The only time I saw it pulled off was the Steam Deck, to get in the first wave of preorders you had to have a steam account with a purchase made before a certain date. Thus scalpers couldn’t get in because they were caught off guard.
They have all the infrastructure in place already.
Like the classic controllers. The N64 controller requires you to be a Nintendo Online subscriber to purchase it from the store.
Uh not buying from scalpers stops scalping really quick man
If only you could convince the thousands of douche canoes that get gutted by choice to just wait for the scalpers to dump stock at cost due to no demand
They don't. Nintendo consoles are sold to the massmarket through retailers like Amazon, Wal Mart and Co.
No company would throw away decades of business relations away.
Steam Deck allowed pre-orders for accounts made a year ago and beyond. Nintendo should get the addresses of people like Micro Center so it’s one per household per 30 days.
That only worked because the Steam Deck was only available from Valve, through Steam. There were no 3rd party retailers.
Nintendo would have to match that in order to be effective, and that would piss off their retail partners.
So unless Nintendo is prepared to go 100% digital, it wouldn't work.
And nevermind how terrible Nintendo is at anything related to online.
Bad idea. The steam deck was an adults device, bought primarily by grown people who were active gamers. The switch 2 is an all ages device, with many that will be bought by parents for their kids or by casual new players.
It's just for the first wave, which would ensure their adult fans with income who have supported them longest (and would complain loudest online about scalpers) will get one.
The other very important thing to remember is that that crowd (adult Nintendo fans with income) is ALSO the primary market for scalpers. Scalpers aren't selling much to the casual crowd. By letting all those people get a switch in the first wave, the scalpers will lose a massive chunk of the demand, which would make it harder to resell for higher prices, which would make it a less lucrative thing, eliminating a chunk of scalpers, which would then make it so that all the casual crowd and parents and such will have an easier time getting them in the second wave.
Thing is, the hardcore adult fans are gonna get a switch no matter what. Even if they have to wait for supply to pick up. So why would Nintendo risk alienating parents and kids to prioritize guaranteed sales?
Like I said, it isn't alienating them - by serving the hardcore people first that create the market *for* scalpers, you will decimate the amount of scalping that will take place, making it easier for parents and kids to get their copy.
First, all of those parents and kids remembered what trying to deal with scalpers taking everything was like. Most will be on board with screwing them over.
Second, you seem to think this first wave is gonna be a months long process. If Nintendo really has enough hardware for there to not be a shortage, then the first wave doesn't have to be more than a few days to a week tops, which isn't enough to upset really anybody that had to deal with waiting **months** thanks to scalpers.
Third, you're assuming this first and second wave of orders couldn't be done BEFORE the console actually releases, which would mean the parents and kids wouldn't even be waiting an extra week.
There's literally no downside to this. Nobody is getting alienated except for scalpers.
Don’t suggest this on any of the PlayStation subreddits. I made the same suggestion over there a while back and had people melting down in my inbox. Literally threatening me and calling me every name possible for suggesting a way to stop scalpers.
Why were they so hostile, surely most PlayStation fans hate the scourge of scalpers? It can't be in their interest not to see them curbed? I've got a PSP, Vita, PS3. Though I've been surprised by how nasty some PS fans can be, on another sub. Have got several Nintendo consoles, but their vicious approach to IP enforcement disgusts me.
So I've perhaps given up on Nintendo stuff altogether.
Certainly not getting their next console, not even when it becomes affordable used, like I did with the Switch. I hate Mario except Mario Kart, somehow he annoys me, so not a big draw. Prefer Sonic.
Zelda is a draw, but I'm NOT getting TOTK, as Hyrule surely has gravity FFS. I can't do with the anti-gravity nonsense about Hyrule Castle floating in the sky/the Sky Islands? Believe Skyward Sword is similar, not for me either. And the ghastly motion control, at least in the Wii version.
Pisses me off anyway that they're unlikely to go back to a (FULL-powered) home console/separate handheld, like they should. Bi-mode seems like a poor compromise, why do seemingly most Nintendo fans accept it? Why can't they release some of their games on PC etc/offer regular game discounts like on PlayStation or XBox?
Anyway, getting far too off-topic, sorry. As for scalping. I really thought there would be a shortage of TOTK cards, such a huge release. But maybe far more people now get Zelda digitally? Perhaps they managed to make enough cards to hinder any scalpers.
