Sony (SNE)’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox Series X are incredibly hard to find, thanks to pent-up demand for next-generation consoles and a worldwide shortage of semiconductors spurred by the coronavirus pandemic.
But you can take steps to improve your chances of catching one of these prestigious consoles, including stocking retailers, setting up user profiles for retailers’ websites, and tracking inventory trackers.
The most important thing, however, is to keep a cool head, and get ready to meet the 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 the retailers where you usually buy – whether it’s Walmart.com, Amazon.com, Target.com or GameStop.com. But there are some that you might not think of. Sony and Microsoft sell their systems directly through their respective websites, making it attractive to grab one of their consoles. And niche sites like Newegg.com also offer systems if available.
The question is, how do you know when consoles are available on the sites? It’s not like you can sit in front of your computer or keep your phone on a refreshing website all day long. I mean, you can, but I do not recommend it.
Instead, you can set up product alerts on those sites and get notifications when your console selection is in stock. It uses your time better, and gives you the opportunity to figure out when to jump online and shop.
Follow accounts for shares on social media
I’ve been following the availability of PS5 ‘for a friend’ since the console was launched in November, and have found that social media alerts are one of the most useful means of getting updates in stock.
A number of Twitter accounts currently provide you with the latest information on console availability. Some of the top are from Sony @Play Station account and Microsoft’s @Xbox account, as well as a number of third-party trackers, including @ PS5StockAlerts and @XboxStockAlerts.
But you should be prepared to jump on an available console right away. With that end in sight …
Make sure you are ready to buy when you go to the website
When you get ready to get a new console, not only are you trying to get past other buyers who want to get the latest system, but you are also battling bots built to suck up consoles so that retailers hawk them online at the price has been incurred. Right now, you can jump on eBay and sell a $ 499 PS5 for a ridiculous $ 1,399. Others can be found between $ 580 and $ 1,000.
To ensure that you can beat your online competition, you need to set up a user account for the sites you are likely to buy from. If you have a console available, you do not need to enter your user information or location, and you can quickly log in and purchase the system you were looking for.
There is also the benefit of not having to enter your credit card information, which is a big pain anyway.
Avoid merchants
I know you want to get your hands on a PS5 or Series X, but dealers out there are picking up consoles and raising their prices to hundreds of dollars. It is definitely not worth paying a huge premium for consoles that are already expensive, especially if there are no super-must-have games, you can still get it.
Affordable retailers only encourage them to go to more consoles and thus maintain the cycle of inventory constraint. In short, just wait. You will be able to score a console before it is readily available, or you can buy it in the second half of the year as the shortage of processors eases and more systems come on the market.
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