It’s nice to be able to write a feel-good article.Nintendo Switch 2Scalpers have started losing money on their ‘investments’, and you know, that just gives me the warm fuzzies inside.
For those not in the loop, scalpers in this context are people who buy up large numbers of in-demand items and resell them for increased prices on the secondary market. They were a huge problem back when thePlayStation 5launched, and a more recent swarm descended uponthe Pokemon TCG.
Not wanting their new console to get devoured likeSony’s was,Nintendohas put in some legwork to make scalpers' lives difficult as of late. And as it happens, when you put the weight of a large corporation behind something, you’re able to move mountains.
As spotted byNintendoSoup, several Japanese scalpers have started selling their consoles at a loss.
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In response to scalpers, eBay has been flooded with fake Switch 2 listings at around MSRP.
How deep are these discounts, exactly? That’s a bit more complicated of a question than you might expect. One listing showed a price equivalent to $393 USD - not too far from the console’s asking price, though a bit lower. However, if you’ve ever sold things online through sites like Ebay, you’d know there’s a platform fee that the seller has to pay out of their earnings.
That, on top of other expenses, means that these scalpers' transactions were - officially - at a loss. Oh, joy of joys!
Nintendo’s Repair Policy Causes Scalpers To Lose Money
Nintendo has been hard at work concocting new and inventive ways to make the lives of scalpers just a little bit worse. They’ve put out a few ideas - notably, adopting the idea of limited-access pre-ordersfor dedicated fansof the previous Switch console.
But that didn’t come alone. Fromboosting the number of available consolestocracking down on “fraudulent” listings, Nintendo has been trying to pressure scalpers out of the market for a while.
ButNintendoSoupcredits one particular idea for this victory: the console’s repair policy.
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The plan is simple. In Japan, if you want Nintendo to fix a fault in your console, you’ll need to provide proof of purchase. Ideally, a receipt.
Because scalpers aren’t about to give up the personal details contained on the receipt, they can’t offer it with purchase - even assuming they have one receipt for each console they bought. As a result, second-hand Switch 2 consoles are literally worth less; they’re harder to repair.
A devious little system, but one that seems plenty effective at dealing with scalpers. It’s not operating alone, of course -even regular playersare getting in on anti-scalper action - but attacking the value of the product seems like a good way to drop its price.
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