A PS5 owner posted two screenshots of the same PlayStation Store search, taken side by side. The Star Wars Jedi games showed different discounts in each. In their edit, they explained what was going on: when logged out, a game was listed at $13. After logging in to buy it, the price became $23. Opening an incognito tab showed $13 again.
"It's one thing if my friend is offered a better deal than me but in this case they're charging me a premium on the listed price," they wrote. The post reached more than 5,600 upvotes and nearly 1,200 comments.
Who gets the cheaper price?
Several people said the price was lower for them. One commenter pointed out they do not have PS Plus and still saw the cheaper price. Another offered a theory for why: dynamic pricing tends to give the lowest price to the people least likely to buy, and not having PS Plus suggests you are less committed to spending money on PlayStation. Nobody in the thread could confirm how Sony decides, which is part of the problem.
"Like buying plane tickets now"
The most upvoted comment asked for a tool that compares the prices different people are actually shown, so buyers can tell if they are being overcharged. Others shared existing price trackers such as PSPrices and Deku Deals, and one person described setting a price alert and getting a 70 percent discount twelve hours later.
Some commenters thought the practice may break consumer law in places like Australia, where one commenter said Steam had already been taken to court and made to comply. Others simply called it predatory.
The link to digital only consoles
The thread kept coming back to one point. With Sony moving away from physical discs, the PlayStation Store becomes the only place to buy PlayStation games. "More reasons why they're eliminating physical copies," read one of the top replies. Another commenter explained the business side: retailers take a share of every disc sold, so selling only through the store keeps more money with Sony.
When physical copies exist, shops compete. Supermarkets, game stores and second hand sellers all set their own prices, and you can pick the best one. With a single digital store, there is nothing to compare against.
What you can do
Check prices while logged out, use a price tracker before you buy, and consider the physical version when one exists. Tracking prices across many retailers, new and used, is exactly what we are building GameShelfClub to do.