If You Missed the PS5 Restock, Here’s How to Prepare for the Next One

This week, rumors of a big PlayStation 5 restock at various retailers—including Walmart, Best Buy, and Amazon—drove customers to stand in lines for hours just for a chance to get their hands on the gaming console, which Sony released last November.

When new gaming consoles hit the market, they typically have stock issues for a few months, but in this case the pandemic and a major computer chip shortage have extended stock issues for almost a year. With the holiday and gift season around the corner, many people are trying (again) to get ahold of the console.

Some people posted videos on Twitter showing hopeful shoppers lined up for hours outside of Best Buy (some even overnight) for a chance to buy a PS5.

By mid-morning Thursday, both Amazon and Best Buy’s website were showing the console as out of stock yet again, and we haven’t seen confirmation that anyone was actually able to purchase one. It’s unclear when the next restock is expected to happen, but Sony’s CEO has warned that the supply issues will likely remain through 2022, according to Bloomberg.

“I’ve bought six PS5s and eight Xbox Series X consoles for friends and family, and what I’ve found that works is to sign up for accounts at all the major retailers and make sure your billing and shipping is current,” says Arthur Gies, Wirecutter’s editor of computing and networking coverage, who wrote our guide to choosing the right PlayStation 5.

Arthur also suggests avoiding the PayPal option to check out, which he says adds 30 to 45 seconds to checkout time—in many cases, that can make the difference between getting a console and not.

“You want the shortest distance between ‘add to cart’ and checkout,” he says.

If you want a PS5 and haven’t had any luck, try signing up for alerts on Twitter. Online bots search an online store’s web code for a signal—such as an “add to cart” button—indicating that the PlayStation 5 is back in stock, according to New York Times tech writer Brian X. Chen. He recommends following the Twitter accounts @PS5StockAlerts and @mattswider; Arthur Gies also suggests @Wario64. You can set up push notifications to alert you whenever the accounts tweet.

The PlayStation 5’s debut marked the first time since 2013 that Sony released a new console. Midway into the first year of the PlayStation 5’s lifespan, we’re starting to see more and more games that take advantage of the PS5’s upgrades.