Here’s How I Got One of the Hardest to Find Gifts at Duluth Target

Some items are extremely hard to find this holiday season, and due to all the supply chain and shipping issues around the world, some are nearly impossible.

But, with a little effort, the use of technology, and some luck, you might be able to get that holy grail gift in enough time to wrap it and put it under the tree. In my case, I was looking for a Playstation 5, the PS5 and the Xbox Series X or S are the latest next-generation gaming consoles from Sony and Microsoft, and both are nearly impossible to score and have been since their release.

I had been keeping an eye on the market for a while, and really planned on waiting until after the holidays, but my kids have been asking for a gaming console that they could play, so maybe now would be a good time to upgrade and give them my PS4 loaded with games ready for them to play on Christmas, so the hunt was on.

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My first step was to download the HotStock mobile app, this app will allow you to select a product, stores to buy from, and a price range of what you're looking for and the app will automatically send an alert when the item comes in stock. I would highly recommend it, it works, I've gotten a few alerts, but they were always sold out by the time I was checking out, be aware that you have to be very quick, when a drop happens stores are flooded with traffic, and you may get some errors, but keep trying.

Using the app didn't actually help me though when I managed to get the PS5, it was information I got on Reddit in the r/PS5restock sub, I was up early, around 6:15 AM and I decided to check for any updated information, and there was, Target had just put their PS5 product page live, usually the page is dead and you land on a generic Playstation landing page, and a source was saying that limited numbers were going on sale for store pick up within 30 minutes.

So I quickly woke up and started to refresh the product page, and after about 15 minutes, the item said it was in stock at the Duluth Target and ready for pickup. I tried to checkout multiple times, and the traffic influx was causing issues, but after a few minutes the transaction actually went through, but I was convinced that it would be canceled and I'd be left empty-handed, so I waited for more information.

Within an hour I got a notification from Target that my order was ready for pickup, this can't be really true I thought, I didn't want the PS5 to sit at Target pickup all day and risk something happening, so I immediately ran to Target and sure enough, it worked! The Target team member walked the PS5 to my car and I was on my way. Unbelievable.

So, don't give up hope, stores like Walmart, Target, and GameStop all are rumored to have PS5 and Xbox drops in the coming days, and you can even signup to get notified from Sony when they sell them directly, they are invite-only and you can signup here to try and get one. Good luck, I hope you're able to get what you're looking and Merry Christmas.