2
1
There is stil lots of value in the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One for various reasons
In early 2020 I knew we were less than a year away from next-generation consoles and I wanted to transition to the new generation as quickly as possible. With an immediate upgrade in mind, I began preparing to sell my 3 consoles, a base Xbox One, and Xbox One X, and PlayStation 4 Pro.
Trying to get as much cash as possible, I bundled my OG Xbox One with some games. My ad for the Xbox sat on Craiglist for months.
Even though the console was in good condition and being bundled with some pretty solid games, no one was interested in paying the $125 price tag. Then the pandemic hit. Suddenly in March, I got hit up by 10 people. I sold the console fairly quickly after that.
In the fall, just a month or two before the new consoles were released I put my PS4 Pro and Xbox One X up for sale too. The market had changed drastically from the one in January when I could not sell my Xbox One.
Normally this close to a new console launch, getting good value for your old machine would prove difficult, well this was not the case. The Pro and One X sold very quickly, I bundled them with games just like the Xbox I sold earlier in the year and got $270 for the Pro and $280 for the One X.
I then turned around and used those funds to get myself an Xbox Series X and eventually a PlayStation 5 at a discount. My guess is that the market got hot for two reasons; one, the pandemic hit, and people were spending a lot more time at home and they were looking for entertainment.
Two, the new generation consoles were very hard to get at launch and still are a year later. With both platforms featuring cross-generation games and saves, you could still happily own a high-end Xbox One or PlayStation 4 and enjoy most of the latest games now and decide to upgrade later.
It doesn’t seem to make sense, why would these old consoles still be a hot commodity? Wouldn’t everyone just want to save their money for a new PS5 or Series Console? Normally that may be the case but I’m telling you, your old Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are pretty sought after by consumers right now.
What are the selling points for an Xbox One or PlayStation 4 in 2021?
With the lack of availability of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox Series consoles, a lot of people are still looking to play the latest games. Fortunately, you can still play most of them on a PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. If you are playing on a PlayStation 4 Pro or Xbox One X, you can still play most of these games and they will still look damn good.
Thanks to cross-generation development, some of the biggest games coming out in 2021 and 2022 will still be available to gamers who don’t have the latest consoles. Titles like Horizon: Forbidden West, God of War Ragnorok, and Spider-man: Miles Morales will be on the PlayStation 4. On the Xbox One side of things, games like Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 can still be enjoyed.
To make things even better for Xbox One owners, they still get access to nearly all the games available through Xbox Game Pass, and very soon they will get the benefit of playing games running on an Xbox Series console through their xCloud streaming service; meaning they will possibly get access to more powerful games that their Xbox One can’t handle via the cloud.
There is still incredible value to be had on these older consoles and that is a big factor in why they are an easy sell. Consumers are realizing that they may not be able to experience the top of the line in console gaming with these older machines but they still can enjoy a heck of a lot.
If you are looking to upgrade soon you may want to trade-in or sell your old console now
At the time this post was written the Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro would fetch you a pretty penny at Gamestop. The PlayStation 4 Pro was worth $250 store credit with a trade in and $275 dollars for pro members. The Xbox One X would have gotten you the same price. The regular PlayStation 4 Slim and Xbox One S would have netted you up to $165.
Even without a current in-store promotion, you can still expect to get about $220 per console.
I don’t recall a time when you could go to Gamestop and get 50% or more back in trade value for a console you bought in a previous generation.
You could trade in a Pro or One X and already knock half off the price of your next-generation console. Doing this is made even easier when you consider that both consoles offer cross-generation saves and games along with full backward compatibility for all games of the previous generation (Just make sure on PlayStation 4 you update all of your saves to the cloud before selling, on Xbox Smart delivery takes care of all of that for you).
If you don’t want to go the Gamestop route you can hit up sites like Ebay, Craigslist, or Amazon to try and sell your console directly to another person. Currently, Xbox One X’s are selling regularly for $260-$320, you can get a little more value if you decide to pack in some games.
