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PS5 Resell Prices Drop 30% From Peak, Despite Restock Problems

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Despite PlayStation 5 stock levels not keeping up with demand, and the console remaining difficult to buy, resell prices are quickly falling. 

PS5 prices on the secondary market StockX have tumbled by almost 30% since their peak according to new data. The company explained to me that after hitting $1,000 on Cyber Weekend 2020 for the disc version, the console has since dropped to $715 in September. This is also 10% less than the price in June. 

The digital edition also peaked at $1000 on Cyber Weekend 2020 and is now selling for just under $700, which is 6% cheaper than three months ago. Both remain significantly more expensive than their retail price at $499 (disc) and $399 (digital). 

Resellers I have spoken with echo the fall in prices, with one eBay vendor - called Matt - telling me that sales remain consistent but the prices are steadily dropping. “To put it into perspective, at the beginning of July I would have auctions ending at around $760 + $40 for shipping easily. Now, I had an auction have no bids at $729 + $40 shipping and I just had one end at $709+$40 shipping.”

Some more enterprising resellers are trying to stem the price decline by capitalising on the supposed heat sink issue by putting “launch”, or the new model numbers, CFI-1116A (disc) and CFI-1100B (digital), in the eBay listing title.

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For the uninitiated, Sony is steadily rolling out a lighter and quieter version of the PS5. To make that possible YouTuber Austin Evans discovered that the console’s heat sink - which absorbs heat and removes it from the PS5 - is 300g lighter than the original model. Measuring the exhaust temperature, Evans found that the new PS5 ran a few degrees hotter than the base model, which he theorised could lead to components wearing out faster. But Digital Foundry’s Richard Leadbetter pointed out measuring the heat output alone doesn’t tell the full story, and that even if the console is internally warmer, it may be within the “manufacturer’s tolerances”. 

Despite that, and regardless of any differences between the two consoles, scalpers haven’t been able to sell the base model for more. Another Ebay seller, who has sold 15 PlayStations so far, said that they “haven't seen any major difference” in price between the two models. A more prolific reseller, who has shipped 48 PS5s, echoed that and said that they’re “not sure if users know / care about the new screw design / heat sink changes.” 

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The Xbox Series X has taken a slightly different path in the last year according to StockX’s data. The Microsoft console's price dropped by 25% from its Cyber Weekend peak ($750 - $800) to its lowest price in July ($600). But in a sharp turnaround this month, the Series X has sold for an average price of $725, which is only $25-$75 less than its peak. StockX’s senior economist, Jesse Einhorn, explains that this is because the Microsoft machine saw fewer restocks than the PlayStation and that “as a result of their relative scarcity, prices on StockX increased."

Scalpers, however, are still making money from reselling consoles, even if the margins are smaller. All resellers I spoke with said the volume of sales hadn’t decreased, just the sales price. How long this will continue isn’t really clear. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said in late July that the global chip shortage, which is slowing down production, could last for another two years, but in an earnings call last month Sony's CFO Hiroki Totoki said that the company had secured enough chipsets to hit its sales targets for this financial year.

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