PS5 by Invitation

I did not own any game consoles while growing up. Our family was not poor, but we were lower-middle class when we moved to Canada in the 70’s. While my cousins and friends owned Atari 2600s and Intellivisions, we did not have anything until I purchased a Sony PlayStation 2 as an adult. Many years afterwards, while on a business trip to Canada, I bought a PS3 in Mississauga and brought it back on the return flight. Along the way, I also picked up a Nintendo Wii from my sister, and bought a Switch to play Zelda: Breath of the Wild during dialysis sessions. The Switch is on permanent loan to my younger niece.

When the PS4 was released, I was still playing games on the PS3 so I never purchased the new console. For the PS5 release, I was extremely interested in purchasing one, but like everyone else, I could not find it in stores easily. Now, almost two years after its release in November 2020, I am still unable to purchase a PS5.

While purchasing something else on Amazon, I saw they were taking orders for the PS5 disc version for $500, which is the list price. However, below the price, there is a tag that said invitation only. I have never seen this on any other products on Amazon. To be honest, I was weary of checking stock and prices at various stores online and had not thought about getting a PS5 in months. However, this approach seemed much more convienent so I clicked the button and now I am on the request list.

I do not know what criteria Amazon is using to grant requests, or if I actually want one at this point. It is likely your account history, specifically how much you ordered/returned. You can run order reports on the Amazon website. My orders were:

• 2022 year-to-date: $3,887
• 2021: $3,045
• 2020: $3,389

That is over $10k in a bit less than three years. Is that enough versus the average account spend? I guess I will know (maybe) if I do or do. not have my PS5 request granted.

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Per this website, the average Amazon account with Prime orders $1,400 annually. I am well over twice that each of the past three years. Also, per the article, I am in the top 20% by order dollars. I hope that is enough to get a PS5 for $500.

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This is my favorite game on the PS3:

I managed to delete my almost 100% save game so I am playing it from the beginning again.