This week saw yet another restocking of the PS5 by Walmart This is not the first time a retailer has dropped stock of a high-demand gaming console, and thousands of gamers have taken to social media to complain as a result It won't be the last time either

But it doesn't have to come to this: word of the PS5 restocking doesn't have to cause sleepless nights for those anxious to purchase the next generation of gaming consoles There are better ways to handle the meager inventory allocations that retailers receive every few weeks

Before we discuss how to fix the restocking situation, it is worth pointing out that retailers are in an awkward position here In an ideal world, retailers want to be able to meet the overwhelming demand for their systems Remember, they want to take your money as much as you want to give it to them Abusing your employees in-store or on social media is cowardly Don't do it

Sony similarly wants to meet the huge demand for gaming consoles; they want to get the PS5 into as many homes as possible With the ongoing global chip shortage, it appears that inventory shortages could last until 2022, but the company claims that it is doing everything in its power to "increase production"

Nevertheless, the way most retailers choose a set date and time to reduce their current inventory, and then slowly increase inventory to reduce it again, is very inefficient and causes many problems that could be avoided Instead, we would do this

Did you know that Sony sells the PS5 directly through the aptly named Sony Direct website, one of the better retailers when it comes to restocking the PS5 thanks to their virtual queue system?

Retailers like Target, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy simply drop their inventory with little or usually no warning This approach always results in severe traffic overload as thousands of users flock to the retailer's listings to purchase gaming consoles Error messages and website crashes are common

Sony Direct uses a virtual queue system instead It tells you when the next restock will be available (usually announced a day or two before the restock) and opens the queue shortly before accepting your order When the restocking begins, available inventory is distributed to users in the queue in order, rather than having the gates open and everyone trying to purchase at the same time

This prevents the Sony Direct listing page from crashing under the strain of thousands of people trying to check out with their PS5 at once While it's not a perfect system (earlier this week there were lines that eventually led to zero inventory), it is considerably better than the approach taken by most other retailers We hope this will become a universal approach

Right now, being able to purchase a PS5 is basically the luck of the draw Sure, the numerous tips you can learn will certainly help give you an advantage, but right now, winning a PS5 restocking game requires quite a slice of luck

Several retailers in the UK are using a voting system to fairly distribute their inventory The concept is quite simple Register your details and winners are chosen at random and given the chance to purchase a console without any hassle If they do not purchase a console within a certain period of time (usually 48 hours), the opportunity is passed on to others who have entered the lottery

Retailers like Currys PC World did this with the PS5 Priority Pass, and Box voted for the recent Xbox Series X restock In fact, one of Tom's Guide's staff members won this lottery system and was able to successfully purchase a PS5 this week

Sure, there are always more applications than inventory in these polls, but that's true of basically every restock now; the supply of PS5s can't keep up with demand At least with the lottery system, we don't have to waste half the morning and endlessly refresh the retailer's list empty-handed

Such a lottery system respects your time and doesn't force you to put your life on hold so you can throw it all away the moment an inventory alert appears on your phone

We would love to see more retailers take advantage of virtual queues and voting systems, but for now at least, the status quo seems to be random drops that sell out in minutes In other words, if you want to buy a PS5, you need to be vigilant

Bookmark the PS5 restocking hub so you can flag the PS5 the moment you get the latest inventory information While this won't guarantee that you'll get a PS5, it will certainly make what seems like a thankless task a little easier