When next-gen consoles released last year, most people in the gaming industry knew there would be a scramble for limited product due to production restrictions imposed by COVID-19. However, the industry also seems to have underestimated the near omnipresence of scalpers and bot accounts that surfaced shortly after the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S released which have plagued consumers ever since. While the UK government is considering a ban on next-gen console scalping, sites like StockX continue to sell an incredible amount of consoles at increased prices.

StockX claims to have resold around 83,000 PS5 disc versions and around 55,000 digital versions of the console in the United States since November, which puts the site's total around 138,000 consoles. StockX says that around 60,000 of those consoles were sold in November alone. Scalpers were already selling PS5 consoles at ridiculous prices on its launch day, with some listed for over $1,700. Although most scalper prices aren't that high, scalper sites have regularly listed PS5s for between $700 to $1,000, which is still far above the disc version retail price of $500.

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According StockX, the site's sale prices have averaged around $800 for PS5 disc versions and $741 for digital versions. If StockX's sale numbers are accurate, the company would have sold those 138,000 consoles for well over $100 million. 138,000 consoles also represent 1.66% of all the PS5s sold in the U.S. as of March 31, 2021. All of these PS5s could have gone to consumers at retail prices, which may have saved buyers a combined total of nearly $44 million.

ps5 retail box with console next to it

For most consumers, all of this data is an unwelcome reminder of how difficult it is right now to get a PS5 at a reasonable price. Although Sony president Jim Ryan said earlier this year that he hopes PS5 production will get better "quite quickly," the latest news from Sony insiders indicates that PS5 shortages will likely continue into 2022. Even though global computer chip shortages are primarily affecting PS5 production, it certainly doesn't help when the PS5s that make it to market are quickly bought up by scalper bots and sold for inflated prices.

However, both Sony and Microsoft have taken recent steps to help make it easier for consumers to get next-gen consoles. On Sony's end, the PS5 is reportedly getting a hardware redesign that will slightly alter the internal hardware but not change its physical appearance. The new hardware would include a customized CPU from AMD that may be cheaper to manufacture, which would make it easier to produce more PS5s.

Microsoft's plans are a bit different, and involves allowing members of the Xbox Insider program to reserve either the Xbox Series X or S for future purchase. Of course, there are restrictions on the number of reservations and no guarantee that all registered members will be chosen to get a console. Still, it's an interesting strategy to get next-gen consoles directly to Xbox consumers with little worry of scalping interference.

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Source: VGC