While the normal PlayStation 5 had delighted scalpers when it launched in 2020, and for several months afterwards, the trial was not transformed with the PS5 Pro.
Remember, in November 2020, and well after, it was the cross and the banner to get your hands on a PS5. Sony’s console was a commercial disaster, with supply unable to keep up with the very strong demand. The shortage of components did not help either: the manufacturer could not operate the factories at full capacity.
This context had opened a breach into which scalpers had rushed, these individuals who take advantage of the scarcity of a product to make money at the expense of impatient people. They managed to take possession of even the smallest restock of PS5s (a few units) in order to resell them much more expensively on the gray market. But imagine that this trickster technique does not work every time, the proof with the PS5 Pro.
The PS5 Pro does not enrich scalpers
You just need to take a quick look at the usual resale sites, like leboncoin or eBay, to see that prices are far from exploding for the PS5 Pro. We find them around €700/750, more or less the price charged by traders (€800). Back then, you sometimes had to spend a lot more for a normal PlayStation 5.
This observation was already verified at the launch of the PS5 Pro, as proven by this article from Video Games Chronicle dating from November 8. The English media indicated at the time: “ A large number of sellers are offering the console as a buy now for 680 to 700 pounds, while bidding is between 510 and 670 pounds – although these sales will certainly increase before they expire, they should not exceed the sale price, which is 700 pounds. » Failure to stock out is the worst that can happen to a scalper.
Those concerned are therefore stuck in their own game with the PS5 Pro, but it must be remembered that this remains speculation. It is therefore never an absolute success. Today, the most powerful console on the market is available from major retailers, such as Amazon. On the other hand, this is not the case for the removable disk drive which is indeed a delight for scalpers. They will also be able to enrich themselves with the limited edition designed as part of the 30th anniversary.
Should we see this availability of the PS5 Pro as a failure for Sony? No, if we rely on the first sales figures from Japan. The PS5 Pro sold more than 78,000 copies during its first week (via Gematsu, qui cite Famitsu), when the PS4 Pro was satisfied with 62,194 units. Solid, for a console condemned before its release because of its high price.
Source: www.numerama.com
