Trying to buy a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X? This tool may help holiday shoppers

Ever since preorders became available for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X in September, the video game consoles have been difficult to find.

Retailers sold out almost instantly when receiving the consoles in November and many gamers have been unable to find a system that has not been price gouged by scalpers.

A browser extension developed by college students may be the saving grace for shoppers this holiday season. Created by Instok, the extension is called OctoShop and is available through Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. The tool allows its users to check retailers’ stock for various items and get notified when they are back in stock.

“Starting Cyber Monday and throughout the holiday season in general, you get a lot of competition through sales online,” Rithwik Pattikonda, one of the founders of Instok, told McClatchy News. “When you have these hot new tech items and demand for them, you see a ton go out of stock, especially in the COVID era when people are shopping more online than going in the stores, so we wanted to create this tool.”

How does it work?

The founders of Instok — college students at the University of Texas-Austin, University of Texas-Dallas and Bucknell University — say downloading the OctoShop extension only takes a few clicks. From there, the extension will come in handy on websites for national retailers.

If you’re on a retailer’s website and come across an item that is out of stock, OctoShop will let you know on the page if it is available elsewhere. You can then go to the other retailer’s website to find the item you were looking for.

Users are also able to set notifications when an item is restocked and get notified when prices drop.

OctShop will make sure users find the best deal by showing prices of other online deals.

“We want to help shoppers feel more confident as they transition from going to stores to shopping online, guaranteeing them we can help with their price comparisons,” co-founder Emma Arrighini told McClatchy News. “The e-commerce space is crazy. You can buy things from so many different sites. Even when there are sales, that might not be the best price.”

How has it been used?

Creators have received high praise after sharing the extension on various subreddits. Posting it on the PS5 Reddit page led to 80,000 new users and thousands of people getting the system, Arrighini said.

But OctoShop has been used for more than just the latest video game systems.

Users have taken advantage of OctoShop to find games, graphic cards, computer parts and Oculus VR headsets, Pattikonda said. Beyond the tech industry, it’s also been used for home improvement goods, makeup and cleaning supplies, Arrighini said.

The creation of OctoShop was spurred from the Nintendo Switch shortage that occurred this year.

“Our goal was to build something to help people fight the scalpers and help people not have to pay two times the price on eBay,” Pattikonda said.

Long term, the founders say they hope to partner with specific retailers.

“But right now, we just want everyone to get a PS5,” Pattikonda said.

This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 11:51 AM with the headline "Trying to buy a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X? This tool may help holiday shoppers."