Refresh
Amazon might already be struggling
I’ve just refreshed that Amazon UK listing after my fellow hardware editors were unable to get through to the live product. It seems that the console is currently jumping on and off Amazon’s shelves. I would keep that refresh button hot – we don’t know where the retailer is going with this yet, and things could level out in a few minutes.
And here’s the big one – Amazon has just launched pre-orders
You can now pre-order the PS5 Slim 30th Anniversary Edition at Amazon UK, with the retailer posting its stock mere seconds ago. I refreshed onto this live listing, so we’re still in the early stages of this particular stock drop.
Stock Alert! PS5 30th Anniversary Edition in stock at Game
Game has just listed more PS5 30th Anniversary Edition pre-orders in the UK, with the console available on the shelves right now. You’ll be paying a fiver for delivery here.
Stock Alert! The 30th Anniversary DualSense controller is back
You already get a 30th Anniversary Edition DualSense controller when you pre-order the PS5 Slim, but if you’re after an extra Very has your back right now. This is going to move fast, though.
We could see some big things in three minutes
We’re about to hit 10am in the UK – a golden hour for pre-orders. This is typically when I see most retailers launching difficult to find stock, so I’d recommend refreshing the links above regularly over the next few minutes. Argos is already live, but check in with Very (where an ‘unavailable’ listing page appeared within the last half hour and Amazon (where we often see sneaky stock drops without warning).
PSA: The PS5 disc drive is still in stock at Best Buy
The PS5 disc drive has been difficult to get your hands on at the best of times, but it’s actually in stock for pre-order day today. Best Buy has the $79.99 add-on live on the shelves right now (you’ll need it to play any physical games on your special edition console).
Very is sending me mixed messages
It looks like Very is gearing up to make some magic happen. The listing page for the 30th Anniversary PS5 Slim now has an ‘Add to Basket’ option, but is also listed an unavailable. I’ve just tried to brute force my way to checkout and it looks like the console isn’t even going into the cart. This is certainly one to watch right now, though, as movements like this generally mean stock is getting ready to launch.
When is the PS5 Slim 30th Anniversary Edition release date?
If you’ve just secured your pre-order at either Target or Argos, you might be wondering when you can expect that box of retro goodness to turn up at your door. The official release date is November 21, but whether your system arrives then is down to the store you choose.
Right now, Target is stating that delivery will take place “on or shortly after release date”, while Argos is committing to your console turning up right on the launch day.
Amazon UK has finally launched a listing page
Amazon has just dropped its listing page for the 30th Anniversary PS5 console, so it’s well worth keeping a close eye on this retailer over the next hour or so. The online giant typically only launches these kinds of pages when it’s nearly ready to unleash its stock, so keep refreshing for a shot at an early win.
Currys now has the PS5 Pro in stock
If you’re on the hunt for the full-fat Pro console, I’d recommend heading over to Currys, the retailer just launched its own pre-orders after Argos took to the stage first this morning. It’s a little pricier than the 30th Anniversary PS5 Slim and there isn’t a hint of that classic gray.
PS5 Pro | £699.99 at Currys
PSA: A Walmart Plus free trial won’t grant you early access to pre-orders
I’ve mentioned this a little earlier in the afternoon, but it’s worth noting that – while Walmart Plus members can get early access to PS5 Slim pre-orders tomorrow – you’ll need to be a full paying member to qualify. That means you can’t simply hop onto the service’s 30 day free trial and join the queue.
Target is still holding out strong in the US
It might be the early hour, and it might be the fact that Target stayed off the radar in the lead up to today’s PS5 30th Anniversary pre-orders, but the special edition console has now lasted half an hour on these shelves. That’s not to say this isn’t going to be a mad dash later in the day, but it certainly bodes well that the store has enough stock to sustain these early pre-order hunters.
Trouble at Argos?
Some UK stock hunters on X are reporting that their orders are being placed at Argos, but they’re not receiving confirmations. Keep an eye on those inboxes!
Incidentally, if you’re in the UK…
Argos has also launched its PS5 Pro pre-orders this morning, being the first retailer in the UK to do so. That means you can grab your £699.99 console, though this stock is expected to last much longer – it never even sold out from Sony’s first initial wave.
PS5 Pro | £699.99 at Argos
And Argos is now live in the UK
Argos is the first retailer to offer PS5 30th Anniversary console pre-orders this morning in the UK, as it’s just listed the £429.99 bundle on its shelves. I’m expecting stock to move fast across the web here, so I wouldn’t skip this early chance to secure your console
PS5 Slim 30th Anniversary Edition | £429.99 at Argos
And we’re live! Target now has the PS5 Slim 30th Anniversary in stock
Target has just dropped the first wave of stock in the US, so head over quick to grab yours in these early hours. I wasn’t expecting to be talking US retailers so soon, but I’ll certainly take it.
