LY to Ban Flea Market Sales of Game Software Exceeding Retail Price

Tokyo, Nov. 6 (Jiji Press)–LY Corp. said Thursday that it will ban game software being listed on its flea market website Yahoo! Japan Flea Market for sale at a higher price than the retail price until about a month after its release. The internet company said that it will delete the item listings if violations are found. Also, the starting price of game software sold on LY’s online auction platform Yahoo! Japan Auction will be set at a price same as or lower than the retail price. Both changes will be implemented on Nov. 13. As newly released game software often comes with limited edition goods, the resale price tends to be steep. Through the move, the first of its kind in Japan, LY hopes to prevent reselling of game software at exorbitantly high prices. The company will consider expanding the new rules to cover items other than game software after assessing the situation. Marketplace app operator Mercari Inc. implemented stricter regulations in October on resales of items at overly high prices on its flea market website. Under the regulations, the company can decide to ban sales of items on the flea market platform if it recognizes the possibility of panic buying, soaring prices or any other forms of confusion. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]