Honestly, at this point all I can do is laugh. In an absolutely perfect storm of absurdly bizarre circumstances, it appears that GameStop will be raising the price of a used PS5 Pro console. And you know what? People will probably buy it. Deal tracking account Nintendeal released a leaked internal memo for GameStop employees on Twitter/X intended to be released 10/15 for an effective change as of 10/16.
Ripping off the Band-aid, a Preowned Digital only PS5 Pro console will set you back $1,399 and a disk console will be set at $1,499 (this includes limited edition consoles like the 30th Anniversary edition and the Wolverine edition). Somewhat more bizarre to me is the fact that the trade in value is $800 for digital and $850 for a disk console, which (if you recall) is more than the original price of the Ps5 Pro when it launched in November 2024 at $699.
The Perfect Storm
So what caused this? How can GameStop even get away with this? To start, GTA VI. The PS5 Pro will house the best version of the generational titan until its official PC release and people want it. PlayStation, however, isn’t making enough consoles to meet demand due to having issues securing storage for their 2TBx18GB, MSRP $899 console. Okay, so the demand is there, but what about the price?
Raising prices isn’t new for GameStop, and they change them dynamically depending on demand. MSRP caps the maximum a company can charge for something, but GameStop get’s around that through their pre-owned products. This is why they can charge more for pre-owned products than new. For example, Witcher 3 for Switch went for about $38 before the update; now it’s going for $57 used. Or Super Mario All-Stars going for $90.
Will People Even Pay This?
Ebay currently has PS5 Pros being sold at around $1,300 as it is, so it only makes sense for GameStop to get in on that action before the release of GTA VI. Do it like it? Absolutely not. But there’s a little bit of humor in the fact that GameStop can make this significant of a price hike and there’s people out there who would pay it. Coupled with the fact that they are probably stockpiling used units, I think GameStop is getting the last laugh here.
