U.S. gaming retail giant GameStop will reportedly raise the prices of pre-owned PlayStation 5 Pro consoles to significantly more than the base retail price for new consoles.
According to the retailer’s updated catalog published via Nintendeal and Notebookcheck, the version without a disc drive is to be priced at $1399.99, while the version with an optical drive installed will cost customers $1499.99 – both price hikes went into effect today says PC Guide.
This has quickly been labelled online on social media as price gouging, as it’s significantly more than the standard $899.99 MSRP of new PS5 Pro consoles, which were previously priced at $749.99 before a price hike on April 2nd. New consoles are still being sold at that amount, but major retailers in the U.S. are said to be out of stock.
Trade-in prices will reportedly also range from $800 to $850. The pre-owned console having a higher price than the new console is “intentional,” according to the apparent listing.
Why GameStop is doing this isn’t clear, though the impending release of “Grand Theft Auto VI” in a month on consoles is expected to have played a big part.
Stock shortages, combined with scalpers pushing used and new console prices on eBay and the like up to $1250, are being pegged by some as the retailer simply matching demand.
