Why is My Order Delayed?

Modified on Thu, 23 Apr at 1:15 PM

We do our best to ship orders as quickly as possible, but in some cases an order may be delayed.
Below are the most common reasons, what they mean, and whether you need to take action.

✅ In most cases, delays resolve automatically and don’t require contacting GameStop.

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Common Reasons for Order Delays

Pre-Orders

If you placed a Pre-Order, your item won’t ship until its official release date.
You can always check whether an item is a Pre-Order—and its expected release date—on the product page.

Good to know:

GameStop does not charge until the item ships

As the release date approaches, you may see a temporary authorization on your card

Your order will ship on or after the release date

✅ No action needed

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Release Date Pushbacks

Sometimes, a pre-order release date is pushed back by the manufacturer or publisher.
This decision is outside of GameStop’s control.

What happens next:

Your order stays active in our system

It will ship automatically once the item is officially released

✅ No action needed

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Inventory Delays

Some items are in very high demand, and manufacturers may not be able to keep up with supply.

How fulfillment works:

Orders are shipped in the order they were received

If inventory runs out, your order will ship once the item is restocked

You’ll receive an email as soon as your package is on the way

✅ No action needed

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Payment Issues

Your order may be delayed if there was a problem processing your payment method.

What to do:

Check your email for a message from GameStop about a payment issue

Update your payment as soon as possible using the payment-fix steps provided in the email

⚠️ Important: GameStop will attempt to process payment up to three times in 24 hours.
If payment isn’t corrected by the third attempt, the order may be cancelled automatically.

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When You Don’t Need to Contact GameStop

You usually don’t need support help if:

Your order is a pre-order and the release date hasn’t arrived

A pre-order release date was pushed back

Your item is waiting on inventory restock

You see a temporary authorization but no final charge

You received a payment-issue email and were able to update payment

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⏱️ When Should I Contact GameStop?

Contact GameStop only if:

You received a payment-issue email and cannot update your payment

Your order was cancelled after a payment issue and you need help understanding next steps

Your order status hasn’t changed after correcting a payment problem

If the delay is due to pre-orders, inventory, or release dates, support won’t be able to speed up processing.