Xbox Series X restock tracker: Our best tips to get your hands on a console

Getting your hands on a Xbox Series X this vacation season has been frustrating, no doubt, but do n’t throw in the towel quite so far. As we get cheeseparing and dear to Christmas dawn, we ‘re seeing more restocks than usual, including three drops this past week alone. While there ‘s no restocks formally on the books for future week, that does n’t mean we wo n’t see some surprise handiness. Take a look at our best tips, tricks, and pieces of advice to make sure you do n’t miss your chance to grab one of these next-gen consoles. here are some quick tips for catching a storm Xbox restock :

Timing: Unannounced restocks typically happen after 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) unless they come from Target, which tends to drop them before 6 a.m. PT (9 a.m. ET).
Walmart, GameStop and Best Buy have membership subscriptions that frequently offer early access to restocks, but they’re not always required. Even if you don’t pay for early access, you should still create an account with these retailers for faster checkout.
Install the app for your preferred retailer — they’re often faster to use than the websites — but it’s better to use both.

Want to know how to better your chances of getting a comfort ? here ‘s what we ‘ve got.

Reading: Xbox Series X restock tracker: Our best tips to get your hands on a console

Why is the Xbox tough to find?

basically, Microsoft has n’t been able to get the materials it needs to make enough Xbox consoles to meet demand. As with the PlayStation 5 and most PC video cards, there ‘s a nick deficit right now that is slowing issue. The pandemic involve output for a batch of chip manufacturers, and diligence watchers presently do n’t expect the consequence to be entirely resolved until the end of the year. As a result, Microsoft makes american samoa many consoles as it can and distributes them among its retail partners. Each retailer releases its available consoles in whatever way it deems allow. Most of the time, this means announcing ahead of time when you ‘ll be able to buy the console on-line and then releasing it for anyone to buy. Check out this full breakdown on the chip dearth by CNET ‘s Stephen Shankland for more details .

Where has the Xbox been recently?

We keep path of every console restock, and maintain this list here of the most likely places you ‘ll find a console vitamin a well as when it was last in stock there .

GameStop: Oct. 14
Target: Dec. 2
Amazon: Nov. 21
Walmart: Nov. 22, 29, Dec. 8
Best Buy: Dec. 6, 9
Antonline: Nov. 23, 29

xbox series x console Andrew Hoyle/CNET

How can I improve my chances of getting an Xbox Series X?

It can be a little chaotic, constantly refreshing the screen and hop to see a checkout yoke. And as many can attest, it ‘s pretty atrocious to punch in your requital information only to see that the purchase ca n’t be completed because all the consoles are already gone. hera 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.

Is it safe to buy an Xbox from an unofficial source?

There are some places you can safely buy an Xbox secondhand. If you ‘re shopping at eBay or StockX, there are protections in identify to keep you from spending money and getting nothing. discriminate from this, there are plenty of folks out there eager to take advantage of everyone trying to get an Xbox Series X. hera ‘s how to avoid the sleep together 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 twentieth anniversary of Xbox ‘s original flagship series Halo, this year Microsoft released a special edition of the Series X comfort inspired by the series ‘ most late claim, Halo Infinite. The console table was a limited edition and sold out promptly. While all retailers presently list the comfort as out of broth, there is a possibility that there are even a few of them floating approximately out there. If you ‘re in truth committed to getting your hands on a Series X ( and do n’t mind dropping an extra $ 50 ), it may be worth poking around for one. Read more on the particular edition Halo Infinite console table here.

Xbox Series X: Check inventory restock

Walmart does a solid job of noting handiness windows for PS5 and Xbox on its Twitter feed. You might besides want to visit the retailer ‘s Xbox down page for both new consoles. Bear in mind you may see higher prices from third-party resellers .

Best bargain was the last retailer standing back in the preorder days, but now stands cook 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 credibly nowhere better than Microsoft ‘s own Xbox Series X home page. hera you ‘ll find the latest spectacles, announced game titles, details on the modern accountant 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 express phone number of Xbox Series X and S console bundles for buy ” but is presently sold out .

This is where you can buy the Xbox Series X at Newegg when the retailer has inventory .

To be clear, we highly recommend waiting for stock to appear at ordinary retailers, so you can buy an Xbox Series X at the regular retail price. But if you ‘ve decided you plainly ca n’t wait another moment, the average Xbox Series X price on eBay is about $ 800 .

Are you desperate by now ? Are you will to pay a agio of hundreds of dollars over the number price ? Listen, we would n’t do this and we do n’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 — arsenic long as you ‘re bequeath to pay upward of $ 700 .

This report is updated frequently with the latest Xbox Series X inventory news .