We're nearly one year and six months into the PlayStation 5's life, and the new-gen console is still harder to find than a measured response in an online argument.
The sad fact is that the well-documented semiconductor shortage, which began as a result of the pandemic, has stopped Sony and Microsoft from being able to make as many consoles as they would like to sell. This scarcity has been seized upon by scalpers, who saw an opportunity to exploit desperate customers by buying up what little stock there is and selling it on for inflated prices.
Take a look at what some scalper groups have been up to below!
Scalpers are still finding plenty of success reselling PlayStation 5 consoles in 2022. Despite retailers attempting to find ways around them, they continue to bring in the big money by buying up that elusive stock wherever they can.
Fortunately, Sony has come up with a new incentive that could finally put a dent in scalpers' wallets once and for all. Yahoo! Japan (via Push Square) reports that Sony is currently working with Japanese retailers to produce and distribute what are, effectively, anti-scalper seals.
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According to the report, Sony is providing retailers with these official seals, which are then slapped on the PS5 boxes. The theory is that once a PS5 has been sold, the retailer can break that seal so as to identify it as having been sold. The seal is supposed to be hard to remove, meaning that a PS5 being sold by scalpers will be easy to spot on account of the broken seal - or the obvious sign of its removal.
It's a solid idea, although the issue with scalpers has never really been customers failing to spot when they're buying from a scalper. The inflated prices are usually clue number one. Even so, the hope is that these marks of shame on PS5 boxes will at least prevent some customers from going to less savoury sources for their new-gen console. We'll just have to wait and see how much of a success it actually is.
Topics: PlayStation, PlayStation 5, Sony