Google Is Making It Impossible to Buy a Pixel 6 Today

You might want to try another retailer or carrier to preorder the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.

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A photo of the two Pixel 6 smartphones, side-by-side
Two colorful Pixel phones, both of which you may have difficulty trying to pre-order.
Photo: Sam Rutherford / Gizmodo

Google finally took the wraps off the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro today, and you can officially buy the company’s new Android flagships. But good luck actually placing your preorder. Although the company increased its inventory in anticipation of how the public would receive the pair of revamped Pixel phones, it seems there’s still not enough to quell current demand.

Folks have been tweeting about their difficulties attempting to buy Google’s new smartphone. You can still go to the Google Store and configure a Pixel 6 or 6 Pro, and even start yourself on the path toward the trade-in process, which is helpful for those hoping to save a little cash on the device and properly recycle their old models. But once that’s all put in, the system appears to crash.

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A screenshot of the Google Store showing the Pixel 6 Pro is sold out
Please appreciate this screenshot of my sad attempt at buying a Pixel 6 Pro.
Screenshot: Florence Ion / Gizmodo

I tried to buy a Pixel 6 Pro and was immediately met with an error code once I hit the button to select my payment method. When I refreshed the page, an empty cart greeted me: The Pixel 6 Pro I had picked out was completely sold out. Others have been seeing a 500 error.

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Google has acknowledged the issues, telling Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman: “We are aware of the issue with the Google Store and are actively working to resolve it.”

If you’re absolutely aching to get your hands on the new smartphone right now, you might try one of the other retailers carrying the device. Best Buy and B&H Photo are selling the phone. Amazon is also selling the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro through its official Google Store landing page, and while the Pixel 6 seems in stock and ready to ship through Prime, the Pixel 6 Pro takes a little digging before you can add one to your cart.

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It didn’t get any screentime during the announcement, but the $80 Pixel Stand is also listed in the Google Store. It isn’t available for purchase yet. At this point, you might as well wait for Google to re-up its warehouse before bundling in the revamped Pixel Stand along with your brand new Pixel smartphone.