Prevent/deter the buying and reselling of goods/services at inflated prices.

I believe it to be an unfair and unjust practice that well funded groups/individuals can deplete the stock of a single item and make it unaffordable/unavailable to the average consumer. I believe the law around this practice needs to be reviewed and measures to prevent it need to be introduced.

The Government is committed to maintaining one of the world’s strongest consumer protection regimes and ensuring consumers’ interests are safeguarded in our economy.

The Government introduced legislation that prevents the use of automated software (‘bots’) to purchase event tickets which are sold on at an inflated price in 2018. We are discussing the issue of bulk purchasing of high demand items like graphics cards and games consoles through automated bots with trade associations such as Ukie, the trade association for the video games industry. We understand they are currently examining further actions they can take to prevent these behaviours and are working with their retailers to improve experiences for customers purchasing their products.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy