Jul 02, 2021 19:00:00

A 16-year-old boy makes about 200 million yen in revenue by reselling Pokemon cards and PS5

The next-generation game console

PlayStation 5 (PS5) that appeared in 2020 is a popular game console that continues to be in short supply worldwide so that Sony officially says that 'the supply shortage may continue even in 2022' .. The Pokemon card game, which celebrated its 25th anniversary, has also been gaining in popularity in recent years, and one card was sold at auction for as high as 34 million yen. The Wall Street Journal reports the existence of a 16-year-old boy who made $ 1.7 million in revenue from reselling such popular game consoles and card games.

Sixteen Years Old, $ 1.7 Million in Revenue: Max Hits It Big as a Pandemic Reseller --WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/articles/sixteen-years-old-1-7-million-in-revenue-max-hits-it-big-as-a-pandemic-reseller-11623248291

16-year-old Max Hayden saw the shortage of game consoles due to the pandemic of the new corona virus in 2020 as an opportunity, and bought dozens of the latest game consoles such as PS5 and Xbox Series X. It was sold for about $ 1,100 (about 120,000 yen), which is more than double the list price. At the same time, by dealing with popular products such as patio heaters and Pokemon card games, Hayden eventually made $ 1.7 million in revenue and finally $ 110,000. It seems to be.

Mr. Hayden participates in an online group that shares the know-how of resellers targeting young people, and he seems to have paid money to acquire the know-how as a reseller. Resale is legal in most cases, but generally it is not a consumer-friendly act. Therefore, resellers may be flooded with complaints and harassment emails from general consumers.

Hayden's father was also frowned upon by his son, who earns money by reselling, but he did not resell items such as daily necessities and sanitary goods that had surged in demand during the pandemic period, so the final He concluded that the resale of his son was 'acceptable'.

Hayden is responsible for processing orders, managing inventory, and supervising two employees, spending as much as 40 hours a week. At the same time, he continues to check trends by communicating with other resellers and checking business news and political economy news.

When a stay-at-home order was issued due to the pandemic of the new corona virus, gyms and salons were closed, so they stocked up dumbbells and varicans and made a lot of profits, which was used to fund the resale of game consoles. He said that.

Pre-order sales of game consoles such as PS5 were quite limited, so Mr. Hayden participated in the reseller community on Discord and got information such as which website the inventory will be replenished on. is. In addition, in order to participate in the community, it was necessary to pay a monthly membership fee of about 20 to 100 dollars (about 2200 to 11,000 yen).

The group also provided a bot on the website to get the product fast, so Hayden didn't even have to sit in front of the PC to buy the product. It has been reported that there is a reseller community like Mr. Hayden participated in and a bot to buy products quickly.

It is clear that the reseller group has secured 3500 PS5 units --GIGAZINE

Attention is focused on reselling next-generation game consoles such as PS5 like Mr. Hayden, and the number of 'PS5 sold to the United States on eBay' will exceed 32,000 in 2020 alone. Its total sales amount to about 35 million dollars (about 3.9 billion yen).

Resellers may have sold over 8.5 billion yen by reselling PS5 and next-generation graphic boards --GIGAZINE

In response to this report, game media Kotaku said, 'Wall Street Journal praises children reselling PS5 and Pokemon cards.' 'Capitalist newspapers found a teenager who loves capitalism. '.

Teen Makes Bank Reselling PS5s, Xbox Series X and Pokemon Cards
https://kotaku.com/wall-street-journal-praises-kid-reselling-ps5s-and-poke-1847216023

While the Wall Street Journal reported positively to the boy, Kotaku said, 'The capitalist hellish picture of America in the 21st century formed this boy,' Hayden was born today. Mentioned as a capitalist society. 'We can't stop resellers because the market allows resale. It doesn't matter to Sony whether we sell the PS5 to consumers or resellers,' Kotaku said. Criticize the current situation. 'Resale seems like an unsolvable problem, but it's the result of generations of politicians and consumers giving up on'let everything go to the market',' he added. I am.

'As the child's father said, resale is not illegal, but for those of us facing resale, just because resale is legal does not mean that these actions are correct,' Kotaku said. It clearly shows a critical attitude.