head of the National Games Coordination Office, said on Saturday that tickets would be sold from August on a unified platform for events to be held in the city, Macau and Guangdong province in November. 'It is estimated that the ticket prices will range from a few dozen dollars to about HK$500 at most, depending on the event, such as the preliminary or final round, and also the number of seats,' he said on a televised programme. 'We will try our best to set the ticket price to a level that is acceptable to all residents.' Yeung said the local office was discussing ticketing details with authorities from Macau and Guangdong, including whether a real-name system would be used as well as other measures to combat scalpers. 'Whether the tickets could be transferred, whether to use a real-name system and how to crack down on scalpers will all be carefully considered,' he said, adding that more details would be released later.
Gizmodo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
How Theme Park Snack Culture Influenced the Movie Theater Popcorn Bucket Craze
Popcorn buckets are becoming must-have toy collectibles, and this plot twist of trends comes from the unhinged virality of containers that evoke pop culture icons and hold tasty snacks. As a theme park nerd, I saw it unfold as Disney Parks' snack of choice went from the general cylindrical plastic bucket to Mickey Mouse-shaped holiday containers. As is common in the age of social media, the buckets became coveted souvenirs—and like many sought-after collectibles, scalpers soon got into the game to sell them online. The demand was met with more franchise characters; suddenly you could get a Star Wars Stormtrooper helmet or a Jack Skellington head or a Cinderella carriage to fill with buttery popped kernel delights. So it's no surprise that movie theaters, the original purveyors of concession cuisine, got into the popcorn bucket arms race and produced that Dune sandworm container cultural moment. Even years after the pandemic, theater chains have struggled. One-third of the revenue cinemas depend on comes from concessions that have had ever-rising prices. It's really ingenious to combat people rebuffing a paper bucket of popcorn for $12 with the enticement of a limited-edition open mouth Wolverine popcorn bucket for $30. And then with the scalper market still hot as ever, that hilariously marketed Deadpool & Wolverine product is now going for up to $100 on third party re-sellers. Yeah, it got that serious once simple recreations of artifacts from the movie or characters were turned into gimmicks. The theme parks had long crossed over to the bonkers realm, most notably with the Thanos Infinity Gauntlet drink holder and the Iron Man Avengers: Endgame variant. Disney influencers flocked to attain them first and show them off on their platforms. Star Wars fans were similarly courted, and the snack container wars began. Naturally movie theaters have continued to present new popcorn buckets and drink tumblers with each new blockbuster—but so far, nobody has bested the cursed Dune popcorn bucket. That doesn't mean companies won't keep trying. A few weeks ago we attended Disneyland's media preview for its 70th Anniversary and there we met the interactive Mickey popcorn bucket that responds when you speak to it. You fill it with popcorn and say 'Hey Mickey' and it will blink and move its head side to side with one of many responses, while in your mind, the Terminator theme plays rhythmically. The buckets are now robo-toys and it really makes their role in the foodie fandom even more questionable. Are we sacrificing practical and cool containers for just a bulky toy with a hollowed-out area? Don't get me wrong, I've bought my share of buckets but I do try to pick utility over looks. The current waste bin in my family car is the Ghostbusters ghost trap from AMC Theaters; it traps the trash and has a handle that makes it easy to dump the contents into the recycling bin. That's all I need it to do: either hold popcorn or recyclables that accumulate in the car. That's just my personal taste in the matter. Sure, I get the appeal of the campy containers. I'm mightily tempted by the Jaws sipper that just launched at Universal Studios. It's a plastic shark crossbody with the scuba tank in its mouth—a statement-making way to keep your soda handy as you wander the park. It's ridiculous but so tempting. So if you manage to secure the snack goods and get a cool toy from your pop culture fandom, what's really the big deal? AMC is set to release a HERBIE 3-in-1 for Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It's a replica of the Richards family's trusty robot companion, which will feature various compartments for popcorn, candy, and soda (astoundingly the sipper is the head). Who knows how the theme parks will respond in kind—but we're excited to see a whole new level of weirdness as the snack game evolves.
Bloomberg
10-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Switch 2 Resellers Drive Thriving Market in Japan Despite Crackdown
Welcome to Tech In Depth, our daily newsletter with reporting and analysis about the business of tech from Bloomberg's journalists around the world. Today, Mayumi Negishi reports on the backlash against scalpers who are finding ways to obtain and sell the new Switch 2 game console outside the authorized retail outlets. Help us improve Bloomberg's newsletters: Take a quick survey to share your thoughts on your signup experience and what you'd like to see in the future.
Screen Geek
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Screen Geek
Sydney Sweeney Bathwater Hits eBay For Thousands Of Dollars After Selling Out
The announcement that Dr. Squatch would be collaborating with Sydney Sweeney to sell a new scent of soap made with her bathwater just about broke the internet. Following that, after listing the soap for sale – named ' Sydney's Bathwater Bliss ' – the product immediately sold out within seconds. Dr. Squatch put up as many as 5,000 bars of soap for sale. Each bar was priced at $8.00. As shared via NBC New York, they were listed for sale at 12 PM ET, and they were immediately out of stock. Users were said to have an 'estimated wait time to check out […] listed at nearly 250 minutes,' while 'others complained the website crashed.' It seems as though scalpers beat the average consumers to the punch, with listings now appearing on eBay following the sale. Prices on the reseller website range anywhere from $300 to $2,000. It's an unfortunate problem that has plagued similar online drops for the last few years. Of course, soap made from Sydney Sweeney's used bathwater was always destined to be a high seller. After all, Sweeney and Dr. Squatch already got consumers interested with their collaborative marketing campaign, it made sense that selling soap with Sweeney's more direct involvement would be the next step. Now that all 5,000 bars of soap have sold out, however, it remains to be seen what direction Sydney Sweeney and Dr. Squatch will take their collaboration in next, if at all. After all, it's going to be difficult to beat ' Sydney's Bathwater Bliss ' as a legitimate product. Additionally, Sweeney has been enjoying a rather successful boost in her career over the last few years, with several major projects lined up including an adaptation of the hit video game Split Fiction and a remake of the sci-fi cult classic Barbarella . Clearly this new line of soap was just a quick detour while she prepares to move onto even bigger and better things.
