Used PS5 Pros hit $1,499 at GameStop as the memory crunch prices every console and handheld upward

GameStop will sell pre-owned PS5 Pros for $1,399.99 and $1,499.99 from 16 October while new ones are out of stock. Switch 2, Steam Deck OLED and the ROG Xbox Ally X20 all cost more for the same rea...

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A leaked GameStop memo, posted to the r/GameStop forum and confirmed by its moderators, sets the price of a pre-owned PlayStation 5 Pro at $1,399.99 for the digital unit and $1,499.99 with the disc drive attached, from 16 October. Tom's Hardware reports the prices are already showing on GameStop's website. Sony's list price for a new PS5 Pro is $899.99, so the used console costs 55 to 66 percent more than a new one, and double the $699.99 it launched at in November 2024.

The reason a shop can ask that is that nobody has new ones. Game Developer notes PlayStation Direct has no PS5 Pro stock and no disc drives. Tom's Hardware found Sony, GameStop and Target all sold out at $899.99, Best Buy and Walmart listing third-party units at $1,496 and $1,554, and sealed consoles on eBay at $1,300 or more. Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart have matched the used prices too.

Why now

Two things collided. Grand Theft Auto VI arrives on 19 November with a PS5 Pro Enhanced mode, and pre-orders have been open since June, so people who want the best console version are buying now. Behind that sits the memory crunch. DRAM makers have moved capacity to high-bandwidth memory for AI data centres, and Tom's Hardware puts consumer RAM prices up 500 percent in twelve months. Sony already raised the PS5 Pro to $899.99 on 2 April, citing continued economic pressures; in the UK it went to £789.99.

The handheld bill

Handheld buyers have had the same year. Valve raised the Steam Deck OLED on 27 May, the 512GB model from $549 to $789 and the 1TB from $649 to $949, saying "Steam Deck itself hasn't changed; these new prices reflect the current state of component costs and other global logistical challenges across the industry as a whole", as Engadget reported. Nintendo's Switch 2 went from $449.99 to $499.99 on 1 September, a rise its president Shuntaro Furukawa said does not fully cover the extra cost of the console's 12GB of LPDDR5X. And the ROG Xbox Ally X20, Asus's OLED anniversary edition of the Xbox Ally X with the same Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme chip, 24GB of memory and 1TB drive, opened pre-orders on 25 August at $1,299.99, or $2,499.99 bundled with AR glasses and cases, for delivery on 15 October. Tom's Hardware notes that is $300 over the existing Ally X at $999.99.

So the autumn price ladder reads Switch 2 at $499.99, Steam Deck OLED at $789 or $949, PS5 Pro at $899.99 if you can find one, Ally X20 at $1,299.99, and a second-hand PS5 Pro above all of them.

What to do instead

If the aim is GTA VI on launch day, the base PS5 Slim is still at list price, Engadget notes refurbished LCD Steam Decks are unchanged at $359 from Valve, and Tom's Hardware points out an Xbox Series X is cheaper than a PS5 Pro at list and faster than a base PS5. Nothing in the supply forecasts suggests prices fall soon. Tech Times quotes analysts putting memory shortages into 2027 or 2028. Paying $1,499 for a used console, though, is a choice, and for most people a wait of a few months is the better one.

Sources

Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment

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