Nov 9th, 2021, 09:43 PM
We're all far too aware of the difficulty of getting hold of a PS5, whether it be due to low stock availability or bots grabbing everything to flip it for a profit. Retailers have decided that rather than fix the problem of bots, they'll just profit off of the problem instead by locking console restocks behind paywalls.
CNET: As the holidays arrive, retailers are forcing more PS5 restocks behind paywalls
Wal-Mart is offering buyers an hour of early access to the checkout button if they are subscribed to Wal-Mart Plus, which comes in at $13 a month or $98 a year.
Best Buy is granting early access to PS5 restocks if you're signed up to their Totaltech program, which comes in at $200 a year and that is the only subscription option.
GameStop is offering consoles to those with a PowerUp Rewards Pro subscription, coming in at $15 a year. The cheapest by far, but still trying to capitalize on the desperation of buyers rather than fixing a broken system (although GameStop can't even manage to fix their own business properly so what can you expect?).
So far it's only limited to PS5's, but Nintendo have already said they're having production issues due to difficulty obtaining parts, and as the holidays roll in I can see Xbox getting pulled into this too as demand is bound to go up across the board the closer Christmas gets. No idea if this is happening outside of US territories but I'd be surprised if it is, since America is the land of capitalism before reasonable solutions.
The best part is that bots can still just get in if the people behind them are willing to throw down the money for those bots to get in the system. Maybe the subscription approach will limit the number of registrations due to addresses but that limit could easily be placed on orders themselves without this stupid paywall, so either the limit isn't there or the retailers opted to charge people. But given this paywall doesn't guarantee shit except early access, and the retailers make the same amount of money from the consoles no matter who buys them, I can see them just letting anyone in and making it appear exclusive, when really it's just a way to get money out of the buyers who continue to miss out. Getting a console outside of this system is probably going to become impossible now because it'll just sell out before public access opens up, unless the retailers start splitting stock between both systems.
What do you folks think about this move?
CNET: As the holidays arrive, retailers are forcing more PS5 restocks behind paywalls
Wal-Mart is offering buyers an hour of early access to the checkout button if they are subscribed to Wal-Mart Plus, which comes in at $13 a month or $98 a year.
Best Buy is granting early access to PS5 restocks if you're signed up to their Totaltech program, which comes in at $200 a year and that is the only subscription option.
GameStop is offering consoles to those with a PowerUp Rewards Pro subscription, coming in at $15 a year. The cheapest by far, but still trying to capitalize on the desperation of buyers rather than fixing a broken system (although GameStop can't even manage to fix their own business properly so what can you expect?).
So far it's only limited to PS5's, but Nintendo have already said they're having production issues due to difficulty obtaining parts, and as the holidays roll in I can see Xbox getting pulled into this too as demand is bound to go up across the board the closer Christmas gets. No idea if this is happening outside of US territories but I'd be surprised if it is, since America is the land of capitalism before reasonable solutions.
The best part is that bots can still just get in if the people behind them are willing to throw down the money for those bots to get in the system. Maybe the subscription approach will limit the number of registrations due to addresses but that limit could easily be placed on orders themselves without this stupid paywall, so either the limit isn't there or the retailers opted to charge people. But given this paywall doesn't guarantee shit except early access, and the retailers make the same amount of money from the consoles no matter who buys them, I can see them just letting anyone in and making it appear exclusive, when really it's just a way to get money out of the buyers who continue to miss out. Getting a console outside of this system is probably going to become impossible now because it'll just sell out before public access opens up, unless the retailers start splitting stock between both systems.
What do you folks think about this move?