Why You Can't Buy a PS5 Pro Right Now, and What Sony Is Saying

Illustration by GamECLicKs.com, made with AI-assisted design tools.

If you have tried to buy a PS5 Pro lately, you have probably seen the same thing everywhere: sold out. Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, GameStop, and Sony's own PlayStation Direct have all been out of new units for most of the time since mid-September, at a list price that is already $150 higher than it was in the spring.

It is a strange shortage. Sony's console sales are actually down this year, the standard PS5 is easy to find, and yet its most expensive model has vanished. Here is what is going on, what Sony has and has not said, and what to do if you want one.

The Short Version

• Price: $899.00 list in the US, up from $749.99 before Sony's April 2 increase.
• Availability: sold out at major US retailers since mid-September. Occasional restocks sell out in minutes.
• Sony's position: no public statement. A distributor memo reported in September points to supply constraints and high demand lasting into 2027.
• The resale market: roughly $1,300 to $1,700, and GameStop has priced used units above new on purpose.
• Our advice: do not pay a reseller. You do not need a Pro for GTA VI.

What Sony Is Saying

Officially, nothing. Sony has not published a statement about PS5 Pro availability on its blog or newsroom, and PlayStation Direct simply lists the console as unavailable.

Unofficially, there is a memo. In September, German outlet Playfront.de reported obtaining a note Sony sent to distributors, and PlayStation LifeStyle covered it. According to that report, Sony blamed "temporary market supply constraints and high demand" and warned the situation would last through early 2027 at the earliest. Neither outlet has published the memo itself, so treat it as credible reporting rather than an official announcement.

The closest thing to an on-the-record comment came in July, when Sony said in its earnings materials that it had secured the memory needed for its projected PS5 sales through March 2027, as Push Square reported. That statement covered the PS5 family as a whole. It did not mention the Pro, and "projected sales" is doing a lot of work: it describes the volume Sony planned for, not the volume people now want.

Why It's So Hard to Find

1. GTA VI. Grand Theft Auto VI arrives November 19, and its PlayStation Store listing carries the PS5 Pro Enhanced tag. For a lot of buyers, that made the Pro the obvious console to own for the biggest game in a decade, and the sellout lines up with the run-up to launch.

2. The memory shortage. The same squeeze on memory chips that pushed every console price up this year is still running. AI data centers are absorbing a huge share of the world's memory supply, and the Pro carries more of it than the standard PS5, including its 2TB SSD. When components are tight, the most expensive model is the hardest to build in volume.

3. Resellers. Once a product is scarce, resellers buy whatever restocks appear and relist them at a markup, which makes the shortage feel worse for everyone else. Tracking coverage from Tom's Guide has found that most of the Pro stock still visible online is listed well above $899.00.

Here is the part that does not add up neatly. According to Circana data shared by analyst Mat Piscatella and reported by Push Square, PlayStation hardware unit sales in the US are down 25% year to date through August, the lowest point since 2013, with price cited as the main reason. A console line selling fewer units overall should not run out of its premium model. Our read: the PS5 Pro shortage is at least as much about how many Pros Sony can build as how many people want one. That is our interpretation, not something Sony has confirmed.

GameStop Is Pricing Used Above New, on Purpose

The strangest twist came from GameStop. A leaked internal message, shared on Reddit and reported by Push Square, set used PS5 Pro prices of up to $1,399.99 for the digital-only console and $1,499.99 for one with a disc drive. The message said outright that pre-owned consoles would cost more than new ones, and that this was intentional. Tom's Hardware reported refurbished units at $1,399, about 50% more than a new one.

The reaction from players has been about what you would expect. In the comments on that coverage, and in forum threads tracking the sellout, the common view is that retailers are behaving like scalpers at the end of a console generation. Plenty of people say they will skip GameStop entirely, while a smaller group argues that used prices always follow supply and demand.

Japan Is Using a Lottery

Sony's answer in Japan has been to ration. Its Japanese store ran a PS5 Pro lottery open only to players with at least 60 hours of PS4 or PS5 playtime on a Japanese account, with deliveries planned for the first half of November. The playtime rule is designed to keep consoles out of resellers' hands. Sony has not announced anything similar for the US.

How to Get One Without Paying a Scalper

• Only pay $899.00. That is the list price. Anything above it is a reseller, whether it is a marketplace seller or GameStop's used shelf.
• Watch PlayStation Direct and the big retailers. Small restocks keep happening at PlayStation Direct, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and Amazon, but they sell out in minutes. Turn on in-stock alerts where a retailer offers them, and on Amazon make sure the seller is Amazon itself.
• Be wary of "deals" on social media. Scarcity brings out scams. Buy only from retailers you know.
• Ask whether you need a Pro at all. The standard PS5 at $649.00 is in stock and plays everything the Pro does, including GTA VI.

Do You Even Need a PS5 Pro for GTA VI?

No. GTA VI runs on every PS5 and on both Xbox Series consoles. Rockstar has not said what "PS5 Pro Enhanced" means for the game, and no 60fps mode has been confirmed on any console. Sony has also just brought its new AI upscaling to the standard PS5, which narrows the image quality gap in games that support it. Our QSSR explainer covers what that means.

If you want to be playing on November 19, a standard PS5 you can actually buy today beats a Pro you might not find until 2027. Put part of the difference toward storage: GTA VI will be large, and our PS5 SSD guide covers the drives that fit, including the officially licensed WD_BLACK SN850P.

A Note on Our Own Coverage

While researching this story, we found that GamECLicKs.com had been listing PS5 prices that were $100 to $150 too low since September, based on a reported price cut that never happened. Every price on the site has now been corrected. Here is what we got wrong.

→ Still choosing a console for GTA VI? Our GTA 6 console guide compares every option at current prices, and the Weekly Drop board tracks prices every Tuesday.

As an Amazon Associate, GamECLicKs.com earns from qualifying purchases. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, and it helps keep the site running and free. Prices are US list prices from Sony as of October 13, 2026. Stock changes by the hour, so always confirm the seller and the final price at checkout.