Belgian Primark hit by 'scalping' of Christmas toys

Belgian Primark hit by 'scalping' of Christmas toys
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A Primark store in Charleroi has seen shelves emptied daily by people looking to buy up limited edition products in the hope of selling them on for a considerable profit.

While this practice is generally seen with rarer products – limited edition runs of beers come to mind – the fashion retailer is also facing the problem with a new Disney collaboration.

The process, often referred to as scalping, has seen shoppers repeatedly face empty shelves, only to see the same products online soon after, but for higher prices, RTL Info reports.

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According to Het Nieuwsblad, this has seen products almost double in price, with a waffle iron retailing at €26 appearing on Facebook for €50.

"It comes down to exploiting scarcity by buying up goods for which no subsequent delivery is possible and then selling them at a profit," Gino Van Ossel from the Vlerick Business School told Radio 1.

This can be avoided by limiting the number of products that can be sold to a single customer. "The best-known example of this is H&M, which had top designers design clothing collections that were only available in their shops at very competitive prices, and not even in all shops," Van Ossel added.


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