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What are your chances of getting that hot tech item on your shopping list?

Can you get your hands on the must-have items this year? Mashable has come up with a "Scarcity Score" to help you navigate the shopping waters.

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — Good news! Your kid or significant other only wants one thing for Christmas. The bad news? It's literally the one thing you can't find. Thanks to supply chain issues, and chip shortages, the word for this holiday season is "scarce" - so much so, there's now a thing called a "scarcity score".

“We wanted to help shoppers navigate some of the supply chain challenges, by coming up an easy-to-understand metric, that measures just how hard it's going to be to source some of the most in-demand tech this year,” says Nicole Cammorata, Executive Commerce Editor at Mashable.

Mashable is calling it the scarcity score. A scale of 1-10 to let you know if you're going to be hero or heel when the wrapping paper settles. Parents, it will come as no surprise that gaming consoles are among the hardest things to get your hands on.

“Our highest scarcity scores are the PlayStation 5 and the PlayStation 5 digital edition,” says Cammorata.

They scored a 9 out of 10. The Nintendo Switch, and Xbox series X, both rate an 8 out of 10. But here's the thing, both have other model options, so if you can bring yourself to do without the fancy pants features, you'll have a better shot of getting one. Apple products are hovering around the middle of the scale.

"The Apple Watch 7 scored at a 7 out of 10,” says Cammorata. "Airpods Pro and Airpods 3rd generation are tied at a 5 out of 10.

If you’re in the market for a new MacBook, the scarcity score jumps. The 14inch is a 7 out of 10 and the 16inch is an 8 out of 10 scarcity score.

We don't want to totally harsh your holiday mellow, so here's some better news. Home tech like air fryers, robot vacuums, and fitness gear are much easiest to find.

“Roombas are one of the hottest products this shopping season and what's great is that we see that they are scoring as a 5 out of 10 scarcity score,” says Cammorata.

“Peloton is scored at a 4 out of 10 scarcity score, and why this is important to note, is that last year it was really hard to get a peloton,” she says.
Some advice? Don't wait. If you see something in demand, but available, make the purchase. And know that you might pay more right now. And if all else fails, just know it will be in stock, someday.

“What we're going to find is that a lot of people are going to be wrapping pictures of gifts this year,” says Cammorata.

Another tip is that retailers like Walmart have been releasing popular items in batches, to stretch out the inventory, and the shopping season. So, just because they're sold out today, doesn't mean they won't restock before the holidays. Check back.


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