As the PS5 still eludes many, PS5 scalpers are still seemingly marking up the system for exorbitant prices. Luckily, retail stores don’t like scalpers either.
The PS5 is one of the most highly sought after systems to ever hit the market, and when demand highly outweighs supply, some customers look to purchase items in abundance in hopes of lining their pockets while ripping off people who just want to play some games.
The lack of supply of the semiconductors that are essential in the production of the consoles has been a huge issue for the consoles to remain in stock. PS5 scalpers see opportunity in the misery of obtaining a console and buy the elusive system in abundance in hopes of selling their duplicates off for huge paydays. Typing PS5 on the eBay website could have eye-bulging consequences.
As the Holiday season approaches there are plans for the PS5 to restock, but with these methods in practice there is nearly no hope in obtaining one at a price that doesn’t shock the conscience of the mind. Luckily, though, there are some retailers in Japan that have sought to combat this PS5 scalper pandemic by simply damaging the packaging for new adopters of the console.
Nojima Denki, a popular retailer in Japan, announced its new implementation in the way of simply writing new customers’ names on the side of the pristine PS5 boxes, as with the labelling tattoo assures the resale value takes a huge hit. The chain has also taken to damaging the packaging of DualSense controllers, which makes them almost impossible to resell for the PS5 scalper army.
PSU reports that GEO, another notable Japanese supply chain, has joined the fight by not only marking the inside of the PS5 boxes but running a lottery system that makes the selling of the console one of pure luck and not out of reselling greed. To purchase a console in this manner, a customer has to agree to the damage beforehand to assure the loss isn’t accrued by the retailer.
As the PlayStation 5 continues its meteoric sales numbers despite low production, some retailers will do anything to keep the satisfaction of their customers at the top of their priority list, including giving PS5 console boxes some serious ink.
