Getting a PS5 and Xbox Series X was, at best, a challenge. Demand has been insanely high and has worsened because the money changers and bots continue to buy all the shares.
But there is some good news, with Walmart promising better ways to identify money changers who are using bots and stop them from buying more next-generation consoles to resell at exorbitant prices.
The news comes from a post by information security director Jerry Geisler on Walmart’s corporate website. In it, Geisler describes how Walmart has worked to ensure that people, not bots, receive the “hottest gifts they want this season”. Including the PS5 and Xbox Series X, most of which “will be online soon”.
While it is probably too late to deliver a console before Christmas Day, assuming Walmart has a new stock to sell, it would be possible to order online and pick it up at the local store. After all, you don’t have to wait for the console to be shipped and delivered if you pick it up yourself.
Face-to-face collection would also be a useful tool in the fight against money changers. Walmart says it managed to stop 20 million bots during the first 30 minutes of its November 25 refueling, but it is clear that more measures are needed. The retailer may be using technology to proactively prevent bots from buying stock, but whenever a new measure frustrates their efforts, scalpers initiate an alternative solution in an endless battle to decide who gets all the PS5s.
By making people choose consoles in person, money changers are much less likely to buy multiple consoles so easily. This is especially true if Walmart stores are strict with the “one per customer policy”, which aims to prevent people from accumulating requested products.
Money changers can still visit several Walmart stores to collect their illicit purchases, but the harder it is for them to buy multiple consoles, the less likely they are to be bothered.
Of course, the only real way to stop money changers is to avoid buying consoles from them. As frustrating as it is to be unable to buy a PS5 or Xbox Series X from a legitimate retailer, the more people turn to expensive money changer consoles, the more likely they are to continue. But if no one buys, it is no longer economical to keep consoles stocked the way they have been doing.
In the meantime, your best tactic is to be patient and try your luck the next time a retailer has high-end consoles in stock. Be sure to check out our guide on how to beat bots and buy an Xbox Series X. We’re also monitoring who has inventory and when, so be sure to check out our guides on where to buy a PS5 and where to buy an Xbox Series X. And be ready to jump at any time, because these consoles are never in stock for long.