This story is part of Holiday Gift Guide 2020, CNET’s gift picks with expert advice, reviews and recommendations for the latest tech gifts for you and your family.
If you’re still hoping to get an Xbox Series X in time for the holidays, this might be a good moment to steel yourself for disappointment. Millions of gamers have been waiting for well over a month for Xbox inventory to show up online, and honestly, Microsoft’s Nov. 10 rollout of the new consoles now feels like little more than a tease. Microsoft’s next-generation gaming consoles sold out more or less instantly back on launch day and then went on to sell out within minutes every time there has been any sort of inventory drop at major retailers. In part, that’s obviously due to insatiable consumer demand. But there’s little doubt that it also has a lot to do with resellers and their bots beating average consumers to the punch.
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Currently, there’s no inventory to be had anywhere. There’s been a handful of inventory drops at stores like Walmart and Best Buy in recent weeks. Just this week in fact, Best Buy announced some consoles for sale, which unsurprisingly sold out instantly. Walmart had its own inventory drops two days in a row, both of which sold out faster than it took me to type this. Which means that for the moment, all retailers are sold out again.
We’re keeping an eye on Twitter and other sources of news, and we will keep you up to date on what retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, GameStop and Target are planning. Even so, it’s best to keep our expectations in check: Microsoft confirmed back on Nov. 16 that Xbox inventory could be tight through April 2021.
What follows is a list of the major retailers selling the Xbox Series X. Our advice is to seek out the $500 retail price and avoid those pricey retailer bundles (which include extraneous controllers, accessories and games). Even better: If you don’t have a 4K TV and don’t expect to get one anytime soon, try the Xbox Series S instead to save $100.
Xbox Series X: Check inventory restock
Best Buy was the last retailer standing back in the preorder days of September, but now stands ready for your Xbox Series X purchase as inventory allows.
Amazon is selling the Xbox Series X and the less expensive Series S from this same product page.
GameStop had touted “very limited number of Xbox Series X and S console bundles for purchase” but those are currently sold out.
Walmart does a solid job of noting availability windows for PS5 and Xbox on its Twitter feed. You might also want to visit the retailer’s Xbox landing page for both new consoles.
If you want to get the latest on the Xbox Series X, there’s probably nowhere better than Microsoft’s own Xbox Series X home page. Here you’ll find the latest specs, announced game titles, details on the new controller and more.
This is Target’s product page for the Xbox Series X.
This is where you can purchase the Xbox Series X at Newegg when the retailer has inventory.
Are you already getting desperate? Are you willing to pay a premium of hundreds of dollars over the list price? Listen, we wouldn’t do this and we don’t recommend you do it, either. But if you want to take that path, StockX is a reputable eBay-style site that will let you buy and sell new Xbox and PS5 models — as long as you’re willing to pay upwards of $650.
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Xbox Series X and Series S offer a fine-tuned, streamlined…
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