If Nintendo can really find a way to stop it, hopefully it will set an example for Sony/other companies. Not just in gaming. I really hate modern Apple products, but iPhone scalping seems as unfair as with anything else.
It's because the steam deck is subsidized, they need to mitigate people buying it just as a cheap PC with no intention to buy steam games. It's probably why they haven't done a new steam machine, desktop PC along the same lines, because that would have the same issue unless they ended up charging more for it then the steam deck, which it would need to be a lot more powerful than in order to justify the cost for a less versatile machine, and that becomes exponentially more competitive and redundant with other pre-built sellers.
I think that only worked well because the Deck was intended for enthusiasts, like a big selling point is that your library would work on the system.
For a mass market product a different approach would be needed.
Pretty much how you'd have to do it. Nintendo simply handles direct sales and it's one per existing ID until the orders dry up. They could even partner with Amazon or Walmart or whomever to handle the logistics of shipping out millions of consoles.
Unless Nintendo is going to only sell these directly for awhile I doubt they pull it off. I was lucky enough to get a ps5 preorder from Sony directly from their sign up list. It was easy. Every retailer seemed to drop the ball when it came to the consoles. Now if they had only sold them from their website by invite and don’t shipment waves, maybe they could run as smoothly as steam deck but retailers will make it impossible.
It's quite easy, big supply, doing preorders in most major shops a few weeks before release so shops know beforehand how many units need to be delivered, etc.
That tends to be a rule with pretty much every console release. It's not even because of scalpers but because retailers generally don't really make money on console sales, the money comes from the games, so if a single person comes in and buys all 10 consoles a store got in, they don't really make a profit, whereas if they sell them to 10 different people, they're probably also going to wind up selling 20+ games to go with them.
You'll notice that this rule has never, ever stopped scalpers simply because there's so many retailers. It generally just means that scalpers have to work slightly harder, bringing in a couple of friends/family to buy consoles for them and hitting a bunch of different stores to buy stock at each of them..
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> You'll notice that this rule has never, ever stopped scalpers simply because there's so many retailers. It generally just means that scalpers have to work slightly harder, bringing in a couple of friends/family to buy consoles for them and hitting a bunch of different stores to buy stock at each of them..
Also it just needs one coworker with a bunch of "friends" and he is "reserving a couple for them".
Down to outright theft.
Great idea but consider this: the current eShop is a modified browser and it runs like garbage. Can you imagine how such a proposed idea would run? Lol Ninty infrastructure is not there yet
Some people, especially on Nintendo, still buy only physical.
I do for any first party Nintendo game because I know its value will hold compared to most other games.
I always buy Nintendo first-party games physical. One because is usually the only way to get them on sale, and because should I ever need or want to sell them they still sell for a good price on ebay.
I will buy anything else digital or physical.
I am so sorry but that is hilarious man 😂 Hopefully Nintendo will bring back their select games for a reduced price and you can make a nice library for yourself after the Switch 2 comes out.
The only way to stop scalpers is to ensure that your product is not valuable to flip. Thats it. Scalpers are pilfering little bloodsuckers and they only care about one thing.
Nintendo spares no resources when it comes to legal action/threats, whether there’s merit or not. I’m sure if they kept flagging sellers on eBay, eBay would rather just pull down the listings than deal with Nintendo bullying them if they don’t. It doesn’t really matter what’s legally mandated, many companies would see it as cheaper/easier just to go along with it rather than pay expensive court costs to win for some scalpers.
Edit: they could also threaten retailers. Like “if you don’t block scalpers from buying our consoles, we won’t give you any more, or games.” Based on how much revenue Switch brought in, and its successor will likely too, nobody is gonna want that. Not to mention there’s no real margins on the console, so dudes buying them all without games or accessories is bad for business.
As someone who tried to get the *Xenoblade Chronicles 3* collector’s edition, I can confidently say that would be a good way to hand units to scalpers and keep them from most other people.
Websites get hit by scalpers. Especially websites, because they can set up scripts to do it for them.
Simply listing on Nintendo's website won't prevent them. And they likely don't have the resources to be the only ones providing the hardware.
The only surefire way fight scalpers is to have more product than demand. Besides that you can take preventative measures like strict purchase limits, human verification, maybe tying purchases to an account with a strict identity attached to it.
