For the second day this week, Walmart had the PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition in stock. Both consoles were available at noon PT / 3:00 p.m. ET (December 17). It followed the same format as Walmart’s other replenishment, with consoles available at staggered intervals – and like that replenishment, they disappeared almost immediately.
But what about when GameStop, Target, or another major retailer has the PS5 available to order again? Will they be available to buy online only, in stores, or for pick up? We’re keeping a close eye on more PS5 units coming on sale – keep in mind that if you want one you need to be quick and may need to be open to buying a bundle of games and accessories that you may or may not want to. Those are the concessions you have to make to get something so popular. Read on for our up-to-date guide on PS5 restocks.
Where do you buy the PS5
PS5 available on PlayStation Direct
PlayStation Direct regularly opens a queue for shoppers to buy the PS5 (and everything else on the first-party site), but it’s often more than an hour’s wait and it’s unclear if the PS5 is available at all. Still, it’s worth checking out PS Direct on a regular basis as it’s the only store that still releases the PS5 quite regularly. However, the queues also seem to be somewhat random.
Note that finding a queue on PS Direct does not necessarily mean the PS5 is in stock; it simply indicates a lot of traffic to the store. It never hurts to jump in and wait when you find the queue and sit in front of your computer for a while, but know that there is no guarantee it will be in stock by the time you get through it.
PS5 availability at GameStop
We don’t know when you’ll be able to buy a PS5 from GameStop again.
GameStop saw one of the wildest console fillings on Black Friday. The store-only sales led dozens of people to camp outside the stores for the chance to get their hands on the new PlayStation console, of which it had an extremely limited supply. Aside from that, there are a number of restocks available on the GameStop website in the form of expensive console bundles, but even these sell out pretty quickly. If you don’t mind a more expensive PS5 bundle, they aren’t terrible deals – you often get extra games, controllers, and accessories with your purchase. You may be faced with the possibility of being forced to buy items you don’t actually want.
You can sign up to receive a stock alert from GameStop before any of these bundles go on sale, but up until now, it’s been pretty random.
PS5 availability at Walmart
We don’t know when you’ll be able to buy a PS5 from GameStop again.
Walmart last had the PS5, along with other next-gen systems, on its website on the afternoon of December 17. Before this restocking, it delivered more systems every 10 minutes for about half an hour, giving customers countless opportunities to get one. It seemed to work, and we were even able to order one from the Walmart app, despite bots getting as many orders as possible quickly. However, these orders won’t arrive until January 8th. They could arrive earlier, but don’t count on them being ready for Christmas.
PS5 availability at Best Buy
Best Buy had the PS5 in stock on December 15, but sold out very quickly. We don’t know when the next replenishment will take place.
Best Buy has confirmed that it will not have PS5 devices in store throughout the holiday season, so you won’t have to visit physical Best Buy stores hoping to find a PS5 on the shelves until 2021. But, it has told potential customers that more systems are coming. When that happens remains to be seen, but the store usually uses a queuing system once they come online. This can help deter bots, but it doesn’t guarantee you can get one.
PS5 available from Amazon
We don’t know when you’ll be able to buy a PS5 from Amazon again.
Even Amazon doesn’t know when the PS5 will be back in stock, as indicated on the console’s product page.
PS5 availability at Target
We don’t know when you’ll be able to buy a PS5 from Target again.
Target hasn’t topped up much since the launch of the PS5, and it’s unclear how soon it will take orders again.
PS5 available from other retailers
Although no exact date for restocking has been confirmed, Newegg said on Twitter it expects more PS5 inventory in the third week of December. The electronics store usually announces refills the day they take place – sometimes just 10 minutes in advance – so it may be worth following on Twitter.
If you don’t mind paying for a more expensive PS5, you can always find the console and its accessories on reseller sites like StockX and eBay. Resale prices at StockX are currently between $ 800 and $ 900, although you can place bids to buy the console for less. The site has plenty of stock so if you’re desperate it’s worth checking out if you can negotiate a decent price.
As expected, scalpers cashed in on the situation by hoarding the PS5 and selling them for hundreds of dollars more than their MSRP. All the hoarding and reselling make it even more of a headache for the average customer to buy a PS5 before the holidays, so if you’d rather not support that, check back here.
Where to buy PS5 accessories
The Pulse 3D wireless headset was the hardest PS5 accessory in stock, and it was the first accessory to sell out at major retailers. Refills have cropped up regularly in the last few weeks, although it is still not an item you can reliably buy at any time. However, there are still some great headsets you can buy with your new PS5. Our personal favorite is the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro Wireless Headset; Other great options include the SteelSeries Arctis 1 and the Astro A50. Any of your existing PS4 headsets should work too.
Other official PS5 accessories, such as the media remote and the DualSense charging dock, are also proving to be popular and remain out of stock and restock from time to time.
Check out more PS5 recommendations:
Where you can buy the biggest games from PS5
Quite a few PS5 games are available right now, including launch titles like Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Demon’s Souls. Keep in mind that many PS4 games come with free next-generation upgrades that have been marked down since launch, making them a better deal than buying the PS5 versions directly.