Sony’s cheaper official PS5 route has become less forgiving. Certified refurbished PS5 Slim consoles on PlayStation Direct now cost $549.99 for the disc-drive model and $499.99 for the Digital Edition, putting both listings $100 above their previous refurbished prices.
The change narrows the gap between refurbished hardware and Sony’s new-console pricing only weeks after PlayStation raised PS5 prices across multiple regions. In the U.S., Sony’s April 2 price update moved the standard PS5 to $649.99, the PS5 Digital Edition to $599.99 and the PS5 Pro to $899.99.
Refurbished PS5 Slim no longer has the same budget gap
The updated listings on PlayStation Direct put the certified refurbished PS5 Slim with a disc drive at $549.99. The certified refurbished PS5 Digital Edition Slim is now listed at $499.99.
Both refurbished Slim models include a 1TB SSD, a DualSense wireless controller, required cables and a manual, though Sony notes certified refurbished products may have minor cosmetic imperfections. Shacknews reported that the disc-drive refurbished Slim had been $449.99, while the Digital Edition refurbished Slim had been $399.99 before the increase.
That leaves the older certified refurbished PS5 disc-drive model as the standout option for buyers looking at Sony’s official refurbished store. It is still listed at $399, although that model has an 825GB SSD instead of the Slim’s 1TB drive.
The new refurbished Slim pricing also lands in an awkward historical spot. When PlayStation 5 launched in 2020, Sony priced the Digital Edition at $399.99 and the disc-drive console at $499.99 in the U.S., according to PlayStation’s launch announcement. A refurbished PS5 Slim Digital Edition now costs as much as the original disc-drive launch model did, while the refurbished disc-drive Slim is $50 higher than that 2020 launch price.
For anyone waiting out current-gen prices, the practical choice has changed. Refurbished Slim units still cost less than buying the same broad PS5 tier new from Sony, but the official used-hardware discount is now much thinner than it was before May.