Actually getting a reservation for the next generation of consoles is proving to be a bit of a challenge. The main reason for this is the staggering demand and lack of sufficient numbers of consoles, but duffers and bots are absolutely working to make a few pennies themselves.

To combat this, UK retailer Currys has raised the price of the Xbox Series X and Series S by 2,000 pounds ($2,600), but promises that customers will not pay more than the regular price.

Those wishing to purchase the consoles through Currys must go through a process of adding payment and delivery information, but they cannot confirm their pre-order without a £2,005 discount code. This means that they will pay the normal retail price minus the £5 pre-order deposit.

Nevertheless, this does not mean that Currys has more pre-order inventory available, even though the website appears to claim so. Vouchers will be distributed preferentially to customers who already have a valid pre-order and have paid a £5 deposit, and they have already received the code via email; Currys will then cancel orders that have not used a valid discount code by 11:59 pm BST on October 18

These codes are not valid for the same period of time.

These codes are unique to each customer and can only be used once for an Xbox Series X or Series S pre-order. Please see here for specific instructions.

This is obviously a way to prevent duffers and bots from buying up inventory with the intention of selling it later. Bots will no doubt be put off by the high price, and those who try to get the console without the code will end up not getting the console. But even so, there is no shortage of people selling discount codes on eBay.

Not all of these listings will be by duffers looking to make a profit, and those who are able to get valid pre-orders elsewhere can theoretically sell the codes for a hefty profit. Nevertheless, the question of how many of the bids were made by real people and not bots was on our minds.

Nevertheless, this method of raising prices and discounting is not so ridiculous, and it will be interesting to see if it is adopted by PS5 reservations and other retailers. At the very least, it will help Currys get some much-needed publicity at this busiest shopping time of the year.