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Sony’s PlayStation 5 (SNE) and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X (MSFT) are incredibly hard to find, thanks to pent-up demand for next-gen consoles and a global semiconductor shortage caused by the coronavirus pandemic .
But there are steps you can take to improve your chances of acquiring one of these coveted consoles, including tracking supplies from retailers, setting up user profiles for those retailers’ websites, and tracking inventory.
The most important thing, however, may be to keep a cool head and be prepared to smash that buy button at any time.
Visit retailers and sign up to receive alerts
The best place to look for a PS5 or Xbox Series X will be the retailers where you normally buy – whether it’s Walmart.com, Amazon.com, Target.com, or GameStop.com. But there are some that you might not think of checking out. Sony and Microsoft sell their systems directly through their respective websites, making them great prospects to grab one of their consoles. And niche sites like Newegg.com also offer systems when available.
The question is: how do you know when these sites will have consoles in stock? It’s not like you can sit at your computer or hold your phone all day to refresh the website after the website. I mean, you could, but I don’t recommend it.
Instead, you can set up product alerts on these sites and receive notifications when the console of your choice is in stock. It’s a better use of your time and gives you the flexibility to know when you should jump online and buy.
Follow inventory tracking accounts on social media
I’ve been tracking the availability of the PS5 “for a friend” since the console launched in November, and have found social media alerts to be one of the most helpful ways to get updates on the web. stock.
A number of Twitter accounts provide you with the latest information on console availability at all times. Some of the best are Sony @PlayStation account and Microsoft @Xbox account, as well as a number of third-party trackers, including @ PS5StockAlerts and @XboxStockAlerts.
But you’ll need to be ready to jump to an available console right away. To this end…
Make sure you are ready to buy when you access the site
When you’re preparing to score a new console, you’re not just trying to make your way past other buyers eager to get their hands on the latest system, you’re also battling bots designed to suck consoles so that dealers can hawk them online at high prices. Right now, you can hop on eBay and find a $ 499 PS5 selling for a ridiculous $ 1,399. Others can be found for anywhere between $ 580 and $ 1000.
To ensure that you are able to beat your competition online, create a user account for the websites that you are most likely to shop at. That way, when a console is available, you don’t have to worry about entering your user information or location, and can quickly log in and purchase the system you’ve been dreaming of.
There is also the added benefit of not having to enter your credit card information, which is very painful anyway.
Avoid resellers
I know you’re dying to get your hands on a PS5 or X-Series, but dealers are scooping up consoles and jacking up their prices to hundreds of dollars. It’s certainly not worth paying a massive premium for already pretty expensive consoles, especially when there aren’t some super-essential games you can’t have on them yet.
Paying resellers simply encourages them to go out and grab more consoles, perpetuating the cycle of limited inventory. Anyway, wait. You can either score a console before it’s immediately available, or purchase one in the second half of the year, as the processor shortage eases and more systems hit the market.
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Do you have any advice? Email Daniel Howley at [email protected] over via encrypted mail to [email protected]and follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
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