Microsoft opened up preorders for its limited-edition 25th-Anniversary Xbox Series X, and within a minute, the most expensive Xbox ever sold out. While units will likely make their ways into the hands of Xbox fans with deep pockets, it looks like scalpers have also snatched up units, and as you'd expect, they're expecting to make a big payday by flogging them on sites like eBay.

A quick look at the commerce platform reveals dozens of the rare Xbox Series X consoles have been listed, with prices ranging from $2,200 all the way up to an incredibly optimistic $27,426 by one seller in Australia--likely as a way to grab the top spot on eBay's search page.  Microsoft opened up preorders with a $900 asking price for the console, so this is quite the jump. So far, it looks like quite a few of the consoles have been sold at the marked-up price, with several sales on eBay averaging between $1,900 to $2,300 per unit sold.

This is also an unpleasant reminder of the early years of the current console generation, as thanks to a semiconductor shortage, the Xbox Series X and the PS5 were hard to find. Scalpers using a variety of methods and programs were quick to snatch up restocks online and resold them, but supply chains eventually stabilized and access to the current console generation was easier--at least until a variety of factors saw their prices surge upwards last year, with no sign of relief in the immediate future.

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