Despite Sony’s Efforts, Scalpers Win the PlayStation 5 Pro Launch

Sony on Thursday PlayStation 5 Pro next to him 30th Anniversary editions PlayStation 5 slim, DualSense Edge Controller and PS5 Pro bundle are available for pre-order. Within the first hour, all the sleek, gray versions of the PS5 and its accessories had disappeared. If you’re one of the first 12,300 people to own a limited edition PS5, congratulations. For everyone else, you’re out of luck. The only ones who seem happy with this situation are the scalpers.

US-based pre-orders for the special edition consoles went live at mid-morning on Thursday, but by then UK pre-orders had already come and gone. Multiple nightly reports noted He said scalpers already has the 30th Anniversary PlayStation 5 Pro on sale for a few thousand dollars. It was listed for $10,000 in one listing. Died right away the day US sales started, now there is eBay bidding wars It’s going for over $3,700 for the “pre-sale confirmed” limited edition PS5 Pro. Gizmodo found a “Buy It Now” PS5 Pro bundle selling for $35,000.

30th Anniversary accessories and controllers are also selling for hundreds more than their base price. a special edition PlayStation Portal It retails for $100 more than the regular version. The special edition DualSense controller will cost close to $200 (starting from the base price of $80). To add insult to injury, store page It’s still available, although it’s not yet in stock for the 30th Anniversary Edition.

Sony has tried to prevent scalpers by requiring new buyers to sign in with their PlayStation accounts, but hundreds of eBay listings for PS5 Pro bundles suggest Sony’s efforts to prevent scalpers have failed. It’s unclear whether Sony expected this much demand for its limited-edition console, but on the day of the sale, Gizmodo and others noticed that their place in the queue had been “paused” even though they had signed on just 15 minutes after the page went live. Others said wait times increased from 14 minutes to 14 minutes more than 30 for no obvious reason. This was compounded by Sony not giving a clear message in advance about when pre-orders would begin and how customers could get in line.

The base price of the PlayStation 5 Pro – 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Bundle was $1,000. That’s already a steep figure, and more than most people are willing to spend on a single console. Still, some of those who pre-ordered early are selling the base PS5 Pro console, which normally sells for $700, for over $1,000 on eBay. As of writing, PlayStation Direct list It looks like there are still more available for pre-order for the upcoming console.

Whether any other official retailers will have the 30th Anniversary consoles is an open question. Sony has in question The 30th Anniversary Pro bundle, as well as the limited Portal and DualSense Edge, will be “exclusive” to PlayStation Direct in all regions where it is available. Otherwise, other retailers should also have access to the non-Pro special edition PlayStation 5 and the regular DualSense. Sites like GameStop are offering a dedicated DualSense controller right now “not available.” Gizmodo has reached out to GameStop and others for further clarification on whether additional consoles will be available at a later date. We’ll update this post if we hear more.

This is even more deja vu for anyone who lived through the 2020 PS5 launch debacle. At the time, Sony was dealing with major supply chain shortages, leading to scalpers demanding sky-high prices for the console. company He claimed he had learned his lesson.but then it decided to create its own artificial scarcity, and now scalpers are once again exploiting customers’ sense of FOMO.

Despite being ostensibly the most powerful non-PC gaming device on the market, the PlayStation 5 Pro will already be the most expensive console you can buy. $700 console will not include a disk drive. Instead, you must purchase a driver separately. These drives remain in stock at places like: GameStop and -after a while once again- BestBuy’s website. The $1,000 30th Anniversary Package also did not include the disk drive.

We don’t recommend waiting in line to buy a $3,000 to $5,000 console. Instead, we suggest you wait and see if Sony realizes its mistake and decides to produce more anniversary editions before the holiday season really begins.