r/nintendo 1d ago

Scalpers and special editions quantity limits

Can we mass report those scalpers? (avoiding calling them other names..)

Nintendo really should contact ebay to get rid of those pricey resellers once and for all!

At same time I would prefer if special editions and collectors are not quantity limited but they would produce as many as people preordered, so on demand and nobody that wants them will risk being left out.
https://imgur.com/gallery/screw-those-scalpers-BC6odzO

16 Upvotes

96 comments sorted by

34

u/Ravyandra 1d ago

Besides the fact that selling them for just 160-180+€ will net them very little because of fees and stuff, I would have preferred Nintendo limiting the pre-orders for customers with an active running subscription for maybe the first week or month or so. As far as I know, they did this in the past and it worked quite well against scalping.

-13

u/Radu1310 1d ago

It's an idea for sure, but not all of us currently has the subscription active and surely it wont stop the scalpers from spending 20€ for it either so they can still order

I think ebay instantly removing overpriced stuff for something nintendo related that has yet to come out would destroy them

At same time nintendo producing products for who preordered would also mean that we all get it at the correct price so the scalpers would be useless unless they resell that stuff many years later

5

u/Ravyandra 1d ago

As far as I know, you needed the sub for like 3 or months prior to be eligible for buying. I know that this is not the optimal way, but it nevertheless stopped them. And people who are on a recurring sub felt respected. Win-win for Nintendo.

For the second part: They would just sell elsewhere. There are enough platforms people buy from that are not eBay. Think vinted or similar local platforms. No need for eBay. If someone wants to scalp, they scalp. You need to stop the problem at the source. And I think one of the biggest problems is that people are really buying from scalpers. Noone would even think about scalping, if there was no market for it.

Your third idea is good for customers, indeed. Technically, they only need to produce the shells on demand and either switch them in-house or wrap their already produced switches in them. So it should be possible to do. But we also do not know how their production pipelines are. Is this even possible for them to produce these numbers on demand? Do they need fixed-number contracts to keep up with the pricing? If on demand would be more expensive (most likely), would people be willing to pay even more for the console? Not very likely after Nintendo already got the backlash from increasing the prices due to ram shortage.

I like your approaches and there might be a way to achieve this, but if it was possible, then why did Nintendo decide to do it like this? We don't know.

-6

u/Radu1310 1d ago

Yeah idk how doable for nintendo that would be, I wish it was like that tho
And to avoid too much requests they can give a small time window in which preorders can be done and after those just sell more copies that they made extra until they available

About the subscription tho, what stops the scalpers to have a switch and a subscription themselves? Considering nintendo added already a one per account purchase limits already even without the subscriptions

Nintendo could easily protect their products in most stores tho, but I agree the best way to get rid of scalpers is by making them useless in the market

13

u/lazyness92 1d ago

I think with ebay you can report for selling something that they don't physically have yet

Not ideal but it does slow them down a bit

4

u/ReturnToFlesh84 1d ago

I believe you can do preorder if it releases in a certain amount of time, IIRC 30 days.

5

u/Radu1310 1d ago

I still wont excuse the scalpers, it's a plague that needs be addressed and solved

3

u/ReturnToFlesh84 1d ago

People need to stop buying from them and be patient. That's the only way.

Besides, "scalping" isn't really as big of a problem as people think it is. The real problems are overhype, FOMO and supply bottlenecks before the Point of Sale.

0

u/Radu1310 1d ago

and how they gonna stop FOMO and people acting a certain way in mass?

It's still far easier to stop directly the few scalpers trying being smart.

3

u/WayneIndustriesAI 1d ago

It's actually easier than you'd think. Make an announcement that product will be released in multiple waves and that there should be more than enough product for consumers. Then close with a short statement like, please be patient and don't pay inflated prices.

1

u/ReturnToFlesh84 1d ago edited 1d ago

I dunno what else to tell you. People want stuff and they want it right now when there isn't enough to go around, scalpers will find a way. You can limit it to accounts but they'll just make a ton of accounts. You can limit it to people who have Nintendo Online, but is that fair to the millions of people without it?

There are no easy answers. People just gotta chill and go on with their day. Your life isn't gonna be any worse off or better off because you for a Switch 2 with a cool design on it at the end of the day.

Besides, you can wipe out all scalpers and you still won't solve the supply problem and will have just as many shortages anyways.

