CEX under fire from customers and staff for eye-watering £815 PlayStation 5 price

High street trade-in giant CEX has come under fire for its £815 pre-owned PlayStation 5 price - a vastly inflated figure compared to the console's standard £450 RRP.

[ArchangelMike]

Capitalism at it's finest. I hope every-one boycotts CEX. NEw PS5 Stock went live on GAME today, but it was all sold out within the hour of going live. So stock is coming in steadily, just be patient and don't give in to the scalpers.

[Neonridr]

that's pretty shitty. And sadly some people really want the system that bad that they are willing to spend on it.

[SullysCigar]

CEX is seriously the scummiest shop you could set foot in. It's like a dirty jumble sale for electronics and it makes you want to find the nearest puddle after leaving for a wash!

But it's a bit like trying not to look at a car crash - I have to stick my head in the door when I pass a CEX just to see if it's a gross as all the others lol

[lonewolf10]

@SullysCigar

Sorry but that's a being a bit harsh......................... ............................... ..toward jumble sales.

[Knushwood Butt]

I used to go in CEX near Tottenham Court Road a looong time ago. The basement was indeed dark and scummy but was also very unique. They traded stuff other places didn't even know existed. Think I sold most of my Neo CD collection to them, and also seem to remember buying a used first gen Gameboy Advance from them.

[anubusgold]

When the 1080 launched even best buy was selling it for 800 dollars on the store floor i just laughed lol.

[DJStotty]

Why boycott? That is how they run their business, they are a preowned store, they can buy for whatever price they want, in this case £200 over the asking price, and sell for what they want.

[ArchangelMike]

Always boycott corporate greed and exploitation when you see it. Just becasue we live in a capitalist society doesn't mean we should not have ethical busuness practices. This move by CEX is just unethical.

If they are a pre-owned store then why are they not selling the PS5 at "pre-owned" prices? Their prices are twice the price of brand new. How is that ethical business practice for a "pre-owned" store?

Don't twist it, they are simply exploiting customers due to the situation with shortages..

[Mr_Writer85]

@djStotty

Because boycotting is the only way to show our displeasure.

If large enough numbers boycott and tell them why, then those at the top will back down.

If not they lose more and more money.

[Army_of_Darkness]

@djstotty
Seriously bro?? You're cool with a business that sells USED STUFF for a much higher asking price than a brand new one??! That is some shady sh1t man! Sure, I can understand antiques(somewhat) but this isn't the case. It's just greed.... Gezz..Do you work there? 🤔

[neutralgamer1992]

Wait and buy when you can pay regular price and the longer we wait the better these next generation consoles will become via patches/updates and more games

[DJStotty]

This is not isolated to the PS5, this is how CEX operates as a business, they bought the PS5's off customers for £650 - £200 over the asking price, so they add their profit on to that £815.

Series X they buy for £550 - £100 over the asking price, and sell for £650. £165 less than the PS5.

The PS5 is marked up higher, as it is the more popular item.

CEX do not deal in new stock, the majority of the store is preowned.

[Phoenix76]

You are right in how they operate, this though encourages assholes to buy up as much as they can and as quickly as they can, say from GAME, then run across the road straight into cex for a quick flip.
As is the case over in Bexleyheath near where I live. I know this is happening because I was In town today just as preorders went up (online 😒 not in store) and I asked both stores about this.

[DJStotty]

Exactly, it is exactly the same as what scalpers are doing on Ebay and the like, only in this instance CEX is cheaper lol.

People that have no concern for their finances, will pay whatever the going rate to please their kids, or their own habit. The average consumer (like me) would just wait and pay the RRP.

[ocelot07]

They also probably get staff or the higher ups buy new stock from likes of Amazon and sell for silly price for more profit.

[wwinterj]

That or some folk want that £200 profit so have sold their PS5 to Cex. I see nothing wrong with this and it isn't anything new as that's what Cex does. Most the time though they give you less so they can sell for profit. However PS5 is rare and will be profitable for them so I can see why they paid more for the item.

[Latex74]

Dont buy off anyone selling then for more than there worth simple if these people shops are stuck with them . There sell them at retail prices use your heads people

[wwinterj]

You're aware Cex paid more for the item too right?

[Mr_Luke]

Wow... It remembers me when i bought the PS2 here in Italy, it was almost impossibile to find one so there were shops that rose the price: €550 (1.100.000 of the old italian currency) a PS2 + 2 games, very small choice and not so good titles here. In those times it was VERY expensive.
But people like me bought one anyway :/ so i guess even CEX is going to sell the PS5s. Damn, there are people that paid it more than $900 on Ebay...

[andy85]

Not that i agree with selling above RRP but it's a second hand store, they don't get consoles from sony. No ones gonna sell to them at 449 when they can ebay them for 800. People are desperate and will take risks on ebay etc. At least people buying from here know they can't get scammed which is rife at the moment. No one should be buying consoles over RRP or the scalpers always win. Sadly it always happens though

[FlyingFoxy]

Yep, I sold my extra one to them recently, if you go on eBay there's a small risk.. and even with the £1 fees you still have paypal fees so maybe get another 70 quid or so max, if you don't get screwed over.

I wouldn't buy from them though for the most part unless they had something for a good price, they give peanuts for many things and sell for much more.

eBay is usually safe but depends if you want a small chance of getting scammed.

[Lionsguard]

The fact that people will still buy a PS5 at these high prices just tells me that Sony shouldn't be scared of a higher priced console when it comes time for the PS6.

[phoenixwing]

I have to agree if they make it a good machine there's no reason they can't sell a little higher than 4-500 us

[Nacho_Z]

Yeah they're trying to compete with MS for console sales and maybe making a loss, not sure about that, maybe they should position themselves as the quality prestige console maker and charge more accordingly.

MS seem keen to play into the hands of that strategy with their quantity over quality approach.

[Nacho_Z]

Generally speaking if you want Cex it's going to cost you one way or another.

[Dfooster]

Makes sense really. They make 20% profit, the public wouldn't sell for less than £650 as they are going for more than that on ebay so thats why its £800+.

Another month and they will be half that price

[Spartacus10]

Tbh, buying the console for more than RRP then selling it for a profit isn't anywhere near as bad as an official retailer being allowed to let customers walk away with more than 1 console each.

[TheDarkArtisan]

That 24 month guarantee is pretty worthless... just go and check the hundreds of customer complaints online where they have squirmed out of honouring that guarantee.