Scalpers have been selling Razer’s Zephyr RGB face mask for hugely inflated prices on eBay.
The Zephyr air purifier face mask with N95-grade filters retails for $99.99, but is currently completely sold out on Razer’s website. Some of those sold masks have been picked up by scalpers, who are currently selling them for absurd prices on eBay. A search for the item shows numerous sold items, all going for anything from $250 to an eye-watering $500.
The Razer Zephyr only went on sale on October 22, and so this scalper situation occurred almost immediately. The Zephyr itself was first shown off as a concept at CES 2021, and shortly after announced as an actual product. It’s N95 respirator status means it protects from droplets and splashes, and so is an effective COVID mask. The sleek, almost cyberpunk design is pretty unique, and so it’s understandable why it sold out so fast. It’s just a shame that several of them were used by scalpers to make a huge profit.
Scalping has been a huge issue in gaming lately, thanks to the popularity of the new generation of consoles. An estimate of 10-15% of PS5 consoles sold in the US went to scalpers, with resellers having made millions in profit. Scalpers have also targeted new Nvidia graphics cards. This global situation has prompted pressure on the UK government to ban scalping. While this is a new wave in the gaming space, we've seen it all before in sneaker culture.
Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.