For the last year, finding a PS5 restock has been made significantly harder by an army of scalpers claiming large quantities of the console to sell it on for a significant profit. However, this could become less of an issue in the coming months.
According to resale site StockX (as told to Forbes), the profit margin for the PS5 is currently on the decline. On average resellers are now getting around 30% less when selling a PS5 compared to the price at launch. This drop comes even though finding the console in stock at a major retailer remains an extremely frustrating experience.
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StockX claims that at its peak the PS5 was being resold for around $1,000 on Black Friday weekend last year. However, in September 2021 it’s being sold on average for around $715. Of course, that’s still a big increase on the console’s standard retail price of $499 for the disc model and $399 for the digital edition.
Scalping comes with several additional costs for the seller, so a continued drop in the profitability of the console could see resellers decide that purchasing the PS5 isn’t worth it anymore. This would in turn have a knock-on effect on the ability of the average consumer to buy a console during a PS5 restock.
Resellers have been getting crafty in recent weeks in an attempt to boost the PS5’s resale potential. Listings of the “new” model of the console, which runs slightly cooler than the launch model, have been labeled as such on the StockX site in the hopes of driving prices back up. Although, this tactic doesn’t appear to have had much impact on sales prices.
The PS5 is expected to once again be among the most popular holiday gifts this winter, so the competition for stock is expected to be fierce. This could unfortunately see resale prices shoot back up. Either way, buying a PS5 in the coming months will require serious dedication, but thankfully we’ve got some useful tips and retailer-specific buying advice to help.
Interestingly the Xbox Series X is being resold for an average price of $725 which is only $25-75 less than its Black Friday 2020 peak. Xbox Series X restocks have been very infrequent over the last few months which has lead to its more stable resale price compared to the PS5.
If you’re hoping to secure a PS5 before the holiday season then you’ll have to be ready to play the PS5 restock game. It’s likely to be a while yet before a PS5 can be bought without hassle. For now, we’d strongly advise bookmarking our PS5 restock hub which is updated daily with the latest restock information as we get it.
- More: The best PS5 games in 2021
