A PlayStation5 at four times the price? Don't give your hard-earned cash to Christmas profiteers – Hayley Matthews

I'm sure we're not the only parents just now frantically searching online stores for a "PS5".

Santa would be very sad if he discovered how some people are buying up nice things so they can sell them on at a vastly inflated price over Christmas (Picture: Ted S Warren/AP)

Now, when I say this games console is almost impossible to get a hold of just now, I reckon I'd have more chance of bumping in to Ricky Gervais in Morrison's picking up a five-bird roast (he's an avid vegetarian so I'm hoping you get my point!).

The crazy thing is our eight-year-old son (who loves loves loves gaming) hasn't even asked us for the bloody thing. In fact, he's asked for nothing for his birthday or Christmas.

The odd mention of a PS5 has been thrown in the hat by him but he knows they're expensive and, as a very grateful, happy little soul, he never asks for much and doesn't want us spending a lot of money (a trait he's not taken from me).

However, our rationale behind treating him with such a gift this year is that he's done really well in school, navigated a lot of personal hurdles and just been an all-round star! The family are also chipping in so it's not such a shock to our budget. The pennies get hit hard this month because we have, wait for it, five birthdays and Christmas!

So our search for a PS5 has left both myself and Mr Hayley a tad frazzled.

We've been searching all hours of the morning and, not keen on paying up to three times the price on eBay, we've been checking every two minutes, of every hour, of every single day for that green "in-stock" tick.

We're even taking it in shifts during the night... well, I'm meant to be doing the night checks since I'm a night owl yet, I sometimes get a tad distracted and end up online shopping for myself instead or nod off.

I have to be honest, Mr Hayley has been outstanding in his efforts to beat the bots and scalpers who are automatically buying up all the stock to sell on elsewhere at a much bigger price. They retail for around £380 but I've even seen one online for £1,500. I mean who, even in their right mind would pay such a price?

I feel slightly more comforted seeing some parents writing on social media that they're letting their kids know that they're putting money aside and will get one when they are back in stock.

This takes away a lot of pressure and considering there are many families out there struggling to pay for food, let alone Christmas presents, I'm keen to install a message in our son that even if he doesn't get to open his gift from us on Christmas Day, we all have the basics and a house full of love and that's never to be sniffed at.

Also he'll have gifts from family members and he's genuinely not got a clue about what we're trying to get him. So to all the parents out there frantically panicking, don't put the pressure on yourselves, we've put it on hold before we have a breakdown. Don't give your hard-earned cash to the scalpers. Let's teach our kids about the true meaning of Christmas this year: love, kindness and peace. For me, I'll just have a hug please Santa – and a large glass of wine!

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