The PlayStation 5 has been incredibly difficult to find in stock anywhere. When it has been in stock it has only been in stock for seconds or at most a few minutes. Though some retailers have released stock in waves, so stock can seem to last longer than a few minutes.
While it might seem like the simplest of tasks to just click the “Add to Cart” button, with an item as in demand and as short of supply as the PS5 just getting the PS5 in your online shopping cart can seem near impossible.
If you get the PS5 in your cart, but can’t check out make sure to keep the PS5 in your cart for the next restock. If you do this, you should be able to just checkout when that particular website restocks the PS5. Though, some websites might remove the PS5 from your cart before the next restock.
Some retailers have implemented bot protection that require you to wait before clicking the Add to Cart button again. While others you just have to keep spamming the AtC button.
Here is a list of major US retailers that frequently restock the PS5 with detailed instructions on how to get the PS5 Added to Cart. (This is based on information learned as a customer trying to purchase a PS5. If you have any questions about adding items to cart or ordering any products like the PS5 you should contact that retailer’s customer service.)
Amazon’s Add to Cart system for the PS5
Amazon has a normal Add to Cart system in that you usually just have to click Add to Cart. If you get the error page just click back on your browser and try clicking the Add to Cart button again.
Best Buy’s Add to Cart system for the PS5
Best Buy has implement bot protection for their Add to Cart system. The first time you click their yellow Add to Cart button it turns gray and a message pops up explaining how it works. This is basically what the message says:
Every few minutes, they release more inventory. After more inventory is release the button turns back to yellow, unless the PS5 is out of stock. If it does turn back to yellow, try adding to cart again. If that works, checkout as fast as you can.
A red outlined box will popup at the top of the page that says they are requiring one more step before you can checkout. This confuses many people as Best Buy does not mention what the extra step is. It seems the one more step is to just wait and try again or it is referring to the checkout process which is explained below.
Best Buy also will send a verification code to your email before you can checkout, so make sure to have your email open.
GameStop’s Add to Cart system for the PS5
GameStop has also implemented bot protection for their Add to Cart system. Once you click the button it will turn gray and a message will popup that says:
“Please try again in few minutes.. we will keep adding inventory”
When the Add to Cart button (sometimes a Pre-order button) turns gray, you have to refresh the page to get the button to turn back to red and click again. But be careful not to refresh too quickly and too often as GameStop will think your a bot if you refresh too much.
Target’s Add to Cart system for the PS5
Target has a normal Add to Cart system for the PS5, but they usually do local store pickup so you are only competing with people in you local area. If the PS5 sells out at your closest or preferred Target store you can try to get one at another Target store, but it might require a long drive to pick it up.
Walmart’s Add to Cart system for the PS5
Walmart has a somewhat normal Add to Cart system for the PS5, but they often add stock in multiple waves. Walmart will often announce their restock times of the PS5 ahead of time by adding the date and time of the next restock where the Add to Cart button would normally be, but they only do this about an hour before the next restock. So when the time comes for Walmart’s next PS5 restock, you have to refresh the page to get the Add to Cart button.
When you do get the Add to Cart button to come up, you’ll have to spam it. Even if the message pops up about it being out of stock, you should keep trying.
If Walmart announces another wave and you still have the Add to Cart button on the PS5 page do not refresh as you can start spamming it again when they restock for the next wave without having to refresh to get the button.