I gave up on PS5 restocking, I even blogged about it. I thought I didn’t need a PS5. I was fine with the consoles and games I already had. But then, I went back to hunting for PS5s and found it as difficult as ever.
Last Thursday, I finally managed to buy a PS5. And since I won with a collection of tricks I learned to help control the system, I am confident that I can help others do the same thing. It may not work the first time, but now I am sure that, by implementing the strategy below, it will greatly increase the chances of those who are still looking.
But before explaining how I got a PS5, I’ll take a moment to explain why I gave in to hunting. I liked to play Control on my Xbox One X, but performance on Microsoft’s state-of-the-art system proved to be inconsistent and unstable. I accepted this until I heard that I would buy Control Ultimate Edition on PS5 for free on PS +. Seeing how much ray tracing and other optimizations made it look, I gained a greater desire to own a PS5, and to make it happen soon.
Then there is the issue of Resident Evil Village, scheduled for release in May. At the moment, it’s the game I’m most excited about, and my fervor makes me want to play it with optimal settings and performance. We know that RE8 will probably look good on PS4 (RE7 is proof of that), but when the next game Resident Evil became the biggest game of 2021 for me, my priorities adjusted.
You will probably fail at the start (avoid bad packages)
Annoyingly, my hunt started with so many flaws that I thought I signed with the Knicks. Hours were spent trying to buy a PS5 from companies like Walmart, Target and Gamestop.
I even had a chance to buy a PS5 package from Gamestop, but it was very expensive for $ 718, an addition of more than $ 200. Sure, I wanted to try Spider-Man: Miles Morales at some point, but I need to a second controller? No. Do I need a $ 20 GameStop gift card? Do not.
So, I prepared to wait and kept trying. Fortunately, trying to get my mother a Covid-19 vaccine helped hone my skills in securing fast-selling items online.
1. Make sure your store accounts are up to date
You have an account at all retailers – including Walmart, Best Buy and Target, right? Well, it’s time to log in and make sure your billing and shipping are up to date. Because if and when you get to the shopping cart, you won’t want to waste time entering billing information.
Your PS5 or Xbox could simply be stolen, as some stores do not “reserve” it after it is added to the cart. It can even disappear before or during checkout – as it has happened to me dozens of times with Best Buy.
2. Receive notifications to know when PS5 refueling occurs
Getting a head start in competition, like a sprinter getting the best foot forward in a race, is critical. First, you will want to have a Twitter account to follow names like the official Sony Twitter Account, as well as third-party tweeters, including @ PS5StockAlerts, @GYXdeals and @ Wario64.
Turn on notifications and watch for alerts to arrive. These accounts tend to post the details in advance, but many people are looking for these accounts. Notice that Wario64 posted about much more than the PS5 is replenished, so you may not want notifications for that account, which can lead to spam.
The other half is partnering with friends who are also on the hunt. No, you don’t need insiders helping you. But if you have friends to send text messages or messages – one of my colleagues saw that the Sony Direct PS5 queue was starting and let us know – you also have a good chance.
I reached the Sony Direct website in 20 minutes before the website countdown to availability ended, which is the key trick to your sales. If you are reading the site and there is no countdown of minutes and seconds until they open, you are probably late.
3. It’s time to play the game of defeating the system
You can give yourself more than one chance, however, depending on the online retailer. This is probably the biggest reason why I achieved my victory. I opened Sony Direct in as many simultaneous ways as possible: Chrome and Safari on my work and personal laptops and Safari on my iPhone.
Each extra browser gave me an extra lottery ticket. The only price was that I had to divide my attention into five ways. This may seem like cheating, but let’s be honest, you do it manually with a handful of browsers to get a PS5 for you is much more ethical than the people who use bots to get them to profit.
It’s all fair in love and replenishes PS5, or so I told myself. My colleague Matt Swider at Tech Radar has become something of a PS5 refueling legend on Twitter and confirms that you should be using multiple devices and not many tabs on the same browser for Sony Direct.
Although I didn’t get a PS5 at Target or Best Buy, be aware that buying the console works differently on each of these sites. You will want to keep the same Best Buy tab open on each browser, and updating the page is not good for you. It is better to update on Target, however. Those in big cities may find that these retailers are the most difficult to buy, as there are larger groups competing in the same location. Unfortunately, it appears that Target and Best Buy are limiting orders to local pickup.
4. Keep your eyes on the screens
Next, I made sure to fill my screens with the Sony Direct store tabs, putting life in the background for the moment. Then, I adjusted the settings to make sure my screens stayed on, even if I wasn’t actively using them.
This may be overkill, but it is one of the steps I have taken and makes it easier to view multiple devices at the same time. By default, your screens will darken and you may not notice a possible victory in front of you.
On Windows 10:
- Search for “power options” in the Start or Cortana menu.
- Click “Choose when to turn off the screen.”
- Select “Change advanced power settings”.
- Select View.
- Select Enable adaptive brightness.
- Set On Battery and Plugged In to Off.
On macOS:
- Press Command + Space to open Spotlight search.
- Type “System Preferences”.
- Open System Preferences.
- Select Energy Saver (most versions of macOS) or battery (in Big Sur).
- Under Battery and power adapter, drag the display suspension needle (or “Turn off the display after”) to Never.
- If you are in Big Sur and have selected Battery: uncheck the box “Lighten the screen with battery power” in Battery.
On iOS:
- Open settings.
- Touch Screen and brightness.
- Touch Auto lock.
- Select Never.
Android rules vary by manufacturer, but look in your Settings app and disable screen timeout, power saving mode and adaptive brightness.
5. Look for the right signs and move quickly
I knew something was different this time. That’s because the Sony Direct store on my iPhone showed an estimated wait time of 23 minutes, while all other Sony Direct instances had no ETA or “more than an hour”. That’s when I performed step 4 on my iPhone, making sure that the screen remained on.
Waiting for the progress bar to be filled, I was ready and ready. My password manager was unlocked because I would have to sign in to Sony Direct again, which also meant that I had easy access to my billing information in case I needed to reconfirm something.
And then the yellow bar was completely filled, and I had my moment. I quickly went to the site – you have to click on the top left menu bar and tap Sign In – and then I added the PS5 to my cart.
Here, I admit that I made a mistake. I thought about buying more than the console. Sony intends to make extra sales by offering free shipping if you buy $ 60 in accessories. After that brief moment passed in my head, I realized that I would really get a fast shipping in 1-2 business days, thanks to my PS + account.
And then I checked and received my confirmation email. That’s how I got my PS5, and with these tips, and some luck, I think you have a puncher chance to join me and the rest of the lucky souls who also have one.