Covid-19 and one major supply issue has made some consumer electronics a lot harder to get a hold of these days. 

The new Playstation and Xbox consoles have been out of stock for months and getting them has not gotten any easier. This is due to a severe computer chip shortage that is not only affecting smaller electronics sales but is also causing a slowdown in the production of bigger times such as cars.

Some graphics cards prices have grown from $200 to $800. In turn some people are selling these electronics for two-to-three times the retail price. 

If you want the best chance of actually getting a highly valued electronic product for the retail price, then online restocks may be the way to go.

The store in this guide will be Best Buy because it is a well known store and has a very high success rate of getting something from one of their restocks. 

Step 1: Creating an account

The first step will be to go to the Best Buy website and either create an account or sign in with an existing account by clicking on the account section. Make sure that you add both an email and, if possible, a phone number. This is necessary because once you get to the checkout with a high value item, you will need to use one of these methods to get a special code that you enter to complete the checkout.

Step 2: additional account details

Next you will want to make sure you save all of your shipping information and credit card info onto your account which can also be done from the account tab. This will make checkout much simpler since you won’t have to enter everything in and it will automatically be selected. Once you get something in your cart, time is crucial since having something in your cart does not mean that you will be able to buy it, so you need to check out as fast as possible.

Step 3: Finding a restock

Now that you have your account all set up, you just need to wait for a restock. Best Buy does not announce their restocks so it is all up to dedication and luck. Best Buy has a history of doing restocks on one of three main days. The most popular day for Best Buy restocks are Thursdays between 11:45 a.m. and 1 p.m. with the restocks sometimes extending after 1 p.m.. The restocks are usually consistent and almost always happen within that time frame. The restocks also tend to occur on Tuesdays with an occasional restock on Fridays. Another thing to note is that the restocks also almost happen every two weeks and never happen on weekends. If you don’t get anything from a restock, you’ll probably wait another two weeks to try your luck again.

Step 4: What to do on restock day

Once you have finally found when a restock is happening, there are a couple more important details to consider. When you search the product and click on it,  it will show “sold out” or “coming soon” in a grey box. Don’t give up there. Keep refreshing every couple of minutes until the box turns yellow and says “add to cart”. Click “add to cart”. It will say “please wait” and instructions will appear on the screen. After about 5-15 minutes, it will turn yellow again and you have to click “add to cart” again. This is the moment of truth. It will either add it to the cart or it will turn grey rendering it “sold out” once again. 

Step 5 a: What to do if it says “sold out” again

If you get a notice saying the product is in high demand or if it says the product is sold out, then your chances for getting something is over for the moment. You can search for the product again and keep refreshing, but if it is after 1:30 p.m., then the chances of the product going in stock again is very slim. If it is before 1:30 p.m., however, you still have a high chance of getting one because they do staggered restocks approximately every 20 minutes from the start of the restock. However the restock usually ends before 1:30 p.m., so if it is too late you need to try again another week. 

Step 5 b: What to do if it adds your product to your cart

If the product was added to your cart, move quickly. Best Buy does not save the product for people who have it in their cart, so it is first come first serve. If you followed step two, you will be able to quickly check out since you don’t need to type everything in. It may prompt you to do a verification using your email or phone number. If you have a phone number attached, choose that since it will be faster than email. You will get a text with a code. All you need to do from that point is enter that code and you will be able to finish your checkout. If the checkout is successful you will soon get an email with an order confirmation and estimated pickup date. High value items ship to the closest store where you will pick it up. Pickup instructions will be explained in the subsequent emails from Best Buy. 

Getting one of these products may seem hard but with enough dedication and hard work you will be able to get one of these rare products.