PS5 Slim 30th Anniversary Edition | $499.99 at Target
Will there be any midnight stock?
There’s always a lingering fear that retailers will launch their pre-order stock as soon as the clock strikes 12. While it might be worth sticking around until midnight officially rolls around (I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some early stock drops), the real hunt will begin in the morning. If you’re up to it, it’s always worth checking with retailers while the clock is chiming – I pre-ordered my own PS5 when a local retailer opened their doors unexpectedly (pretty much as soon as Geoff Keighley tweeted the details). If you’re not a night owl, though, don’t worry there will be more chances to buy the 30th Anniversary PS5 Slim throughout the course of the day.
What else is on sale tomorrow?
There’s actually a whole roster of peripherals taking on PlayStation’s retro theming for its anniversary – and hopefully they will all be taking to the shelves tomorrow. Like the PS5 Slim, the DualSense Edge controller and PlayStation Portal were Sony exclusives when they first went up for pre-order last month but will be back on the shelves this week. You’ll find a full price list below:
When will 30th Anniversary PS5 Slim pre-orders go live?
That we can’t quite say. The only retailer to have listed a start time for their stock drop is Walmart, and that’s an early doors offer for its Walmart Plus members at 10am ET. However, we do know that Sony’s own pre-orders went live at 10am ET and 8am BST back in September, so I would expect a similar turnaround this time.
That’s not to say you should rock up at 10am / 8am on the dot. In fact, I would recommend loading up your pages around an hour to two hours in advance – just to make sure you’ve got a good base to work with when refreshing. When the clock strikes there’s going to be a sudden surge of interest, one that has brought sites completely down in the past. You want to be in the best possible position to break through the gates.
Getting prepped: save your payment information
I was talking a little earlier about how important it is to sail through checkout. Another way you can get your cart through as quickly as possible is by saving your payment information ahead of time. There’s nothing worse than reading off the back of a card when the clock is ticking, but most retailers will allow you to get all your info written in beforehand.
What’s included in the PS5 Slim bundle?
If you’re grabbing a new console tomorrow, you’ll be glad to know it’s not just the device itself you’re buying. The special edition PS5 Slim comes with a whole host of extras, including the retro DualSense. The full list is below:
- PS5 Digital Edition console
- DualSense controller
- Disc drive console cover
- Vertical stand
- Retro cable connector housing
- PlayStation shapes cable ties
- Sticker
- Poster
- Paperclip
Personally, it’s the paperclip that’s doing it for me.
Getting prepped: Sign into your accounts
I mentioned this a little earlier for Best Buy and Walmart Plus customers, but it’s well worth signing into accounts for all your usual retailers – or even creating one for stores you don’t visit too often. Not only are you covered for any last-minute account requirements tomorrow, but you’ll also be able to head through checkout much quicker. Believe it or not, fast-moving items aren’t yours until your payment page is finished – things can still jump out of your cart during that rush through checkout. Anything you can do to speed up that process is going to work heavily your favor.
I’m not surprised Amazon hasn’t got a listing page yet
It’s very typical of the retailer, and by no means a reason to discount it as a viable stock option. Even during last month’s drop of the DualSense controller, Amazon seemed to take everyone by surprise in actually offering the gamepad. While I do recall a listing page being available for the original PS5 console during the early days of stock hunting, it only appeared once the first wave of stock had been supplied. That’s all to say, keep a close eye here over the next 24 hours, things can spring out of nowhere in Bezos land.
UK pre-order hunters: don’t ignore Argos!
It’s not normally at the top of my list when looking for deals, but Argos really can come in handy if you’re stock hunting. That’s because the retailer organizes its supply based on your post code, so you’ve got a much smaller pool of competitors snapping up stock. Load up your information ahead of time so that you can quickly see availability in your local area when the time comes tomorrow.
PSA: I would buy the PS5 disc drive well ahead of tomorrow
Best Buy currently has the $79.99 PS5 disc drive in stock and on the shelves. That’s a rarity in itself, but it’s going to be even harder to find when tomorrow’s pre-orders drop. If you’re locked into picking up the 30th Anniversary console tomorrow and you want to play physical games, I’d recommend grabbing this one ahead of time. I’m not confident this supply will last until tomorrow morning, let alone once everyone’s on the hunt for one.
How much is the 30th Anniversary PS5 Slim?
