PS5 restock in the US: Best Buy, Amazon and Walmart – when to buy it for $499

PS5 restock Best Buy
(Image credit: Future)

This is how to buy the Sony console from more than a dozen stores in the US. When will PS5 be in stock next? Besides the Amazon PS5 restock today, there are several PS5 Disc and PS5 Digital bundles as part of the Newegg Shuffle today, while we're due for a Walmart PS5 restock tomorrow. Here's the latest PS5 restock news.

Amazon PS5 restock: PS5 Disc on sale in the US

Amazon in the US had the PS5 for sale today – just the Disc version today – for the normal price of $499. So far, we haven't seen PS5 Digital ins tock for the $399 MSRP just yet. The Amazon PS5 restock usually occurs once per month, and the last time we saw it in stock from the online retailer was Amazon Prime Day in late June.

Best Buy PS5 restock: this week or a break?

The Best Buy PS5 restock has become hard to nail down in the second half of 2021 simply because the retailer is constantly switching up the times, likely in an effort to fool persistewnt resellers. Not that it matters – bots are still able to get the console, according to our investigations of the PS5 resell market and it's made buying the PS5 in some of the most popular cities in the US, like New York, nearly impossible.

Doing in-store Best Buy restock isn't the answer it seems. There was a Best Buy in-store RTX GPU stock today, July 20, and it was pure chaos. We don't expect any of the Best Buy stores to sell consoles. So far in 2021, it's always been 'buy online and pick-up in-stores' roughly 3-5 days later (they're held at regional warehouses and shipped to individual stores throughout the week).

Sony Direct PS5 restock sold out in 35 minutes

  • Sony Direct PS5 restock date and time for everyone: July 19 at 5:05pm EDT
  • Sony Direct PS5 restock – if you had the email invite: July 19 at 3pm EDT

Sony Direct randomizes who will get through the waiting process, though our expert advice always suggests using multiple devices to increase your chances. Both PS5 Disc at $499 MSRP and the PS5 Digital at the slightly cheaper price of $399 were on sale today, but, as always, PS5 Digital Edition went out of stock first, a few minutes before PS5 Disc sold out.

The restock time was at 5:05pm EDT, which is in line with when Sony Direct does a virtual queue for everyone. Two hours before that time, at 3pm EDT, there was a separate smaller Sony Direct virtual queue for people who got a special email invite ahead of time (about 40 hours in advance). 

According to our exclusive reporting, not everyone from the invite-only virtual queue was able to buy the console, which is extremely rare, especially when Sony Direct opens up orders to everyone else.


Walmart PS5 restock

  • Next Walmart PS5 restock date: could be Thursday, July 22 at 3pm EDT
  • Consistent restock pattern: Almost always a Thursday – but not every Thursday
  • Last minor Walmart PS5 restock date: Thursday, July 1 at 3pm EDT
  • Last major Walmart PS5 restock date: Thursday, June 17 at 3pm EDT

The Walmart PS5 restock is five weeks in the making if it happens this week, and we expect to see orders open through the largest US retailer on Thursday at 3pm EDT – again if it happens. Walmart has hardly ever deviated from that restock time in 2021.

Why are we confident a Walmart PS5 restock is due? Because while Walmart takes a long time to ship consoles, almost all of the customers from one month ago do now have the PS5 Disc in their hands. That's a good sign that Walmart is ready to have PS5 for sale and Thursday, July 22 is the day we're eying the most.

GameStop PS5 restock: every 10 to 15 days (it's been 3)

  • Next GameStop PS5 restock date: Likely late this week or next week
  • Last GameStop PS5 restock date: Thursday, July 16 at 11am EDT

The GameStop PS5 restock date is every seven and 15 days, and so far it's been just five days since the game retailer has had the PS5 in stock in the US. Buyers of the last restock on Thursday, July 16 are just now getting their PS5 console orders in the mail. GameStop is one to hold out for because it offers bundles; this turns off resellers who can't easily profit off readily available games and accessories, and that's a good thing for real gamers who are still on the hunt for a PS5 console. GameStop is also limiting early access to its PS5 restock events to its Power Rewards Pro members, which costs $15 a year, further thinning out the heard.

Going by that time table, the next PS5 restock at GameStop should be late this week (from Wednesday to Friday) or early the week after (Monday to Wednesday), if the US game retailer sticks to its usual pattern that's been used for much of 2021. 


PS5 restock at other stores in the US

The PS5 restock dates are never set is stone, even when our sources tell us there's a restock planned or not planned, the person in charge of the add-to-cart button at a much higher level has the final say. That said, we never know when another store may have an unexpected PS5 restock. 

GameStop usually does every seven to 15 days (it's been six days so far), and Costco is (mostly) unpredictable for us outside of a few times in which inside sources gave us a heads-up. That means it's critical to pay special attention to our PS5 restock alerts on Twitter so that you can finally buy and own the Sony console.

Matt Swider