If you want to give yourself or others a PS5 for Christmas, you will find several tips in this article on how you can safely get your hands on the coveted console by then.
It has been two years since the PS5 was officially released on November 19, 2020, and Sony’s new console is still not available on the shelves of electronics stores. The demand clearly still exceeds the supply.
Releases of major AAA games such as God of War: Ragnarök, FIFA 23, and CoD: Modern Warfare 2 only increase interest in the PS5 even more.
We have summarized the points on how you can still have a PS5 under the Christmas tree in time for the gift-giving:
PS5 on eBay
What do you need to know about buying a PS5 on eBay? The easiest and fastest way to get a PS5 is certainly to buy a (used) console on eBay. Besides the fact that you can never be entirely sure if the console or the controller is functioning perfectly when purchasing used devices, there is another reason why we would advise against this method: the prices.
Most vendors offering the PlayStation 5 on eBay charge a premium of €200. Ultimately, you will have to decide for yourself whether you want to pay 1.5 times Sony’s MSRP for the console.
However, Sony has already announced that they want to significantly ramp up their production – a fact that is already noticeable here in the country – so we are confident that with a little patience, you will also be a happy owner of a PS5 at the original price.
Sony announced a few weeks ago that they want to significantly increase production so that people can game during the holiday season. How the company plans to achieve this can be read here:
The Classic: Order PS5 Online During a Drop
What are PS5 drops? Even two years after its launch, the PS5 is still primarily sold through “drops.” Here, the PS5 allocations received by retailers are released in their respective online shops without prior notice. The sales events go on until the stock is sold out.
However, since it is usually not known in advance how many PlayStation 5 units will be sold, drops are unfortunately a somewhat unreliable way to get a PS5. Additionally, there are still a lot of scalpers who have made a lucrative business model out of buying up consoles in bulk.
Moreover, there are often several weeks of complete silence between individual drops as retailers have to wait until they are supplied with new allocations again.
The best tip we can give you to succeed during drops is to regularly check our PS5 ticker.
In the past two years, we have enabled countless readers to purchase the console this way. Our ticker keeps you updated on a daily basis and provides detailed information about facts, speculations, and rumors regarding upcoming drops. By keeping an eye on our live ticker, you decrease the chance of missing sales events for the popular consoles.
Buy PS5 at Sony’s Own Store PlayStation Direct
What is PlayStation Direct? Exactly one year ago, PlayStation Direct also launched in Germany. In the USA, Sony’s own store has been around for a bit longer. In the online shop, Sony primarily sells games, accessories such as colored side plates and controllers, and, of course, the PS5.
At the launch of the homepage a year ago, there were initially some technical problems and the payment process often did not run smoothly. Additionally, long-time PSN customers were usually granted the right to purchase a PS5 and were notified in advance via email. After an exclusive sale, public sales were rarely held.
However, this has changed. PlayStation Direct has established itself as a reliable online shop that sells the PS5 at pretty regular intervals. Typically, multiple bundles are offered, as well as both “naked” versions of the console – with and without a disc drive.
There was also such a factory sale for Black Friday, where multiple bundles were offered.
Pre-order PS5 in Retail and Waiting Lists
Is the PS5 even available in retail? Not a few electronics stores now offer you the option to get on a waiting list for the PS5. You will likely have the most success with Expert and GameStop, as they both have long ago discontinued sales online and are now fully focused on retail.
However, some Media Markt and Saturn branches also now offer you the opportunity to pre-order the coveted console with a down payment of 100 euros.
As retailers rarely announce or heavily advertise such sales events, we recommend that you inquire directly at your trusted store. In the past, personal inquiries in the store and contact via email have proved to be the most effective. We advise against phone inquiries since you will most often end up in a central call center anyway.
More news and useful information about the PS5:
Buy PS5 with a Tariff Bundle
What do you need to know about PS5 tariff bundles? Various companies repeatedly offer the PS5 in a bundle with a tariff contract. Two deals that become available on a regular basis are:
Consider carefully whether the tariffs and conditions make sense for you. However, if you decide to take out a contract and pay the deposit in November, it should work out with the PS5 for Christmas.
The PS5 has a whole range of shortcuts that can significantly enhance your user experience. You can read about how to navigate the console menus significantly faster as a future PS5 owner in this article:
PS5: 10 practical tips and shortcuts that everyone should know
