When you think of teenage jobs, what springs to mind first? For some people, it’ll be memories of that first supermarket job. For others, it’ll be doing chores for neighbours and relatives for some extra cash. However, for one 16-year-old from New Jersey, it means exploiting shortages of PlayStation consoles to make over a million dollars!
How did he do it?
That’s right, according to a recent interview, the teen took advantage of various shortages triggered by the pandemic and made 1.7 million dollars as a result. While consoles and Pokemon cards are the most notable items resold by the teenager, the bedroom business also involved trading more mundane items like dumbbells and outdoor heaters.
So, how exactly did this 16-year-old reseller manage to bag 1.7 million? Well, during his conversation with the Wall Street Journal, Max Hayden revealed that he originally started selling the PS5 and Xbox Series X at double their value during the pandemic. Now, thanks to profits yielded throughout 2020, the teenager now co-rents a warehouse, where even more scarce goods are traded above their market value.
Now, I know what you’re thinking; what happens when all these products come back into stock? Well, in a way, resellers are partly to blame for product scarcity in the first place. By using automated bots, individual resellers and groups are able to swipe any available stock moments after they’re available online. While the easing of pandemic restrictions and increased stocks should curb reseller success, the newfound practice could be a neverending bugbear for consumers.
Let’s hope that the practice of reselling fizzles out at some point down the line. While Max Hayden has made a pretty penny exploiting the pandemic as life shifts back to the new normal it will be interesting to see how the business model of resellers works in a world with fewer stock problems.
Featured Image Credit: GameByte