Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 5 and Microsoft (MSFT) Xbox Series X are incredibly hard to find, thanks to pent-up demand for next-generation consoles and a global shortage of semiconductors due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But you can take steps to increase your chances of holding onto one of these coveted consoles, including tracking retailers ‘supplies, setting up user profiles for those retailers’ websites, and tracking inventory trackers.
Perhaps the most important thing is to keep your cool and get ready to smash that buy button in an instant.
Visit retailers and sign up for alerts
The best place to look for a PS5 or Xbox Series X is where you normally shop – be it Walmart.com, Amazon.com, Target.com, or GameStop.com. But there are some you may not think you are checking. Sony and Microsoft sell their systems directly through their respective websites, making them attractive to get your hands on one of their consoles. And niche sites like Newegg.com also offer systems when available.
The question is, how do you know when those sites have consoles in stock? It’s not like you can sit at your computer all day or keep your phone holding refreshing website after website all day. I mean you could, but I don’t recommend it.
Instead, you can set product alerts on those sites and receive notifications when your console of choice is in stock. It’s a better use of your time and gives you the opportunity to figure out when to jump online and buy something.
Follow stock tracking accounts on social media
I’ve been tracking the availability of the PS5 “for a friend” since the console launched in November, and I’ve found social media notifications to be one of the most useful ways to get updates to stock.
A number of Twitter accounts will give you the latest information on console availability in an instant. Some of the top ones are from Sony @Play station account and that of Microsoft @Xbox account, as well as a number of third-party trackers including @ PS5StockAlerts and @XboxStockAlerts
But you will have to be prepared to jump right on to an available console. To this end …
Make sure you are ready to buy when you visit the site
When you get ready to score a new console, you’re not just trying to beat your way past other shoppers eager to get their hands on the latest system – you’re also fighting bots built to suck up consoles so that resellers can can hawk them online at jacked-up prices. Right now, you can hop on eBay and find a $ 499 PS5 that retails for a ridiculous $ 1,399. Others can be found for anywhere from $ 580 to $ 1,000.
To make sure you can beat your online competition, create a user account for the websites you are likely to visit. This way, when a console is available, you don’t have to worry about entering your user information or location, and you can quickly log in and buy the system you were looking for.
There’s also the added benefit of not having to enter your credit card information, which is a huge pain anyway.
Avoid resellers
I know you’d love to get your hands on a PS5 or Series X, but resellers are picking up consoles and raising their prices by hundreds of dollars. It’s certainly not worth paying a huge premium for expensive enough consoles, especially if there aren’t any super-must-have games you can get on them alone.
Paying resellers are only encouraging them to look for more consoles, perpetuating the cycle of inventory constraints. In short, just wait. You can score a console before they’re readily available, or you can buy one in the second half of the year, as the shortage of processors is decreasing and more systems are coming to market.
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