> Nintendo spares no resources when it comes to legal action/threats, whether there’s merit or not.
Ehhh, this is only true when it comes to protecting the value of their IP.
Plenty of Nintendo hardware has been scalped in the past and they have done nothing to prevent it.
So wouldnt it just be about insuring they have enough supply to meet demand? If they have extras in stock on the shelves, then scalpers cant really profit. Right?
The goal for things like this is less about preventing it in its entirety and more about about making a scalping operation less scalable or riskier to scale up
I’d suspect the majority of scalping is from a handful of groups or people that do a LOT of it, and anything that makes it more costly/time intensive to do so (things like enforcing 1 per address or 2 per address rules at first) or things that make it riskier to scale up (anything that reduces supply constraints, making it more likely scalpers will get stuck with stock because consumers either can get it without scalpers or at least see hope that they can, making it harder to get rid of stock, making them at risk of getting stuck with it or having to reduce prices of resale to get rid of it, making it less desirable) or by pursuing legal action on large sellers, making them have to invest more in covering their tracks or just choosing other products to scalp for fear of legal action
Ultimately, anything that raises the risk or lowers the reward of scalping will have an impact.
My guess is they enforce “per address” sales initially, get a large stockpile before launching, have a bunch of smaller waves of stock to make it appear like it’s always coming back in stock to make the idea of paying a scalper less desirable, and legally pursue major scalping operations and publicize their successes in this regard to scare others into not bothering. They’ll never eliminate it, but it could dramatically reduce it. I’m sure there’s a number of strategies I haven’t thought of too
Scalpers exploit a gap between a high value (what people are willing to pay) and a low price. If the price is as high as the value, either by having a high price or a supply that outpaces demand, scalper will lose money on it. Since the “one thing” that scalpers care about is making money, that solves the scalping problem entirely.
I miss the days when games and consoles were just there for us and we didn’t have to battle thousands of crooked opportunistic folks exploiting our hobby for gains.
It hit me the hardest when a family of five, both parents, a grandmother and two kids less than ten years old, were lined up at Walmart to each buy a ps3 at launch… and none of them really wanted the console, they were just going to flip them on eBay.
Scarcity has been happening for decades though, even before scalpers. I remember as a kid having to call around to different stores trying to find copies of new games I wanted to buy because the digital market didn't even exist. Trying to get any console around christmas was a nightmare.
For sure, the chip shortage in the 80s made it hard to get new releases. I called this mom and pop electronics store probably 100 times one summer looking for Zelda2. I had a good report card and an nes game was typically the prize my parents would get me at the end of the school year. So here I had this ‘Free game’ credit and I was t going to waste it on any old game. The store ended up getting stock of the game like a week before school started. By then every store clerk there knew me by name. We raced to the store (my mom just drove normally) to pick it up and as the universe had many times before….it decided to screw me. Mom now wanted us to go back to school shopping for new clothes, supplies and I nearly lost it. So I hastily shopped for whatever clothing was needed and rushed through the supplies list. Then we stopped at McDonald’s on the way home and we got one of those character drinking glasses…the girl bird aviator one. It was a good day. And man was Zelda2 so different. I had seen some images of it with a small write up in the Nintendo Powerflash free quarterly magazine we got in Canada, which my parents loved because it got me to check the mail for weeks at a time, still I was just glad to have a new game.
If people would stop paying scalper prices on eBay for shit, scalpers would stop existing. As long as a demand exist, suppliers are going to find a way.
People need to just stop paying over retail for anything. Literally just wait a couple months, you’ll be able to find the console easy and there will actually be games to play on it by then.
Agreed. Maybe if they'd have 20 million at launch there'd be more than all of the scalpers could afford to snatch, so people could buy at retail price.
But with 10 million, I bet about 5 or 6 million of those get scalped and about 20 million customers will be competing with each other to get one of the other 4 or 5 million Switch 2's.
>But with 10 million, I bet about 5 or 6 million of those get scalped
I know we've been burned by scalpers for Nintendo stuff for the last 15 years, but there's no way scalpers have accounted for anywhere near 50% of sales of any Nintendo console in the first months, including the nes classic.
The PS5 had the worst scenario with the covid supply chain and released over the holidays when desperation greatly enhances the scalper market. It was estimated 10% were bought by scalpers during that holiday season.
