When PlayStation 5 pre-orders started on Amazon Japan, the hardware sold out immediately. Then, the scalpers moved in and starting asking ridiculous prices for their pre-orders, reaching as high as 500,000 yen ($4,790).
In Japan, the standard version of the console is priced at 49,980 yen ($478.70). Stores in Japan were not allowing customers to pre-order.
The majority of online retailers in Japan used a lottery system, picking people at random for the chance to pre-order. Amazon Japan, however, did first come, first served. The result was a clusterfuck similar to that seen abroad.
Amazon Japan listed the stock at a standard price, but since Sony was sold out, clicking the product brought up sky-high third-party sellers hoping to cash in. With all the scalpers flooding into Amazon Japan, prices starting jumping to 250,000 yen ($2,395.80) and went higher and higher.
That was when they reached the eye-watering 500,000 yen ($4,789.60)!
Some third-party sellers wrote “Cancellation not allowed” in the product description for ridiculously-priced pre-orders.
A number of customers pre-ordered these overpriced consoles, only to immediately see that the sellers would not accept cancellations, or even that customers would be charged around $500 for cancellation. Amazon Japan reportedly stepped in to prevent the customers from being taken advantage of.
According to IT Media, these outrageous prices violated Amazon Japan’s terms. As of writing, all the high-priced PS5s from scalpers have been removed from the site. Instead, the listing reads, “out of stock.”