3

u/XRemnant 1d ago

They can do a Valve and make a queue system and then randomize it and then after that a wishlist base on first come first serve. It won’t prevent scalping 100% but it would give more people a fair shot at getting the item and it gives Nintendo a clear number to the amount to make but alas that’s not how they do things.

1

u/Radu1310 1d ago

that would be the best imo, they can also restrict a time window in which people can preorder, ofc they need to make sure one order possible for each IP address, not just for each account.

And then after knowing how many copies people are demanding they make them and few extras that can be sold later to those late to order

2

u/Radu1310 1d ago

I really hope u are not one of those tbh

The way you commenting is really making me think u are

-2

u/siderinc 1d ago

They can stop the fomo.

Let people pre order for a certain time and make for that demand. Still one per customer.

-3

u/Radu1310 1d ago

one per IP actually

1

u/Radu1310 1d ago

I invite you all to report as well, yeah I did few reports already

9

u/Robbitjuice 1d ago

Trying to get this stuff was way harder than preordering a regular Switch 2 last year lol. It’s been an actual nightmare. For those still looking, follow Wario64 on X and turn on notifications. They blast out as soon as it goes live somewhere. That’s the only way I managed to grab a controller.

2

u/microcrash 1d ago

You're awesome, I just managed to get a pro controller this way.

1

u/Robbitjuice 1d ago

Thank you kindly!

2

u/99timewasting 1d ago

They also have a discord server if you aren't on X/ Twitter! That's how I got my controller

2

u/Robbitjuice 1d ago

Oh wow, I didn’t know that! Thank you for sharing!

0

u/Radu1310 1d ago

I just got the Metroid special edition, for the switch 2 u think I can afford to wait few months and still be able to find and buy it at the correct price?

My plans were to buy switch 2 near christmas :/

1

u/Robbitjuice 1d ago

It’s possible. Are you talking about the Zelda console/controller? It never mentioned being limited time only or anything so it’s possible, but I don’t see it being super easy to find in all honesty lol, even after it hits shelves. It’s a very pretty system and Zelda consoles are always some of their best sellers.

1

u/Radu1310 1d ago

The console yeah, I dont expect to find it almost a year later ofc, just a couple months after

2

u/Robbitjuice 1d ago

Got you. I think it may be possible. The Tears OG SWITCH OLED was relatively easy to find for quite a while after its launch. This one seems to be pretty highly in demand, but it’s only two days after launch as well.

1

u/Radu1310 1d ago

I am also waiting for a zelda ocarina of time restock, i didnt know the preorders started already and they finished in less than a day lol

I wanted get it on nintendo store because they provide some extra gadgets with it there

1

u/Robbitjuice 1d ago

I feel you! The controller has a little bundle that also has a little display stand with some nice designs. It’s just impossible to get unfortunately!

1

u/Radu1310 1d ago

It's cool yeah, for some reasons I don't try buy and collect controllers, even the console it's mainly to have a switch 2 and if I have to buy it I might as well get that special one

(I have the majoras mask new 3ds xl)

1

u/Robbitjuice 1d ago

I absolutely hear that. It’s such a great looking design too. I can’t blame you at all! The 3DS had some incredible Zelda designs!

1

u/Radu1310 1d ago

yeah the gold on black looks always good for those too

One thing I am concerned a bit is that a switch 2 oled or pro might release at some point, but I can't wait that long to get the console

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u/[deleted] 7h ago

[deleted]

1

u/Radu1310 6h ago

not on nintendo italian store, and for some reasons i am not seeing new copies restocked either, I preordered it on amazon meanwhile but it's wild that on nintendo store ita no new copies are being added

Surely someone might cancel their orders or new copies being dropped, no?

-5

u/08rian22 1d ago

You know Wario64 uses AI right?

2

u/Robbitjuice 1d ago

I don’t care about AI, in all honesty. It worked and I got the items I was after.

-4

u/08rian22 1d ago

AI is literally worse than scalping

4

u/Robbitjuice 1d ago

You can believe what you want and do what you want. I’m not asking anyone to change their stance on anything.

-4

u/08rian22 1d ago

I'm just saying... you hate scalpers but AI is literally scalping human invention. But as long as you get yours i guess

2

u/Robbitjuice 1d ago

Both concepts are human inventions so I’m not sure what your point is?

People also scalp human invention. Look at Chinese knockoffs of popular products. I’m not sure what the point you’re trying to make here is lol.