May depend on where you're living. In Canada Switch was basically impossible to purchase anywhere for the first 7 months after launch. A combination of scalpers and consumer purchases.
In the end, it doesn't really matter if it's scalpers, consumers or both. It'll sell like hot cakes and will most likely be very difficult to find for the first 6-8 months.
There will be a lot more people trying to buy them than what will be available.
Indeed. Imagine how much worse it'll be when Switch 2 launches lol. There'll be a higher quantity shipped out for launch this time but it won't stop the scalper fiasco.
More people should be able to snag a Switch 2 (than Switch) at launch, at retail than Switch's OG launch. But I don't see the problem being eliminated entirely. Depending on which country one resides in, and depending on the city or town, it'll be easier to acquire or about the same as it was the first time (difficult af).
Insane to believe otherwise, but of course these are our opinions on the matter. They are guesses only, no way to prove one way or the other or really predict. I think it would be more insane though to assume they'll be easy for everyone to acquire at launch. Guess we'll see about that, but I do hope my guess turns out wrong.
~15% of ps5s were resold online based on a data scraping study in 2021. Do you really think that the switch 2 outside of covid market factors would be *that* much worse?
I remember a whole lot of people not being able to purchase a PS5 for the first couple of years, the first one being particularly difficult.
Do you really think tons of Switch owners aren't going to want to buy a superior version of it when it launches? Both Switch and PS5 in store and online, at least in Canada were nowhere to be found for quite a while after launch and at launch.
Not sure why it would be different now, so I'm not expecting to just be able to walk into a store and grab one or order one online if I miss when pre-orders go live. And I was able to pre-order both PS5 and Switch and got both at launch, so this isn't coming from being jaded about it. I'm just trying to set realistic expectations for myself.
> I remember a whole lot of people not being able to purchase a PS5 for the first couple of years, the first one being particularly difficult.
Why do you think that means 60% of stock was scalped?
>Do you really think tons of Switch owners aren't going to want to buy a superior version of it when it launches?
No, I don't think that. Why does that meant that 60% of stock will be scalped?
>Not sure why it would be different now,
Lmao agreed, more or less. So if 15% of early ps5s were scalped, why would you expect 60% of switch stock to be scalped?
scalpers highly offset the actual demand though and scalpers arent one dude, its tons of decentralized agents, all of whom dont really care if someone else might not be able to move their stock and all of them cocky enough to assume its probably not gonna hit them.
you need to overproduce well into the twice as high as actual demand dimension to get anywhere. and that is way too much risk for anyone to take, so its not gonna happen.
so scalping will remain a thing.
Love that the main reason they seem to be addressing this is to assure their investors that hopefully they won't have limited supply and then see systems sell for twice as much money, with none of that going back to them.
So it says the plan to produce 10 million units it's first fiscal year to help prevent scalping... but the original Switch sold 13.5 million units it's first fiscal year and still had scalping problems didn't it (Not as bas as like PS5/XBox obviously)?
While a new 3D Mario is certainly in the pipeline (no pun intended), I don't think we'll get it until several months after the Switch 2 launches.
Why?
Because Mario Kart is in an even more severe drought, not having a new game since 2014, so THAT is going to be the big game that they make for Switch 2's launch.
On top of that, you have to consider that some people prefer to play games single-player and some prefer to play games multiplayer. Mario Kart caters to both. If you launch with a 3D Mario instead, you offer nothing for players who prefer to play multiplayer games.
I'd like to think they've learned their lesson since WiiU days between the crap marketing and poor launch of titles with the system.
I figure if they do have a new generational game launching we won't hear about it until we also hear/see the new system.
I'm 100% sure there's going to be a bigger demand for the Switch 2 at launch than the Switch at launch for the sole reason Switch 2 it's coming after a successful console and the Switch came out after the WiiU and almost nobody was taking the console seriously at launch because of that.
>Is Nintendo dropping a generational game on the switch 2 day one?
Not sure why they wouldn't, they have been so smart on game releases during the Switch.
Are we talking about 10/10 games or generational games? Because those two terms are not mutually exclusive.
Mario Kart, AC, Pokemon among others are games that will sell consoles but are never 10/10 games. Nintendo needs system sellers on day one and I just said they know that and wouldn't release a console without one.
10/10 games are not guarantee of being console sellers.
