Currys PS5 restock lottery system can help you beat the bots

PS5 restock
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

It's one enormously frustrating experience finding where to buy PS5 in the UK, but Currys PC World’s new PS5 Priority Pass might make it just a little bit more bearable. 

This lottery system will randomly select entrants who will then be given the opportunity to purchase a PS5, hassle-free. So that should mean you avoid needing to battle with scalper bots and deal with overloaded websites. 

All you have to do is signup at Currys PC World, then if you’re fortunate enough to be chosen, you will be emailed a unique buying code which entitles you to purchase a PS5. You then have 72 hours to pay for the console, before it’s passed along to another entrant. 

Currys PC World isn’t the first retailer to experiment with more customer-friendly ways to distributing PS5 stock, Newegg introduced the Newegg Shuffle in January Whereas Box opened a ballot system for allocating stock of the Xbox Series X last December. 

Perhaps the biggest drawback of the system is that it’s only for purchasing a console in a Currys PC World retail store, and isn’t yet being deployed for online restocks. This does mean that if you’re selected, you’ll have to wait for when non-essential retail stores are allowed to reopen. At the moment, it's currently slated for April 12 in England. 

However, considering that buying a PS5 requires a massive amount of luck anyway, this system seems like a relatively stress-free way to get your hands on Sony’s next-gen gaming machine. 

To further reduce pesky scalpers, Currys PC World has set the Priority Pass to one registration per person, and if selected you will only have the opportunity to purchase a single console. 

We hope that more retailers will implement a similar system in the future, if only for the sake of our F5 keys which have taken a real beating over the past few months as we desperately refresh websites. 

To best boost your chances of getting a PS5, you need to be monitoring dozens of retailers and keeping on top of restocks that can change at a moment’s notice. It’s all pretty exhausting. So make sure to bookmark our guide on where to buy a PS5 in the UK and let us do all that hard work for you.  

Rory Mellon
Entertainment Editor (UK)

Rory is an Entertainment Editor at Tom’s Guide based in the UK. He covers a wide range of topics but with a particular focus on gaming and streaming. When he’s not reviewing the latest games, searching for hidden gems on Netflix, or writing hot takes on new gaming hardware, TV shows and movies, he can be found attending music festivals and getting far too emotionally invested in his favorite football team. 

Read more
PS5 30th Anniversary Limited Edition consoles and accessories
PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection restock — how to score your limited-edition PS5 Digital, DualSense, PS portal and more
RTX 50 series GPUs
Nvidia is making it easier for fans to buy an RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 — here's how
nvidia rtx 50 series
Where to buy RTX 5070 Ti — live updates and stock checker
Best PS5 accessories
The best PS5 accessories to buy right now
Astro Bot screenshot
PlayStation launches epic new sale with the best PS5 games from $4 —here’s 17 deals I’d buy
PS5 Slim
Best games consoles in 2025: our top picks tested and rated
Latest in Playstation
The PlayStation Portal on a counter with the start screen for Horizon Forbidden West
PlayStation Portal just got upgraded cloud streaming features — here’s what’s new
God of War Ragnarok
PlayStation’s epic March sale is live with PS5 games from $3 — here’s 17 deals I’d buy
Horizon Forbidden West on PC
AI-powered PlayStation characters are being tested at Sony — what we know
The Last of Us Part I screenshot with a Tom's Guide deal tag
PlayStation launches new sale with big discounts on essential PS5 games — here’s my 17 favorite deals from $2
PS VR2 headset with PS VR2 Sense controllers
PlayStation VR2 getting a $200 price drop in March — is it worth buying now?
The PlayStation logo on a PS5 Pro
Ex-Sony executive predicts the PS6 will arrive in 2028 — what you need to know
Latest in News
MacBook Pro 2023
New Mac attack is tricking users into thinking their computer is locked — how to stay safe
huawei pura x
Huawei's Pura X is the most unique foldable phone design in years
Google Pixel 9a hands-on.
Pixel 9a’s on-device AI isn’t as good as the Pixel 9 — here’s what’s different
Gangs of London Series 3
How to watch 'Gangs of London' season 3 online – stream British gangster drama from anywhere, is it available in the U.S.?
Cristin Milioti in "Black Mirror" season 7 coming to Netflix
5 biggest Netflix movies and shows I can’t wait to watch in spring 2025
Siri in iOS 18 on iPhone
Users complain that Siri can’t answer even the most basic questions — here’s what we know