If you are having trouble finding that toy your kid wants for Christmas, there might be a good reason for it. And that reason could be forcing you to shell out big money for that toy, too.
The reason is bots are buying them up, forcing you to turn to sites like eBay; meaning that you're paying more for that toy. Brent Shelton with B-F ads dot net tells KTRH this is a growing problem.
“It’s a growing business. They are getting aggressive on their buying end,” Shelton stated.
So what can you do as a consumer to avoid having to shell out more of your cash?
“There are services that will allow you to set alerts for the toys that you want. You’ll have to be as good as the bots. As soon as something goes on sale and you get an alert you are going to have to be ready to buy,” Shelton explained.
The problem is so bad that on the secondary market, toys like Fingerlings can be sold for as much as a thousand dollars. And Barbie's Dream House after markup could cost you $1500. Lawmakers in Washington have asked the National Retail Federation to help investigate.