Sony is preparing to sell refurbished PS5 consoles through PlayStation Direct. Sony promises that these pre-owned consoles will be “as good as new,” but the headline is that they will cost half the price of a new PS5 Pro.
Sony to Start Selling Refurbished PS5 Consoles
As first referenced in the tweet below, Sony has quietly added listings for refurbished PS5 consoles and controllers to PlayStation Direct. They’re currently marked as “Coming Soon,” but all already have price tags attached.
The consoles and controllers are all what Sony calls “Certified Refurbished.” This means that it has completed a “rigorous recertification process that includes full testing that meets the same functional standards as new PlayStation products.”
Before sending one out, it will be “thoroughly cleaned, inspected and tested.” It will also “come with the necessary accessories, cables and manuals,” and be “packaged in its own branded Certified Refurbished packaging”. The console will also be covered by Sony’s one-year limited warranty.
An Extremely Affordable Way to Upgrade to a PS5
The refurbished version of the standard model of PlayStation 5 will set you back $399.99, with the Digital Edition (without a disc drive) priced at $349.99. This represents a $100 saving over buying either one new, as they’re priced at $499.99 and $449.99 respectively.
Unlike with previous console generations, where hardware tends to get cheaper over time, the price of a new PS5 console has either stayed the same or actually increased since launch (depending on where you live). So, these refurbished PS5s represent a good opportunity for the many millions of PS4 owners to finally upgrade to a PS5.
This Makes the PS5 Pro Price Look Even Worse
It’s no accident that Sony has added listings for refurbished PS5 consoles on the same week that it announced the PS5 Pro. However, if anything, the reasonable price of these makes the shockingly high price of the PS5 Pro ($700) look even worse. But maybe that’s the point.
This is Sony offering an upgraded PS5 console to those who can both afford to buy one and notice the differences it brings, while offering a cheaper price for PS5 entry to everyone else. After all, Sony itself has admitted that 50 million people are still actively using a PS4, and every single one of them is a potential PS5 owner, whether they end up spending $700 on a PS5 Pro or $349 on a refurbished PS5 Digital Edition.
