Sony announced the PS5 Pro and its 30th Anniversary Limited Edition variant earlier this month, with pre-orders now available on the Sony website. The former will start shipping on November 7 for $700, while the latter becomes available on November 21 for $1,000, with only 12,300 units made globally. However, even though the release dates for these consoles are still more than a month away, a quick search on eBay shows several results marked as ‘Presale’ or ‘Confirmed Pre-Order.’
The PS5 Pro sells for about $1,000 on the e-commerce platform—a nearly 43% premium over Sony’s price—but the pricing for the PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary console is far more egregious. Most listings for the limited-edition console start above $3,000 — a 200% markup from the original—and we’ve even seen a listing asking for $12,300.
These prices are reminiscent of the PlayStation 5’s (and practically every other high-profile electronics, like the RTX 3000 series GPUs) launch during the height of the pandemic in 2020. While Sony has limited pre-purchases of the PS5 Pro and limited-edition versions to just one per user, scalpers seemingly find ways to bypass this security system to make money off the average consumer.
Hopefully, Sony has learned its lesson during the launch of the PS5 and has made enough units to avoid the scalper problem. After all, we don’t have Covid-related lockdowns anymore, so getting production up and running shouldn’t be a problem. However, the limited-edition run of the PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary Edition would be an issue. Given that Sony is keeping the number of units available low — with each individual numbered as a collector’s item — it is a prime target for scalpers, as we can see on eBay right now.
The only way we can combat scalpers is to not buy from them. It would likely mean you won’t get the PS5 Pro right at launch, but what’s a little patience to avoid getting stiffed by people taking advantage of a situation? But if you’re a hardcore PlayStation fan and didn’t get the chance to the PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary Edition, we still do not recommend buying from a scalper. After all, who knows what other types of scams they might be running to separate you from your hard-earned money?
