The PS5 Pro, Sony’s latest release in its PlayStation console lineup, hit shelves worldwide on 7 November.
The console’s September pre-release was seen by some commentators as mediocre – the PS5 Pro’s failure to sell out in the UK or US made headlines, although it was later reported to have eventually sold out on Sony’s official UK webstore.
The full release, however, has seen the PS5 Pro performing remarkably well in many markets.
Sony’s president Hiroki Totoki had a positive assessment of the PS5 Pro’s release, as quoted by Nikkei Asia:
It is a high-end product targeted at core customers, so we haven’t been eyeing a large sales plan to begin with.
I’m under the impression that the product is performing slightly stronger than the pre-orders of the PS4 Pro during the same period, so I don’t think it is adversely affecting the product’s sales plan.
PS5 Pro quickly out of stock in Japan
In Japan, the console sold out rapidly on the day of release, with major online retailers – including the official Sony Store – listing the PS5 Pro as ‘out of stock’ by the evening of the release day.
Across Japan, the console remains out of stock. Amazon’s Japanese site encourages customers to submit ‘invitation requests’ to be informed the moment stocks of the PS5 Pro are replenished by the retail giant.
Despite this, scalpers have not been having an easy time.
According to the Otaku Research Institute, scalpers in Japan have been selling the console at a loss.
When you factor in flea market site fees (Mercari = 10%) and shipping costs (up to 2,000 yen), not only is the price set at the retail price plus several tens of thousands of yen breaking even, but there have also been many confirmed cases where the price was set even cheaper and the item sold for less than its original price. [Note: translated from Japanese]
UK scalpers fare no better
In the UK, this situation is similar. Retailing at £699.99, the PS5 Pro can be seen selling on eBay for ‘Buy It Now’ prices ranging from £670 to £710, and auction-style listings have been routinely falling short of the £700 retail price.
In one instance, a PS5 Pro console auction ended for just £677 – a £23 loss even before factoring in the cost of postage and eBay’s various fees. Resellers on other marketplace platforms were experiencing a similar lack of success: as of 10 November, listings on British marketplace Gumtree showed consoles being sold for £690 on average, slightly below the retail price (some Gumtree scalpers appeared profoundly optimistic, with one listing asking for a whopping £1,100).
Why are scalpers losing out?
To some, the reason is unclear. Others, such as entertainment journalist Adam Starkey writing for Metro – have hinted that demand for the PS5 Pro may be well matched by retailers, despite continued unavailability in some regions.
Put bluntly, the PS5 Pro may simply not have the level of demand required for scalpers to extract a hefty profit.
Those who do wish to purchase the console despite stock issues may simply be content waiting – at which point resellers are faced with the simple supply-and-demand reality of economics.
