The holidays are coming, and I know what you are thinking: one month is enough to track down all the gifts you need to buy. Especially in the era of Amazon one-day delivery, now is the best time to become a last-minute shopper. Of course, you can log in to your Best Buy account on December 15th, buy a PlayStation 5, and deliver it to the tree in time, right?

Trust me: If you want to spend a happy, stress-free vacation, you will want to get rid of this mentality as soon as possible. Getting a new video game console before December 25 this year will not be easy. In fact, you may be too late.

Video game consoles are currently a popular and hard-to-find commodity. There are several key reasons for this. First, the video game industry has seen a huge boom in 2020 as people turn to games to pass the time during the social isolation caused by Covid. As interest in the industry grew, game consoles like Nintendo Switch began to sell out. Although there will be a slowdown in 2021, the audience for games is now more than ever before, which means more people are trying to get consoles.

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S launched in November last year also caused this surge in popularity. Shiny new consoles are always exciting, so they are usually hard to get when they are released. As the scalpers swallowed game consoles and began to resell them at high prices, the scarcity crisis soon broke out. The retailer hasn't controlled this problem yet, and it is still raging today-even with new hardware like the Nintendo Switch OLED model.

The biggest problem exacerbates these two factors: the terrible shortage of chips. As you probably know by now, the critical components needed to power many electronic devices are currently in short supply-this supply chain problem is mainly caused by the pandemic. Unfortunately, these chips are critical to the creation of new game consoles, which has led to a significant decline in supply over the past year, and there is no end in sight.

All of these have created the perfect secret for disaster. Everyone wants a new console, but manufacturers can’t actually produce them fast enough. Even if they do, the scalpers will be able to swarm in and eat up the limited inventory around them. If you still cannot find a PS5 for your disappointed child, this is the reason.

There is no simple answer here. The first step is to simply recognize how serious the situation is. This is not a normal "hot holiday toy" situation, you only need to go to a few shops to find Tickle-Me-Elmo. Retailers’ supply decline is very limited, and no one can speed up the process.

Knowing this will help you act without hesitation after finding the console you want to buy. Teach yourself not to think twice. You will not find Xbox Series X at a lower price elsewhere. If you see it being sold on Best Buy’s website, you don’t have to think about whether it will appear on Amazon anytime soon. The moment you see one in the store or online, this is the prompt for you to jump.

This is particularly good advice for Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday. These dates may be the last time the retailer has inventory before the holidays. Except for some left-court drops in December, your window of success is closing. Don't think of it as an invitation to trample on other Walmart shoppers at dinner after Thanksgiving, but be prepared to add it to your shopping cart the moment you see it in the wild.

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