It’s been a slow week for Xbox restocks, outside of the big Halo Edition event. This low point in restocks is a great reminder not to trust random third-party retailers attempting to sell consoles through social media, as they almost always end in some kind of scam or price gouge. If you’re trying to get in on an Xbox restock before the holiday season makes them impossible to find, here’s what we’ve found so far.
Xbox restock plans for Black Friday have arrived, and it looks like Walmart’s first. According to these ad scans, Walmart is planning to hold an Xbox restock on Black Friday, Nov. 26. If you’re a part of the Walmart Plus subscription service, you’ll get access to the console 4 hours earlier than anyone else. If you don’t feel like paying for a $13-a-month subscription to Walmart Plus, you can start a 15-day free trial right now. That means you can cancel after you get your console, unless you decide it’s worth it to keep paying for early access to things from Walmart.
Not every retailer has revealed Black Friday plans yet, so we’re expecting at least one other store to have an Xbox restock during Black Friday. In particular, Best Buy and Amazon have yet to fully reveal sales and special offers. Of the two, Best Buy is the more likely. Unfortunately, Best Buy is likely to hide its consoles behind its $200-per-year subscription service for at least a little while. More on this as it develops.
Want to know how to better your chances of getting a console? Here’s what we’ve got.
Why are the Xbox Series consoles so tough to find?
Essentially, Microsoft hasn’t been able to get the materials it needs to make enough Xbox consoles to meet demand. As with the Sony PS5 and most PC video cards, there’s a chip shortage right now that is slowing supply. COVID-19 affected production for a lot of chip manufacturers, and industry watchers currently don’t expect the issue to be entirely resolved until the end of the year.
As a result, Microsoft makes as many consoles as it can and distributes them among its retail partners. Each retail partner releases its available consoles in whatever way it deems appropriate. Most of the time, this means announcing ahead of time when you’ll be able to buy the console online and then releasing it for anyone to purchase.
Expect more updates here as restocks happen.
A new era of Xbox is here.
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How can I improve my chances of getting an Xbox Series X?
It can be a little chaotic, constantly refreshing the screen and hoping to see a checkout link. And as many can attest, it’s pretty painful to punch in your payment information only to see that the purchase can’t be completed because all the consoles are already gone. Here are some of our tips:
- Open multiple browsers: Got a laptop? A phone? Maybe a tablet? Use them all to try to make the purchase. Set yourself up ahead of time with multiple browsers open to the retail site of your choice and be ready to buy from all of them.
- Don’t give up: Many of these retailers have started releasing the consoles over the course of 30 minutes, to keep bots from buying them all and reselling them at a price increase. If you see everything is sold out after the first 5 minutes, keep refreshing because your chance probably isn’t gone yet.
- Have an account set-up and signed-in: The time it takes to enter your payment and shipping information can be the difference between getting your console and getting left in the dust. Avoid that delay by setting up an account on the websites you’ll be shopping on.
- Make sure you have a confirmation email: There have been many reports of a purchase getting “stuck” and even though the website said the sale was complete, no confirmation email arrived and then no Xbox arrived. Keep an eye out and make sure you actually have an Xbox Series X headed your way before celebrating.
How to avoid Xbox Series X scams
There are plenty of folks out there eager to take advantage of everyone trying to get an Xbox Series X. Here’s how to avoid the known scams:
- Stay away from Twitter links: If you see something on Twitter about an Xbox Series X restock happening somewhere, your best bet is to go straight to the retailer instead of clicking a link. In many cases, those Twitter links have turned out to be scams.
- Only buy at the retail price: If someone is offering you an Xbox Series X for more or less than $500 or an Xbox Series S for more or less than $300, you should probably stay away. There are many of these sites offering “deals” or “bundles” that are frequently not actually worth it.
The Halo Infinite edition
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Xbox’s original flagship series Halo, this year Microsoft released a special edition of the Series X console inspired by the series’ most recent title, Halo Infinite. The console was a limited edition and sold out quickly after it went on sale on Nov. 25. While all retailers currently list the console as out of stock, there is a possibility that there are still a few of them floating around out there. If you’re truly committed to getting your hands on a Series X (and don’t mind dropping an extra $50), it may be worth poking around for one. Read Jenae Sitzes and Oscar Gonzalez’s write-up on the special edition console here.
More on Xbox Series X
Xbox Series X: Check inventory restock
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. Bear in mind you may see higher prices from third-party resellers.
Best Buy was the last retailer standing back in the preorder days, but now stands ready for your Xbox Series X purchase as inventory allows.
This is Target’s product page for the Xbox Series X.
If you want to get the latest on the Xbox Series X, there’s probably nowhere better than Microsoft’s own Xbox Series X homepage. Here you’ll find the latest specs, announced game titles, details on the new controller and more.
Amazon is selling both the Xbox Series X and the less expensive Series S from this product page.
GameStop has in the past touted a “very limited number of Xbox Series X and S console bundles for purchase” but is currently sold out.
This is where you can purchase the Xbox Series X at Newegg when the retailer has inventory.
To be clear, we highly recommend waiting for inventory to appear at ordinary retailers, so you can buy an Xbox Series X at the regular retail price. But if you’ve decided you simply can’t wait another moment, the average Xbox Series X price on eBay is about $700.
Are you desperate by now? 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 upward of $700.
This story is updated frequently with the latest Xbox Series X inventory news.
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