TL;DR
“My Series X is 1 year and 2 months old, so just out of warranty. Microsoft wants to charge me $300 to fix it.” a redditor shared, clearly surprised after getting the quote.
And honestly, who wouldn’t be? Three hundred dollars, that’s over half the cost of buying a brand-new console all over again.
You know how consoles are supposed to be our escape, our little stress-reset after a long day? Yeah. All that goes out the window the second something breaks.
One tiny issue becomes another, then another, and suddenly you’re looking at a repair bill that feels completely out of place. Especially when there’s no warranty backing you up.
HDMI port repairs usually fall between $100–$200, and power or motherboard issues often land between $150–$300.
Another gamer took a different path. He mentioned:
“At 200+ bucks I’d personally just sell my PS5 for parts and get a new one.”
At this point, you really do start wondering if modern electronics are built to last… or just built to last long enough to make the next upgrade feel inevitable.
Earlier this year, Xbox joined PlayStation in hiking console prices because of the tariff pressure. But then Black Friday arrives, and Sony is offering $100 off the PS5. At first glance it feels contradictory like… didn’t prices just go up?
Yeah! The base price increased, but the discount is temporary. And yes, Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals always look amazing on the surface. But what are we actually saving?
Think about it. What’s the point of saving during a sale, if you’re going to pay double later when something breaks?
Warranties do help in these situations, not just by protecting shoppers from surprise repair bills but also by giving merchants a bit of stability and an additional revenue stream in a season that already feels tight.
So, let’s break this down properly, the how, the why, and everything in between for all your gaming gear.
When you pick up a new console, the box comes with the usual stuff like cables, a controller, the setup booklet, and a warranty.
That’s the manufacturer’s warranty. Basically, the brand saying, “If anything inside this thing fails on its own, we’ll fix it.”
The duration does differ from brand to brand and even between consoles and accessories, but most consoles follow the same basic rule:
Makes sense so far, but it does come with limits and knowing them early can save you a lot of trouble later.
So once that year is over, the manufacturer steps out of the picture and whatever happens to your console is completely on you. Every problem becomes your problem.
That’s why a lot of people choose to add an extended warranty, so they don’t end up handling the entire repair cost on their own.
Whenever you’re checking out, online or in-store, you’ve definitely come across it during checkout or had a salesperson ask-
“Would you like to add a Protection Plan: 1-Year Extended Coverage for $49.99?”
And we all do the same thing. We say, “No thanks, I’m good.” Because when the console is brand-new, no one is thinking about extended warranties.
We’re just happy and relieved that we finally bought it.
But that same $49 upfront can save you from hundreds in repair bills a year later. Extended warranties step in right after the manufacturer’s warranty ends, and they’re often cheaper than people think, some plans even start around $19 for a one-year option.
So yeah, it actually helps a lot once time does its thing and parts start wearing out.
And you might be thinking, “Okay, factory issues are covered… but what about the real-life stuff like the dog pulling the HDMI cable or the controller flying off the table?”
There’s a separate coverage for that too.
We don’t carry our consoles everywhere, but we do live around them every single day.
They sit in the living room, on a crowded desk, near pets, kids, drinks, cables… basically right in the middle of real life. They’re always in accident-prone zones.
May be that’s why around 30% of products face at least one failure incident within the first two years.
That’s exactly where accidental protection plans step in. They can start for as little as $25–$40 a year and cover almost every “worst-case” moment your console might face.
But before any of this even matters, your console has to reach you in one piece.
Protecting it before it even reaches your door matters too, especially during the holidays when shipping issues like porch piracy tend to spike.
The journey from cart to doorstep is the most unpredictable part of the whole shopping experience.
And it’s happening more than ever. According to a 2024 report, porch pirates stole about 12 billion dollars worth of packages in the past year, with 58 million Americans falling victim in just the last 12 months.
It gets even worse during the holiday rush, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Prime Day, when delivery volumes explode, and doorsteps start feeling like open pickup spots.
That’s exactly where shipping protection helps. For as little as $5 per order, it keeps your console covered before it even reaches you.
And when something goes wrong in transit, it doesn’t just affect the customer; the sellers feel the impact too.
Even with advanced tracking systems and delivery networks, 92 percent of e-commerce merchants still lose money to packages that are lost, damaged, or stolen.
Big retailers can afford to absorb those hits. Smaller brands and merchants? Not so much. Every lost shipment chips away at margins and customer trust.
That’s why a strong post-purchase plan matters just as much as a good sales strategy.
At the end of the day, warranties aren’t just about fixing what’s broken, they’re about creating stability.
For customers, they’re reassurance. One bad day doesn’t have to turn into an expensive one. For merchants, it’s a way to turn unpredictable repairs into predictable revenue. In a market where profit margins are razor-thin, warranties add consistency and some breathing room.
And the truth is, warranty providers do more than process claims. They handle the messy middle, the logistics, the replacements, the part sourcing while you keep selling.
Customers still have legal recourse under federal and state consumer laws, but a good warranty partner makes sure they never have to reach that point.
So, if you’re thinking about partnering with one, ask yourself:
At SureBright, we make sure that when things go wrong; shipping delays, broken screens, or porch pirates, you’re never left figuring it out alone.
Over 500+ brands and several 1,000s of customers trust SureBright to make warranties simple, affordable, and easy to manage, especially when everything else gets busier.
Need a hand this Black Friday/Cyber Monday to sell or protect your products? Just say the word.