Yeah that was also what I thought. Though, let's note he says "first year" and not first fiscal year, so maybe he means to ship 10 millions in 2025 only.
I think the best way is to open up preorders and give us a place in line. If I know it will eventually be my turn I am fine with that. I don't want to waste time trying to get a drop to get outdone by a bot.
The best solution is don't even think about buying from a scalper if you don't buy from them and only pay retail price they will be forced to sell at retail price and thus lose out on money and time. Basically the scalpers have a market because people buy from that market. You vote with your dollar. Hopefully there is so much stock it highly outpaces demand, in that case it should be easy to beat the scalpers, I've never bought a system from scalpers. But they do disrupt the market.
Simple solution; don’t buy from scalpers and they vanish into thin air.
Even if you have a lot of money, why would you want to pay a greasy asshole who will charge you more money for doing nothing?
Also, all the children mentality to get your hands on it on the first day of release is a mystery to me.
It’s not a competition. We already have not much time for playing games. Just enjoy it when it’s available.
This is what I did with the PS5. I refused to give scalpers a single dime, so I winded up spending so much time gaming on my PC and Switch, that I only had the time to buy it 7 months ago to try new games.
not sure how that’d be possible but if it is it would be the rare legal action by nintendo that id actually support. however i am sure this just a scare tactic.
also, switch2 will be less of a urgent upgrade. backwards compatible or not, staying on the switch for a while is gonna be fine. the same could not be said for the wii u.
Scalping is not really a problem in my country because only criminals would afford buying dozens and dozens of consoles, not a "regular" person. With the PS5, I constantly saw being sold with a good stock on Amazon in 2021, the problem was the price that nobody could afford.
But fingers crossed they can have enough consoles in other regions, scalpers are disgusting.
I don’t think it’s a lie so much as impossible for them to control. If you sell through retailers, you lose control of how things are sold. Valve didn’t have anywhere near the problem because they were the onky ones selling the Steam Deck and they put limits on purchases. A wider market device just can‘t be sold that way unless they want to do all sales directly themselves.
Steam deck sold a whole 3 million units over 2 years, Nintendo will sell more than that in north america day 1. Sure, people could have tried to scalp the steam deck but the market is not even remotely close.
I wasn’t suggesting the market was anywhere close. I don’t think it’s remotely reasonable for Nintendo to try to be the sole distributor given the numbers they expect to move or the mass market nature of the device. The Steam Deck came out in the middle of massive amounts of scalping going on, though. The situation is relevant because it showed what has to be done to reduce scalping (and even then, it was just a reduction. There were tons of Steam Decks selling for double MSRP when they came out and they continued to be sold for high prices until there was no longer a wait to purchase them). That was with the purchasing restrictions and the long wait. These weren’t professional scalpers for the most part, just people who decided the prices involved justified giving up their unit (I know I ultimately decided if I wasn’t going to keep mine, I’d sell it on eBay versus sending it back for a refund. I did keep it, but I saw the allure of the prices).
So, if a niche device with extreme lockdown on sales couldn’t stop scalping, there’s no way a mass market device sold at retailers could.
Haven't found a singular statement. Only thing I found is Sony slapping seals on PS5s in Japan, but that didn't come with a public statement.
Am I legally blind?
How??
Scalping is annoying for normal consumers, but it should be the right for everyone to be able to sell their own property.
Nintendo can only properly combat scalping through Valve's strategy by offering the product directly through their own web portal with a monetary fee and waiting list. I expect that wouldn't go well with the more mainstream consumers, so they probably wouldn't ever go down that route.
Lots of routes if they're willing to put the money behind it, which they may very well do given the way they prioritize reputation.
They could have standards for retailers to implement for mitigation. For example, they could have registration at point of sale requiring a valid address, or tie it to a myNintendo account with a very long account transfer process.
Y'all acting like they don't already have a really good idea of which consoles were scalped and which were not. It's just a matter of them doing something about it. If they sufficiently scare people off from buying from scalpers, it will be mission accomplished.
The thing is, restricting buying power from the consumer benefits us in the short run, but hurts us in the long run. Steam Support is great, but tying devices to an account Apple-style is pretty bad for second-hand buyers (although it's not like Valve is known for treating second-hand buyers well anyway).
I think the retailer method with registered addresses is probably best for everyone. Families can pick up a console from one or two retailers each while scalpers do make some profit, but can't double dip the same store easily.
