Getting your hands on a next-gen PlayStation 5 console in Australia right now seems to be virtually impossible. When it first dropped at the start of November, physical and online retailers almost instantly sold out with the console selling more copies in the first 12 hours than the PS4 did in 12 weeks. This stock tracker tells us that the digital edition on Amazon sold out in just 17 minutes.
The whole process has been a mess from start to finish and recent updates suggest Aus won’t be getting any new stock before 2021.
We want to thank gamers everywhere for making the PS5 launch our biggest console launch ever. Demand for PS5 is unprecedented, so we wanted to confirm that more PS5 inventory will be coming to retailers before the end of the year – please stay in touch with your local retailers.
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) November 25, 2020
The preorders list went live at the start of September with a slightly confusing tweet from PlayStation and site crashes, page time outs, and users being blocked were the norm while sites had stock.
If you are looking to try and do the unthinkable and actually play your very own PlayStation 5 any time soon, this is the best way you’re going to be able to get one.
Don’t Buy Second Hand
First and foremost, buying second hand is just not worth it. No matter how much you want a PlayStation, don’t give into the extortionately high prices resellers are charging now. We found one going on Gumtree for $2500, more than three times the retail price for a disc edition PS5.
Many of these people actually don’t have a product to sell you and there are accusations of scammers flying about all over the internet. An empty box packed with something weighty is likely all you’re going to get.
Buying from these people only encourages bots and scammers to continue rigging the system so don’t give them the satisfaction.
If you decide you have to get one second hand and it seems legit, meet in person in a public space, bring at least one friend with you, and pay with a bank cheque or PayPal so you can reverse the transaction if your console turns out to be fake or broken.
Sign Up to All the Notifications
Over in the US, where the PlayStation 5 roll out is just as much of a cluster f–k, accounts like Wario64, PS5StockUpdates, and SpielTimes are regularly posting updates on stock movements across the big stores in the US.
Here in Aus, we’re slightly more limited in obsessive coverage of this, so the best way to see what’s happening is to sign up to every retailer’s email notifications.
Sony have an updates email list that should let us all know as soon as they have any more news so this would be your first go to.
Other retailers that will have stock at some point are JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Big W, Amazon, eBay, EB Games, Dick Smith, MightyApe, 365Games, OzGameShop, Kogan, Catch, and Target. All of these have mailing lists worth signing up to as well as social media to follow which will definitely be the first place new stock is announced.
How to Win at PlayStation
The Sony website is still where the biggest updates will be coming and, as soon as stock does come online, you’ll want to make sure your spot is secure so you can actually get through the queue to obtain one.
First up, camping on the site is a good way to get yourself booted off. Sitting on the page and constantly refreshing is going to get your IP address flagged as a bot which may see you banned from the page as PlayStation is going to some lengths to combat scammers – though evidently they didn’t go far enough.
Use incognito mode when on the site as it will then treat you as a new user and won’t be able to pin any cookies or data to your browser which may help in not getting kicked out.
Use multiple devices to log onto the site, preferably with different network connections. If you can rope your friends/family/housemates into the chaos, have each of them open the site on a different laptop and mobile using different data connections to maximise your chance of getting on.
Make sure to have all of your payment details saved to your PlayStation account so that when you do secure a console, you don’t waste precious seconds putting your info in and potentially losing the console.
Disc versions of the console appear to be in greater supply so if you’re faced with the choice, it might be more sensible to grab one of those as you’re more likely to get it. The disc console is more expensive though so be prepared for that.
Finally, make sure to call your bank and let them know of your plans. There have been reports of people losing their console since their bank flagged an unexpected and large transfer of funds as suspicious and blocked it. Ensure your payment limits are big enough to stretch for postage and any accessories you want to buy.
Patience You Must Have
At the end of the day, it looks like we might all just have to wait a while until Sony finally gets some stock over to us. Kotaku have been in touch with the company who confirmed all stock orders are already fulfilled for Australia and more won’t be shipped until next year. When that does happen, you’ll be in the best position to nab a PS5 using this guide but you may just have to resign yourself to the fact that that may not happen for some time.