Why I can’t sell a PlayStation 4

Unlike my PlayStation 3, I bought my PlayStation 4 when it was first released and it served me well. However, with the release of the PlayStation 5 I decided to upgrade.. to a PlayStation 4 Pro (I had too much left to play on my PS4 to be able to justify paying for a PS5).

For whatever reason, I didn’t do anything with my original console, but dug it out the other day, gave it a clean, checked everything worked and, today, headed for my local CeX to sell it. But they wouldn’t accept it. They pointed me to a local pawnbroker, so I took it there. They wouldn’t have it either.

The problem was because the warranty sticker on the back had been removed.

Now, the reason why this had been removed is because, over time, the fan got clogged up with dust, and I had to remove the sticker to get into it to clean it up. Sony only allow the hard drive to be swapped without voiding the warranty. Despite the fact the warranty is long since over anyway, having voided it is apparently something that totally devalues (to retailers anyway) the product. How dare I try and clean my console so that it doesn’t like a jet aircraft taking off!

Except, it gets a bit more irritating. My replacement console – the PS4 Pro that I mentioned before – was bought from the very same CeX “reconditioned”. It looked lovely and clean on the outside, and even the vents on the side were clean. However, a couple of games of Call of Duty soon blew the huge amount of crud inside back into the vents, causing it too to sound like the world was ending.

Eventually (once my CeX warranty had expired), I opened it up and had to clean it (in fact, I even replaced all the thermal pads and paste whilst I was at it), and it’s never been better.

But, of course, by doing so I can’t now sell it. The fact that even CeX refuse to open it up to properly recondition it means that I ended up having to do, eliminating my ability to ever sell it back to them.

There’s also a button cell battery inside, which backs up the system when you have no power. Over time that battery needs replacing. Again, you have to remove that warranty seal to change it.

So, the reality is by looking after your PlayStation and getting it into a truly quality condition to sell, you have to make it unsaleable. And, as I say, CeX gets around this by, well, not bothering to actually recondition it properly.

I’m trying Facebook Marketplace instead and, if necessary, eBay. Looks like I’ll get a bit more money from that too.