The Secret To Buying A Playstation 5

Are you wanting a Playstation 5 but are tired of taking that “L” 2-3 times a week? Well, let us see if we can do something about that.

Despite the fact that it was released over three months ago, both the Playstation 5 and the Xbox Series X have been incredibly hard to purchase. With the Playstation, it is a combination of Sony’s botched pre-ordering system, the impact that Covid-19 has had on manufacturing and shipping, and an eager fanbase that has led to this scarcity. When I couldn’t secure one at launch, I didn’t think anything of it. I wasn’t in a rush to play any of those games anyway. “I’ll grab one around Christmas.” When Christmas came around and you couldn’t buy one for less than $1,000 on eBay, “Ah. That’s fine. I’ll grab one in 2021.” Well, we’re here in 2021, and them shits are still impossible to come by. 

After months of failed attempts, after dozens of ‘Item cannot be added to cart” errors, and after countless hours hitting F5 on my keyboard, I secured a Playstation 5. This wasn’t entirely just good luck, so I’ll throw out some advice that you might find helpful.

Step 1: Do you really want a PS5? 

Hype aside, you first need to start and ask yourself if you really want a PS5. If your Playstation 4 is on its last legs or you’re dying to play Astro Bot, then, okay, get you a PS5. If you want it because it’s a thing that’s out there that you feel like you need and that by owning it you will somehow finally be happy with your life…dude, this ain’t gonna do that.   

Step 2: Wario Up

At this point, the only reason that I still have a Twitter account is so that I can follow Wario64. Who is Wario64? Nobody knows. But if you follow him on Twitter then you will see that he is an incredible resource when it comes to finding all the latest news, deals, and announcements. If you have a Twitter, follow @Wario64. If you don’t have a Twitter, sign up for a Twitter and follow @Wario64. 

While you’re at it, you might want to follow @PS5StockAlerts as well. As their Twitter handle suggests, it’s an account that notifies you anytime that Playstation 5’s go into stock at Playstation Direct, Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, Gamestop, Target, and others. 

When you follow @PS5StockAlerts, turn on the notifications so that any and all tweets will go straight to you.

You’re off to a good start, but keep in mind that your PS5-hungry competition (and scalpers) also have these resources. You can go to Twitch or YouTube and find channels that are nothing but streams that show bots that are constantly checking websites for PS5 stock over-and-over. It’s discouraging to see, but that’s your competition. You’ve got to take a few more steps.

Step 3: All The Accounts!

Even if you are able to add a PS5 to your cart, you still haven’t crossed the finish line. I have had so many instances where I was able to add the console to my cart but, when I tried to checkout, was greeted with an “Item no longer available” or “Out of stock” error. It’s the ultimate cockblock. And even while there isn’t much you can do about that part, you can take steps to make sure that checking out goes as fast as possible. For all of those websites that might sell a PS5 at some point, be sure that you have an account set up beforehand and that you stay logged in. Also, take the time to update your payment information and to make sure your home address is correct. 

When that Playstation hits your cart, you need to be ready to hit that checkout like it’s the beaches of Normandy. Go. Go. Go. Go. 

Step 4: Now is (maybe) not the time to be picky

The Playstation 5 has two SKU’s: There’s a disc-based version, which is $499, and a digital-only version, which is $399. Sony hasn’t come right out and confirmed it but there seem to be far more disc-based consoles manufactured than its digital counterparts. Sure, that makes sense, but if you’re like me and you like that digital option so that you don’t have to get your ass up to swap discs, you’re fighting over a small piece of the pie. It all comes down to whether you’re willing to compromise what you want. If you want a digital PS5 and you are in no rush, eventually, you’re going to be able to walk into a Target and buy one. It might not be soon, but it’ll happen someday. In that case, don’t settle. If you’re willing to cough up an extra $100 to just secure the damn thing, you’re going to have a better shot at grabbing a disc-based PS5.

It’s not all bad. You can use that disc drive to watch McGruber.   

The exception to this are bundles. Fuck bundles.  Gamestop has only been selling PS5’s and Xbox’s in bundles for the last few weeks and it’s disgusting. I think that might be even worse than scalping. Don’t go dropping $800 on a PS5 that comes with a shitty headset and a fanny pack.   

Step 5: Strength in Numbers

When the retailer’s databases update and show that they have available stock of PS5 SKU’s, these retailers’ websites are bombarded by thousands of people and millions of bots. If you want that PS5, you’re going to have to walk that ethical tightrope. How many monitors and devices do you have at your disposal? Utilize all of them. 

F5. Add to cart. Repeat.

Open up 3-4 different browsers, and open up additional incognito windows for each of those browsers. Hit that F5 button like it’s a 12-year old that just discovered masturbation. Retailers have started to shift towards placing people in queues to avoid crashing their services, but those queues are completely random. It doesn’t matter if you have been waiting for two hours or two minutes, the odds of you winning the opportunity to spend $499 on a device that can make a slightly better-looking Spider-Man are all the same.   

In my case, I ultimately found success through Playstation Direct. They are one of those retailers that throw you in a queue and give you an estimated time for checkout. That wait time hasn’t been anything other than “Over one-hour” in my experiences. “That’s probably not accurate,” you say. Then you spend the next 20-30 minutes staring at a screen until you’re ultimately told that they have sold out of all their PS5’s for the day. However, this last time, I opened up all two windows for every browser. After a few minutes, I thought this was probably not going to work. All of the windows had that “Over one-hour” estimate. Maybe it’s going by my IP address? Then, it happened. In the incognito Chrome browser, the status went from “Over one hour” to “9 minutes.” This was different. I closed all of the other windows and just focused on the one. From 9-minutes to 5-minutes to, finally, a glorious ping played through my speakers followed by a prompt that said “You are now being forwarded to the Playstation Store.” 

It’s as if the heavens opened up and said “Joshua, you’ve been patient, now give me $530 and I’ll let you play a slightly better-looking Spider-Man’s.”

And so I did.