-Ehan Hameem Bhuiyan
Every new Video game console generation brings a lot of hype and anticipation, especially due to a typical launch date which is during the holiday season. The PlayStation 5 is a console made for both, hardcore and casual fans. It’s is a great home-entertainment system to enjoy with your family and friends, while being stuck at home. It’s the Christmas gift every teenager wishes for! Its official retail price will set you back US $500. But getting your hands on a brand new PS5 isn’t as easy as you thought, is it? While rumors about the console were beginning to circulate back in 2018, Sony made its first official announcement of the PS5 in 2019 and it has been much anticipated till launch. It held two major events to showcase the new console and the games alongside setting a release date in November 12. It also has great star-power behind it, as it was greatly advertised by the famous artist Travis Scott.
Much of the console’s hype has been generated due to its revolutionary Dual-Sense controller. This includes features such as haptic feedback and Adaptive triggers which acts according to the motion in the game. The console looks modern and has an out of the ordinary white colored theme, making it look quite attractive for an entertainment system and grabs a lot of attention to the eyes. The PS5 also supports 4k gaming resolution. But, the market in Bangladesh is absurd, charging customers more than double the original retail price of consoles. The whole market of PS5 Facebook groups is meme-worthy and ridiculous. The groups altogether consists of more than hundreds of thousands of members, including all the local sellers and buyers all over Bangladesh. In spite of being heavily criticized, the sellers are not reducing the price of the consoles.
The sellers also have an upper hand because of the availability of the consoles, with them selling out rapidly as there is a high demand for the new generation consoles, and some people are always willing to buy it at launch. Another big reason for the steep price is due to the fact that there are very few sellers who actually manage to secure the consoles. Getting the stock of consoles is a fairly difficult job for the sellers, as the consoles get sold out almost instantly by third-party scalpers, who use bots to purchase products. The usage rate of bots to purchase products online have also increased due to the physical restrictions faced during the pandemic. This results in very few amounts of video game consoles actually being shipped to Bangladesh.
However, the rival console XBOX SERIES X, produced by Microsoft also released at the same time as the PS5, with the same price tag of $500 internationally. But we can clearly see that the price of XBOX SERIES X isn’t as close as the price of PS5 in Bangladesh. The average price of PS5 set by the Bangladeshi sellers is around 75,000 BDT. Whereas, the price of the new Xbox is roughly 60,000 BDT. That’s a price difference of 15,000 BDT! This shows that the sellers are clearly manipulating the price and taking advantage of the hype and demand.
The video game market is a total mess especially, in the Facebook groups. One seller joins in the comment section of another seller to negotiate and try to undercut the price. After all, we all have heard of the infamous phrase “Check inbox”. This often leads to the buyers getting misguided by the sellers. The Video Game Console market needs a huge change in Bangladesh. Drastic measures are needed to be taken as soon as possible to protect the buyers from getting exploited by the sellers to keep the customers in this market. The state of this market today, is ridiculous. Moreover, legal actions can be taken against the retailers. It’s best if you wait at least a year before the price drops to buy a PS5. Ultimately, the first year for a new console doesn’t release many exceptional games, so it is wiser to wait and keep patience before the price drops and finally grab it to have a great joy of ride and an immersive experience with the PlayStation5!
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