Advice for Buying Something Hard to Find

[Ikoma]

I thought about putting this into Video Games but ultimately it's a broader topic. With potentially wider advice. So... it goes into General.

I've decided I am ready to get a Series X Xbox. After two plus months, I am satisfied there is no 'Red Ring of Death' situation going on. I have the cash. (Of course, I can use a card as well.) But I need to *find* one. And that's where I could use the advice/suggestions/tips.

I'm in no *rush* to get one. So I'm not going to pay a premium by buying from a reseller or something like that. But I would like a way to keep an eye out so I can buy one as soon as they start to come back into stock. Do any of you have tricks or tips for how to keep an eye out to buy something like this? Some kind of tech solution that emails or texts me when they get in stock? Do some retailers do that kind of thing? Just looking for input...

[BottledViolence]

Does Brickseek have something like that?

[McNutcase]

I'm pretty sure Amazon does something like that, Best Buy probably would as well. For something like this, you want either big box where they have the infrastructure to do automated notifications, or local small business where you can say to the owner "tip me off when they come in and I'll bring some really good cookies when I come to pick it up".

[Ikoma]

So I did some digging last night and found some options. Posting here in case anyone else has a similar problem. But first, responses...

Normally, Amazon does allow this kind of thing. And for most things, I would probably stick with that. But for some reason, they are not giving alerts for when a next gen console (Microsoft -or- Sony) will be back in stock. <shrug> So I cannot rely on that. Plus, it stands to reason that a wider net stands a better chance of netting a positive result.

Brickseek does look pretty cool and does have a 'Deal Finder' but just 'back in stock' isn't a deal. And it looks like you have to pay for a premium membership to get stuff like local alert. If I'm not willing to pay the scalper premium, I'm not willing to pay for a premium deal tracker.

But I *did* find two options... Zoolert.com and Popcart.com. Both are free. Both let you set an alert to be notified (in slightly different ways) when a product is back in stock (or has hit a specific deal). Zoolert will send you an email and/or a text. Popcart is a browser extension that will send you an email and/or notify you with a browser popup. Both seem to have good privacy protection policies (but I am no expert in that, so check for yourself) and only asked me for information that seemed relevant - like my email address and zip code (so they can check my local stores as well). If anything comes of it AND I remember, I'll return and report on how well they worked.

[BottledViolence]

Sometimes the big box stores delay updating the online quantities available to keep scalpers from buying them up. Not sure if that currently applies to these consoles.

[Ikoma]

Sometimes the big box stores delay updating the online quantities available to keep scalpers from buying them up. Not sure if that currently applies to these consoles.

It probably will. Which, I'll deal with it. Like I said in the first post, I am not in a rush. I wasn't when the consoles first came out and I'm not gonna start banging down doors now. If it takes me four months or more, so be it.

[Chad]

Honestly I would wait until spring. Supply lines are backed up, scalpers are in high gear, and it looks like Xbox, PS, and PC GPUs and CPUs had paper launches. I'm hoping things loosen up, both Skye and Dawn 'need' new computers.

[Ikoma]

I think that ultimately, it will take until spring since I am unwilling to spring for scalpers pricing. Just figuring out the easiest, low-effort way to keep my ear to the ground and increase the odds/speed up the process.

[BottledViolence]

Honestly I would wait until spring. Supply lines are backed up, scalpers are in high gear, and it looks like Xbox, PS, and PC GPUs and CPUs had paper launches. I'm hoping things loosen up, both Skye and Dawn 'need' new computers.

I've been planning on rebuilding mine for a while, but it seems like things keep pushing it back. I'm not mad, the one I have now keeps doing surprisingly well so I'm not really missing out on any games.

[John]

Yeah it's a good moment to be a patient gamer.

I curse the unavailability of top hardware but thank the dark gods that I can run everything on high with 5 year old hardware (so long as I keep it off 4K or VR). Not a luxury we would have enjoyed with 5 year old Voodoo3 rigs.