A player from the USA tried to sell his PS4 Pro to a GameStop store. But instead of receiving money for it, he ended up having to pay for it himself.
What kind of story is this? In a post on the gaming forum ResetEra, the user SolmisateSol shares that he only wanted to sell his PS4 Pro to a GameStop store to quickly get some cash. He didn’t expect much, just around $70 – or about €64.
The cashier was really nice but also said that he probably wouldn’t get much money for the console. However, what the system ultimately spat out surprised both sides of the counter: He was supposed to pay nearly €5 for GameStop to take the console.
Missing accessories drove the price into the negative
How is that possible? SolmisateSol’s loss when selling his PS4 Pro likely had two reasons:
- He wanted to sell the console without the HDMI cable, the controller, and the associated cable
- He was not an active GameStop Pro Member
The missing accessories lower the resale price of the console, hence there’s also less money back. As a GameStop Pro Member, there would have been a bonus for the sale, which was not available here. This circumstance further drove down the price for the console.
In the end, he says, SolmisateSol obviously did not go through with this deal. When he tried to sell an Xbox One to GameStop, it looked even worse for him: He would have had to pay about $20, or around €18.
What does the community say? They respond with mockery but also offer an explanation. Ashes of Dreams writes in a comment under the post: “I understand that the trade-in values at GameStop are a meme, but this one is on you. GameStop has to accept consoles in exactly the condition they can resell them. […] All missing parts of your trade-in were added as an additional purchase. And PS4 controllers are still quite expensive.”
In Germany, something like this couldn’t happen – especially since GameStop closed all stores in the country at the beginning of the year. The company had been facing financial difficulties for some time and therefore retreated from many locations. You can read more about the closures in Germany in our article: GameStop: One of the most well-known gaming stores is closing all locations in Germany, affecting 500 employees