Before we get into the madness of stock hunting, it’s well worth covering the actual price of the PS5 Slim bundle – not least because resellers are going to move quickly and could well be asking for well over MSRP. The full bundle costs $499.99 / £439.99 – an extra $50 / £50 compared to the standard $449.99 / £389.99 price of the Digital console.
PSA: I think Target has removed its listing
I was previously seeing a live listing page for the 30th Anniversary console at Target, but it seems to have vanished off the face of the web. It’s also no longer appearing in Google’s own Shopping results, which is certainly fishy. The special edition console was previously accessible (though obviously not order-able) via a simple search page, but now Target seems to be prioritizing the standard edition console. I’ll keep searching and keep you updated.
I’ve just had a scout for more retailers and noticed something concerning
There are already a lot of reseller listings for the 30th Anniversary Collection. I’m not just talking the PS5 Pro bundles that sold out in seconds two weeks ago, but everything down to the DualSense controller. I hope it goes without saying, but it’s not worth diving into these listings. You don’t need to spend $140 on a limited edition controller when more stock will likely hit the shelves tomorrow, and the PS5 Slim hasn’t even seen its wider release yet.
What about UK shoppers?
If you’re in the UK, I’d recommend checking out two retailers first and foremost; Amazon and Very.
Very is actually often one of the fastest shops out the gate when it comes to pre-orders. I found the PS5 in stock incredibly frequently here when the console first launched – and even started using the site as a benchmark as to whether other stores were going to drop their own stock soon. What’s more, this is a fantastic way to get around resellers. If you’ve got a little extra cash to spend I often see Very offering bundles. There’s no cash off the accessories included, but the higher price keeps resellers away and means those units hold their positions on the shelves a lot longer.
Amazon is my second pick right now, because it was so fast out the gate with DualSense pre-orders last month. This was the first (and one of the only) sites to launch their own 30th Anniversary Edition stock back in September, so the machine is clearly working here.
And then there’s Amazon…
Amazon can be sneaky with its listing pages, sometimes keeping them obscured from its main search results with obscure URLs and other strange text. That means it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where stock is going to land ahead of time. During the PS5 stock rush I even saw the site hiding its stock behind its third party seller scheme, it was still Amazon selling but in order to evade bots it would send you through the marketplace first.
You’ve got two options; you can keep checking a specific search term on the site or you can camp on the main PS5 Slim product page. The former might see you through to those first few stock waves if Amazon lists the 30th Anniversary PS5 Slim as a separate device entirely. Meanwhile, the latter gives you a shot at early stock if the retailers simply adds it as an alternative colorway to the standard system.
At the moment, I would recommend the latter. The standard system has a drop down box listed under ‘Style’ which currently houses a range of bundle options – I’m willing to bet this is where the 30th Anniversary model will show up when it drops tomorrow.
But what about Best Buy?
Best Buy also has a listing page live on its site, and it doesn’t look like you need to be a paid member of anything. That means things are going to be even more competitive here, though, with stock potentially selling out much faster. The retailer has also just updated their listing to remind customers that they’ll need to be signed into their Best Buy accounts to purchase, so it’s well worth doing this today and making sure you select the ‘always signed in’ option to avoid any slow downs tomorrow.
About Walmart
Walmart was one of the very first retailers to launch their own listing pages for the PS5 Slim 30th Anniversary Edition, so naturally I’m excited about this store. However, it’s worth noting that you’ll need to be a Walmart Plus member to have access to this drop, with the doors opening to subscribers from 10am ET tomorrow.
Walmart Plus is a paid membership coming in at $98 per year, but if you’re concerned about losing out on stock it’s worth the jump. You’re also getting free delivery on a range of products, exclusive access to early deals, Paramount Plus, and discounts on Burger King.
There is a 30 day free trial available but be warned, this will not grant you access to early PS5 30th Anniversary pre-orders. The site states that “Walmart Plus paid members can pre-order” so there’s no getting around that fee.
This play is one I’ve seen before. It’s a mirror image of how Walmart handled the original PS5 stock drama.
Let’s start with where we find ourselves right now
Sony launched its own PS5 30th Anniversary pre-orders on September 16 but everything barring the DualSense controller was exclusive to the brand’s own site. Tomorrow’s stock drop will be wider retailers’ (think Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart etc.) first chance to launch their own listings. Right now, everything is sold out at the official PS Direct store and these gadgets sold fast. Tomorrow could be your last big chance to grab a retro colorway.
Well hello there! I’m signing on to get you prepped for all of tomorrow’s 30th Anniversary PS5 Slim pre-orders while we’ve still got a good few hours to wait. That means I’ll be going through each retailer you should be keeping tabs on over the next 24 hours and bringing you any new updates as they emerge. That means you can sit tight and let me do the digital running around.
