This was one of the main complaints during the marketing of the PS5, at the end of 2020, and for the months that followed: the new Sony console, robbed upon its release by various scalpers, found itself inaccessible on all platforms suitable, same in store. The only alternative: pay two to three times more from the famous scalpers on various resale sites, LeBonCoin in the lead. With the recent arrival of the PS5 Pro, the fears were therefore based on this previous rather chaotic launch but it is clear that this time, the scalpers are seeing their little business turn against them.
- Read also: our test of the PS5 Pro
- Read also: PS5 Pro: more than 50 games optimized at launch, Sony publishes a list
In fact, according to the Otaku Research Institute, the PS5 Pro is available without reservation in many stores, which makes high-rate resale much less attractive, since supply meets demand needs. Thus, scalpers are forced to resell their consoles for less, just to avoid losing a little too much money. On the Japanese resale site Mercari, resellers are offering the PS5 Pro at a price 10,000 to 20,000 ¥ lower than the in-store price (i.e. between 60 and 120 euros less). If the console as such is available almost everywhere, the same is not true of the extension allowing physical discs to be read: the latter benefits from an insufficient supply compared to demand, and is found therefore available for prices well above the base price on the various resale sites.
So, is this failure of scalpers on Sony's new console solely due to Sony's sufficient supply this time? Or can we determine by this simple fact that the console is not successful enough to cause a stock shortage, which would have a beneficial effect for abusive resale? It's probably a mixture of the two. If we are to believe Hiroki Totoki, president of Sony, the price of the PS5 Pro has not had a negative impact on the console's sales: “ in terms of price, many people have made different comments about it, but the price of PS5 Pro has not had a negative impact, at least I don't think “. It will be interesting, in a few weeks, to compare the sales of PS4 Pro and PS5 Pro to ensure the veracity of these statements.
As a reminder, the PS5 Pro is available at a price of €799.99.