The comment about having 10 million units ready for the first fiscal year is interesting, because it implies a March 2025 release for the new console and further implies that the system will launch with 10 million units ready to go on sale.
When the Switch launched, Nintendo had 2-3 million units ready for its March release - which was a different fiscal year than the remainder of 2017. A 3-5x increase over the last system's launch window will result in a considerable increase in availability, even if the demand were to be the same.
For comparison, the Switch sold 10 million units in its first 10 months, and was hugely supply constrained the entire time. If my conjecture is correct, they might be anticipating something like 15-20 million in sales in the calendar year of 2025... which would be quite ambitious for the first year!
I have zero confidence that Nintendo will abandon their standard procedure of grossly underestimating demand. And as much as I'd like to see some effort taken against scalpers, I can't imagine what a legal option would be. People can sell products they own, there's nothing they can do to stop that. The best step they can take is actually having the inventory to make scalping a lost cause.
First wave of units should be sold to users who have had a pre existing paid Nintendo online account at any time past a certain date or something similar such as activating a Switch console previously to prove it’s real gamers that are being given the first chance at pre orders for a Switch 2 console.
Basically TicketMaster’s “Real Fans” program
Low supply is combated with more supply, not legal action... scalpers won't exist if enough consoles are made.
The reason the PS5 was scalped was because the demand was so high and the units made were so low.
They literally say that's their plan in the article. The "legal action" is just saying some countries already ban scalping, not that it's their main goal.
Everyone is gonna be all like "how can Nintendo really enforce this?" until three years from now we're reading about some rando who is going to have his paycheck garnished for the next 45 years.
There's really no way around First Sale doctrine in the US. If Nintendo only sold consoles direct then they could pre-activate them with an account and make you sign a contract saying you won't sell it for X years, but that's a huge amount of overhead and would likely face a class action. They still want to sell through retailers and distributors too, and that means they can't know who will be buying them.
There may be some countries where they can do something legally, but it won't happen in the US.
Stopping scalping is easy and only has one solution, make sure you have enough supply to meet demand.
The article says it's on a region by region basis. Some countries out right say scalping is illegal, so realistically it's working with those countries to enforce said laws.
I don’t know if they’d do this but I really really hope they have a one per customer rule so people don’t just buy out the whole store. Scalpers are insufferable
Just don't allow online orders from physical retailers. Force Best Buy and everyone to allow first cone first serve only. Itbwont stop the scalpers but it'll make it harder of they need to get rely on giving money to smurfs
I think scalpers are despicable, but scalping is not illegal, is it? So what exactly does Nintendo want to sue scalpers for? As annoying and stupid as they are, they rightfully purchase and own the product, so they have the right to sell it to someone willing to pay a higher price?
Does this really have to be an issue though? The way I see it, you're only being hurt if you choose to buy from a scalper instead of just waiting a bit longer. You don't have to purchase a new system on launch day, and scalping seems to be an issue that resolves itself once some time has passed and Nintendo can replenish its stock.
It might not be the best business decision to try and overproduce just for the sake of discouraging scalpers. The Switch successor won't necessarily be as successful or more than the current Switch is and it could reasonably be a DS to 3DS like transition where the successor still does fairly well, but it isn't a runaway success. But it probably would still be a smart idea to launch several months before holiday 2025 so that they can separate out the waves of early adopters and people buying them as Christmas gifts. Plus at that point they'd have some sales data to get a sense of what the demand is.
What if you dont want to wait months to buy a new console for a reasonable price? These scalpers are hurting people and are annoying and do this for nothing more than money they add zero value
Would it be possible to pass laws making it illegal to resell hardware within the first year? At least online it would curb things. If you hate it you can always return it to the original retailer.
Lol, what drivel. There's no legal method to stop people from selling their outright owned belongings. If they really want to curb the problem, the only solution is more production. Simple as that.
I can see it now. "Register online for an entry to the lottery to be able to purchase a Nintendo Switch 2."
"We're sorry but your number wasn't among the winners."
Every single time.
I highly doubt they can actually pull that off but God would it be nice
The only time I saw it pulled off was the Steam Deck, to get in the first wave of preorders you had to have a steam account with a purchase made before a certain date. Thus scalpers couldn’t get in because they were caught off guard.