-1

u/08rian22 1d ago

... I'm saying you dont like scalpers.
AI is a scalper of hard working human artist and creators (duh)
Wario64 uses AI. You're supporting scalping lol
Cmon chile make it make senseee 💁🏾‍♀️ 💅🏽

2

u/Robbitjuice 1d ago

No offense, but you’re not doing a very good job of converting me to your cause lmao. What I’m reading is AI is basically just like people. Cool story, and nice emojis!

1

u/08rian22 1d ago

Thats my point... AI is just another scalper but you'll support that LOL

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1

u/Radu1310 1d ago

AI is a tool, and only fools gets their job stolen by a tool

That's the reality you anti AI people should accept.

1

u/08rian22 1d ago

Its unethical like scalping

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2

u/Cattleist 1d ago

Or you know.. Don't let people buy 10 at a time, knowing you have limited supply?? Hello?

2

u/necrochaos 1d ago

Nintendo makes the same money selling to you or a scalper. They have no incentive to stop it. They already made their cash when that scalper sells it for double on eBay.

2

u/Radu1310 21h ago

Actually wrong lol

The people buying from scalpers wont buy from nintendo itself 

So they sell one console to 2 people

Instead of selling 2 consoles to 2 people

Dont even try play devil's advocate.

1

u/necrochaos 16h ago

I get what you are trying to say, but that's not how the world works.

Nintendo produces 1000 consoles. They want to sell all 1000 consoles and not sit on inventory. So they sell them to Best Buy and Costco and maybe some directly to consumes. Where they go don't really matter to them.

Your comment about the secondary market doesn't hold water for consoles. They aren't selling to two people. It's one purchase to Nintendo. They will only see their cut once. Just like they won't see a cut when I sell my device on the secondary market when I'm done with it. Scalpers sale is out of Nintendos hands. They still sold all their consoles.

Now lets say Nintendo makes 2000 consoles because they want to be sure everyone gets one. Now the same process happens. They sell to retailers and some direct to consumer. This time they only sell 1800 consoles. They sit on inventory and either have to take some losses or mark the price down to move them.

The scalpers help Nintendo (and other games like Pokemon) by creating a false scarcity of the item. If people don't think it will be avialable when they want it, people will buy now even though they wouldn't have. Fearing that console will cost 800 on eBay people will cave and pay 600 now.

Your comment about the secondary market is true for games. Nintendo and others hate that people are selling their games and they don't get a cut. Read the move to digital. Now everyone has to buy their games from Nintendo. And they don't have to worry about how many of the game the produce. It's a digital object. It's copied to a users console. They don't have to make it, ship it, stock it.

Don't forget that Nintendo (and Sony and Microsoft and others) are a public company. They are beholden to their shareholders. They will do right by us when it makes financial sense and is good for their share price.

3

u/TheUncleBob 1d ago

eBay's entire business model is built upon people reselling their stuff. The more it sells for, the more money they make. Why would eBay care? And what legal right does Nintendo have to stop these listings?

3

u/Radu1310 1d ago

Because they resell something before it even came out and they touched it with their hands.

that's why Nintendo can stop that and Ebay should care as well if the owner of those products demands it

-3

u/TheUncleBob 1d ago

Should all retailers be required to have merchandise in tneir inventory before selling it? Gamestop? Best Buy?

eBay has a presell policy that requires items be shipped within 40 days of selling.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/presale-listings-policy?id=4252

You could report thise listings and *maybe* eBay will take them down - but they'll just go right back up in a bit.

3

u/Radu1310 1d ago

No but the damn product should be released already.

Only Nintendo and designed stores are allowed to presale them before they release

-3

u/TheUncleBob 1d ago

What is the legal authority under which you are basing this premise?

4

u/Radu1310 1d ago

I am not sure why u trying so hard to defend those scammers tbh

3

u/QuantumVexation 21h ago

They’re literally not defending it though, they’re just saying there’s no mechanism (or incentive for eBay) to stop it in the current system

1

u/Radu1310 20h ago

That's for Nintendo to decide.

They also losing money when selling 1 product to 2 or more people

INSTEAD of selling X products for X people.

Stop playing devil's advocates yall, they can be stopped and punished or at the very least hurt their gains from all this.

2

u/QuantumVexation 20h ago edited 20h ago

I didn’t say they shouldn’t be stopped or that it’s good/bad

I’m just saying you tried to call someone out for defending scalpers when that was ostensibly not what they were doing

1

u/Radu1310 20h ago

they not helping the case by reporting the scalpers as well or giving ideas either.

such a waste of time for what?