PlayStation 4 Pro’s are selling for around $300 as well. You can get similar prices, maybe even a bit more if you try a site like craigslist where you can sell your console face to face.
The fact is, right now, gaming consoles are hot commodities and they are hard to find. The new Xbox Series consoles and PlayStation 5 continually sell out as soon as stock comes in. The older consoles are also getting very hard to find as Xbox One X and S have been discontinued, the same thing with the PlayStation 4 Pro.
Here are a couple of pictures I took at my local Target, you are probably facing a similar situation where you live, there are barely any consoles out there to be found at retail, new or old, except the Nintendo Switch.
People want to game and there are unusually limited avenues for them to pursue that on a PlayStation or Xbox console right now, that means that the old console you are playing on or maybe have shoved away in a closest, has some value.
If you are looking for some quick funds to have on hand or to supplement your new-generation gaming goodness, think about selling your old console, it’s probably worth more than you think.
If you are still having trouble finding a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series S/X, check out our guide to help you get ahold of one of these consoles. It will basically boil down to being alert and being ready to go when stock alerts hit.
Are you thinking about selling your old console or have you already? Post a comment below to share your experience with selling your PlayStation 4 or Xbox One in 2021!
There’s also a trade in bonus on consoles not published on the website. The one x and the pro both go for 325 store credit until the 9th. I just sold mine to Gamestop yesterday.
Dude that is some awesome advice $325 is nuts lol, sheesh.
Great post very informative but there’s no chance. PS4 and Xbox one x are like good cars you bought new. Now they want your vehicle back and they give you lots of money they say lol!!!! But why 🤔 they can come with a slick answer 😎😁
thank you. I think it depends on the console owner. For me, both consoles support full BC of their previous generation and I knew I was upgrading so it was an easy sell.
That sounds great if that the way you wa6 too go but for me I paid too much money for these console at the time they came out so for me I will keep my console and enjoy the new ones as well I’m a collector thank you.
That is a fine choice too for collectors. You will appreciate them more over the years as you can look back and directly interact with the era.
Tell the truth like it js the pos kerks using bots to buy up comsoles and tessll them need to go go prision they didnt put any time of efgort or money into developing the new systems there fore they dhould not be profiting off others abd tipping people off. Im getting congress to demand resell limititations on these products and eliminate ebay and Amazon and mon manufacture listing sites as banned to do so unless its a comsole over 3 years old.
I don’t think they should go to prison but I really do wish something would be done to stop them buying hundreds and thousands of consoles and making a profit off of them.
I want to sell my playstation 4 and some games what the best way to do so
Depends on how much you want to make and how you want to sell it. I like craigslist because you just have to meet somebody and you instantly get the cash, it is slightly risky though. If you do craiglsit try to meet somewhere public and make sure they know the price you are asking. You could just take it to gamestop, especially if you just want to buy more games stuff with that money, they give good store credit right now. You can sell to someone you know or you can post it online at Ebay or Amazon. You will have to ship it and all that but it’s a pretty good way to sell too.
This is really well written &informative. You did all the price research too so I don’t have to Google anything myself. Thanks! Def saving this to reference going into the holiday shopping season.
I will forever regret not pulling the trigger on an XB1-X when MS was seeking the last of their stock vi $325 bundles. Still on my OG Xbox One and those seem to be the inky ones not getting the really good trade in values so I may have to try for a Series X & sell the XB1 on Craigslist after the fact.
I appreciate your comment! Sometimes during the holiday season (which is now) gamestop and other stores offer promotions to give you more credit for your console, be on the lookout for that if you are still trying to sell your OG Xbox One.
I really wish I could get my hands on a halo infinite Xbox series x at a realistically reasonable price!
Any recommendations via a valid link for a online shop that would reliably be able to offer one to a united States American like me?
Those limited edition consoles are extremely hard to come by. You are taking an already hot commodity and making it hotter. I think your best options are paying close attention to the major retailers that sell it like the Microsoft Store and Gamestop. I would also highly recommend using a stock alert app like Octoshop which will push you notifications when the item is available.
It will take some vigilance and a fair helping of luck to land one at retail prices.