In South Korea, game retailer Gamewoori has a banner that reads, “Pre-Order Now” next to images of the PS5. The PS5 launched there on November 12, but like everywhere supplies are tight and hopeful customers still have to reserve consoles from future shipments.
Some individuals, however, are trying to flip their PS5 pre-orders by selling them at marked-up prices online. Of course, those attempting to profit off a scarce supply certainly are not limited to South Korea—this is a global problem.
In response, as tipster Sang points out, Gamewoori has announced on Instagram that if they identify any of their pre-orders up for sale at higher prices online, they will simply cancel the order. Moreover, even if the pre-order has been paid for, Gamewoori says it will still cancel any scalper’s order.
In the Instagram image below, the retailer published obscured images of Gamewoori pre-orders being offered for premium prices. The retailer is asking people to help by reporting scalpers reselling Gamewoori pre-orders, which doesn’t seem too difficult as some are writing or messaging that they have Gamewoori pre-orders, showing their receipts with claim info as proof.
An excerpt from the message reads (via tipster Sang):
Our policy will be to cancel orders without question even if it’s fully paid for in advance if we discover that the person who ordered it is trying to resell it.
Also, if you find an act of reselling, please promptly report it to each store location’s Instagram DM or forum.
Let us all protect our wholesome game culture together.
We’d like to inform you that the canceled units will be allocated towards the next round of pre-order.
Gamewoori will only sell to those who really need an honest price. Thank you.
This certainly seems like one way to fight scalpers.