Japanese Retailers Are Drawing On PS5 Boxes To Discourage Scalpers

Due to a variety of factors such as popularity and the global chip shortage, even until today it is still somewhat difficult to get your hands on a Sony PS5 console. This means that this has created a market for scalpers to profit from, where they snap up any available unit and then resell it at heavily marked up prices.

However, over in Japan, retailers are trying to take steps to counter these scalpers. One of those methods involves writing or drawing on the box of the console itself. For example, as report by VGC, retail chain Nojima Denki has taken to writing the name of the buyer inside the box of the PS5, and also removing the packaging of the controller.

This ultimately lowers the value of the console as it wouldn’t necessarily be able to be sold as brand-new-in-box. Plus, it also exposes their name and some scalpers might prefer if no one knew their identity. Of course, this wouldn’t necessarily deter some scalpers or even some buyers who might not object to not having a box to begin with.

However, we assume the goal is to try and put up as many barriers as possible to hopefully reduce the number of scalpers, making it easier for regular customers to get their hands on the console.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gaming
Tags: Japan, ps5, Social Hit, Sony