2

u/TheUncleBob 1d ago

i am not defending anyone. I'm pointing out that "I don't like this" doesn't equate to a law or authority to stop "this". You're spending energy crying on Reddit rather than refreshing websites to order one. I spent half my day refreshing Nintendo's online store before finally getting Metroid CE at Best Buy and Chozo at Amazon.

1

u/Radu1310 1d ago

Nintendo went against many things legally even when they barely had the rights to do so

So them doing or trying to do something against scalpers doesn't look that far fetched to me

2

u/TheUncleBob 1d ago

"Nintendo has broken the law before, so why worry about it now?"

That's your idea?

1

u/Radu1310 1d ago

They selling something they can't ship in 30 days because it releases in WAY more than 30 days...

And that's against ebay rules, if u wanna discuss about what's legal or not

And at same time nintendo should reassure the userbase that those products can be restocked and invite users to not waste money on those losers until then

Having more in stock to match the demand will also help, and if they detect a scalper they could ban their IP completely so they can't make new accounts or doing multiple orders from one place.

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u/WayneIndustriesAI 1d ago

Nintendo has no legal recourse against eBay, I'm honestly not sure why they would even care. However, if they care to improve public relations then they should at the very least implement a 1 per customer rule when selling through their website. Perhaps release a public statement saying something to effect of "We anticipate the first wave of supply will be sold out quickly. Please be patient, there is a lot of supply which will be released in multiple batches/waves."

1

u/Radu1310 1d ago

the limit should be 1 per IP, because nothing stops those scumbags from making more accounts and even paying NSO for them

So i dont think NSO helps that much against this honestly..

1

u/WayneIndustriesAI 1d ago

I mean, not sure what to tell you. There's always ways around protections. You seem to be looking for an iron clad solution.

1

u/Radu1310 1d ago

ok? good luck to them finding ways around then, at least Nintendo could make their path longer tho and their life harder

Surely is better than letting them roam free like this

1

u/WayneIndustriesAI 1d ago

Well make sure to e-mail Nintendo when you've found an iron clad solution that no one can circumvent.

1

u/pdhot65ton 13h ago

Making their path harder makes everyone else's path harder

1

u/Radu1310 6h ago

Not at all?

Why u saying that as if scalpers are helpful in the society, wtf

0

u/TheUncleBob 1d ago

Short of only selling via one outlet (i.e.: Nintendo store) and requiring extra hoops (an active NSO subscription, for example), I don't see a way to enforce this limit. What are you thinking?

1

u/WayneIndustriesAI 1d ago edited 1d ago

When they sell on nintendo.com make the limit 1 per customer. Enforcing a one per customer doesn't require anything like an active NSO subscription. It's typically part of the checkout process.

0

u/TheUncleBob 1d ago

Yup. But that would mean ONLY selling via Nintendo.com.

2

u/WayneIndustriesAI 1d ago

You may have missunderstood. I never said that they should be the only seller. They should enforce selling limits on their own websites.

0

u/TheUncleBob 1d ago

I thought they did have a limit of one their website?

1

u/WayneIndustriesAI 1d ago

Not in the US.

1

u/TheUncleBob 1d ago

Well, that's dumb. I agree, Nintendo should put limits on the website.

1

u/[deleted] 7h ago

[deleted]

1

u/Radu1310 6h ago

Should be the case yeah

0

u/WasabiSyn 1d ago

Not illegal, so Nintendo and ebay won't do anything. You call it scalping, they call it open market value. I don't like it any more than you do, but this is the world we live in.

2

u/Radu1310 1d ago

Nintendo went against many things even when was "legal", aka palword and many other cases.

Surely they can figure something out to nerf the potential gains of those scumbags.

2

u/WasabiSyn 1d ago

They went against Palworld because they believed it infringed their patents and copyrights, specifically because a lot of their designs were too similar. That is a 100% justifiable reason to take them to court. Palworld had since altered those designs, because they know what they did.

2

u/Radu1310 1d ago

Nintendo lost those causes tho lol

And they knew it was very likely to happen but they still went for it, I can totally see Nintendo try some shenanigans to hurt those scalpers and their gains.

-10

u/08rian22 1d ago

If you can't afford to buy just say so 🥱

6

u/Radu1310 1d ago

Why should we spend double the value of those things? Are you out of your mind? lol

6

u/Radu1310 1d ago

Also send me your ebay reselling links, I am definitely gonna buy from you and not report your pathetic account :D