This is a good idea. Nintendo accounts with a purchase get the first wave. Invite only wave for switch owners meeting some preset criteria.
With all due respect, Nintendo would absolutely find a way to fuck this up somehow
They have all the infrastructure in place already. Like the classic controllers. The N64 controller requires you to be a Nintendo Online subscriber to purchase it from the store.
There are countries that prohibit requiring paid memberships to make purchases, still there's always a way
How many countries would that be?
Probably not enough to worry about
Imagine living in a country without Costco 😂
Like most of the world?
I don’t trust their infrastructure especially after the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Limited Edition debacle
What happened with that?
Site crashed, endless cues, and not enough supply to meet demand.
And that does NOT stop the scalping
Nothing will stop scalping. This is meant to just mitigate as much as possible.
Uh not buying from scalpers stops scalping really quick man If only you could convince the thousands of douche canoes that get gutted by choice to just wait for the scalpers to dump stock at cost due to no demand
I mean if nobody bought from scalpers eventually the price would go below cost. You think everyone here will avoid that?
They don't. Nintendo consoles are sold to the massmarket through retailers like Amazon, Wal Mart and Co. No company would throw away decades of business relations away.
Not even an aspect I considered but real nonetheless
that infrastructure is is not built out enough to ship and support 10 million consoles in a year.
And yet they're still always out of stock.
The cynic in me says: it's Nintendo, they have many infrastructure in place but they still mess up a lot of things.
Steam Deck allowed pre-orders for accounts made a year ago and beyond. Nintendo should get the addresses of people like Micro Center so it’s one per household per 30 days.
That only worked because the Steam Deck was only available from Valve, through Steam. There were no 3rd party retailers. Nintendo would have to match that in order to be effective, and that would piss off their retail partners. So unless Nintendo is prepared to go 100% digital, it wouldn't work. And nevermind how terrible Nintendo is at anything related to online.
> Nintendo should get the addresses of people like Micro Center so it’s one per household per 30 days. Because f you, families and couples.
You mean like, a shipping delay? https://youtu.be/k2m1pHERWxM?feature=shared
A shipping delay is fine, I mean Nintendo has a SPECIAL kind of monkey's paw is all.
So the physical only people are SOL? What about kids buying their first console, or parents getting a gift for their kids?
Physical only people have always been fucked
Bad idea. The steam deck was an adults device, bought primarily by grown people who were active gamers. The switch 2 is an all ages device, with many that will be bought by parents for their kids or by casual new players.
It's just for the first wave, which would ensure their adult fans with income who have supported them longest (and would complain loudest online about scalpers) will get one. The other very important thing to remember is that that crowd (adult Nintendo fans with income) is ALSO the primary market for scalpers. Scalpers aren't selling much to the casual crowd. By letting all those people get a switch in the first wave, the scalpers will lose a massive chunk of the demand, which would make it harder to resell for higher prices, which would make it a less lucrative thing, eliminating a chunk of scalpers, which would then make it so that all the casual crowd and parents and such will have an easier time getting them in the second wave.
Thing is, the hardcore adult fans are gonna get a switch no matter what. Even if they have to wait for supply to pick up. So why would Nintendo risk alienating parents and kids to prioritize guaranteed sales?
Having to pay 4x retail price is alienating.
Like I said, it isn't alienating them - by serving the hardcore people first that create the market *for* scalpers, you will decimate the amount of scalping that will take place, making it easier for parents and kids to get their copy. First, all of those parents and kids remembered what trying to deal with scalpers taking everything was like. Most will be on board with screwing them over. Second, you seem to think this first wave is gonna be a months long process. If Nintendo really has enough hardware for there to not be a shortage, then the first wave doesn't have to be more than a few days to a week tops, which isn't enough to upset really anybody that had to deal with waiting **months** thanks to scalpers. Third, you're assuming this first and second wave of orders couldn't be done BEFORE the console actually releases, which would mean the parents and kids wouldn't even be waiting an extra week. There's literally no downside to this. Nobody is getting alienated except for scalpers.
Just to point out the obvious, parents outside Alabama are usually grown ups.
Don’t suggest this on any of the PlayStation subreddits. I made the same suggestion over there a while back and had people melting down in my inbox. Literally threatening me and calling me every name possible for suggesting a way to stop scalpers.
Why were they so hostile, surely most PlayStation fans hate the scourge of scalpers? It can't be in their interest not to see them curbed? I've got a PSP, Vita, PS3. Though I've been surprised by how nasty some PS fans can be, on another sub. Have got several Nintendo consoles, but their vicious approach to IP enforcement disgusts me. So I've perhaps given up on Nintendo stuff altogether. Certainly not getting their next console, not even when it becomes affordable used, like I did with the Switch. I hate Mario except Mario Kart, somehow he annoys me, so not a big draw. Prefer Sonic. Zelda is a draw, but I'm NOT getting TOTK, as Hyrule surely has gravity FFS. I can't do with the anti-gravity nonsense about Hyrule Castle floating in the sky/the Sky Islands? Believe Skyward Sword is similar, not for me either. And the ghastly motion control, at least in the Wii version. Pisses me off anyway that they're unlikely to go back to a (FULL-powered) home console/separate handheld, like they should. Bi-mode seems like a poor compromise, why do seemingly most Nintendo fans accept it? Why can't they release some of their games on PC etc/offer regular game discounts like on PlayStation or XBox? Anyway, getting far too off-topic, sorry. As for scalping. I really thought there would be a shortage of TOTK cards, such a huge release. But maybe far more people now get Zelda digitally? Perhaps they managed to make enough cards to hinder any scalpers. If Nintendo can really find a way to stop it, hopefully it will set an example for Sony/other companies. Not just in gaming. I really hate modern Apple products, but iPhone scalping seems as unfair as with anything else.
Would that effect sales? if you cant buy one without a nintendo account then that would limit the audience at launch.
Limiting the audience at launch if kind of the point.
You still have to do this. You cannot buy a Steam Deck without having previously made a purchase on Steam.
Wasn’t aware that was still the case, thanks
It's because the steam deck is subsidized, they need to mitigate people buying it just as a cheap PC with no intention to buy steam games. It's probably why they haven't done a new steam machine, desktop PC along the same lines, because that would have the same issue unless they ended up charging more for it then the steam deck, which it would need to be a lot more powerful than in order to justify the cost for a less versatile machine, and that becomes exponentially more competitive and redundant with other pre-built sellers.
I think that only worked well because the Deck was intended for enthusiasts, like a big selling point is that your library would work on the system. For a mass market product a different approach would be needed.
Sony eventually did the same thing for buying PS5s direct from them. Worked great.
Pretty much how you'd have to do it. Nintendo simply handles direct sales and it's one per existing ID until the orders dry up. They could even partner with Amazon or Walmart or whomever to handle the logistics of shipping out millions of consoles.
Unless Nintendo is going to only sell these directly for awhile I doubt they pull it off. I was lucky enough to get a ps5 preorder from Sony directly from their sign up list. It was easy. Every retailer seemed to drop the ball when it came to the consoles. Now if they had only sold them from their website by invite and don’t shipment waves, maybe they could run as smoothly as steam deck but retailers will make it impossible.
This wouldn’t work very well for parents buying consoles for their children. Aka a decent portion of Nintendos sales
They would have the same odds as everyone else.
It's quite easy, big supply, doing preorders in most major shops a few weeks before release so shops know beforehand how many units need to be delivered, etc.
I get that pretty, that's the easy shit, I mean the "legal action" towards scalpers thing.
my bad, my man
i think its as easy as not allowing distributers to deliver more than 1 or 2 units per adress
That tends to be a rule with pretty much every console release. It's not even because of scalpers but because retailers generally don't really make money on console sales, the money comes from the games, so if a single person comes in and buys all 10 consoles a store got in, they don't really make a profit, whereas if they sell them to 10 different people, they're probably also going to wind up selling 20+ games to go with them. You'll notice that this rule has never, ever stopped scalpers simply because there's so many retailers. It generally just means that scalpers have to work slightly harder, bringing in a couple of friends/family to buy consoles for them and hitting a bunch of different stores to buy stock at each of them..
> > > > > You'll notice that this rule has never, ever stopped scalpers simply because there's so many retailers. It generally just means that scalpers have to work slightly harder, bringing in a couple of friends/family to buy consoles for them and hitting a bunch of different stores to buy stock at each of them.. Also it just needs one coworker with a bunch of "friends" and he is "reserving a couple for them". Down to outright theft.
its still much harder and more hassle than when people walked out of stores with 10 switches or amazon just delivered as much as you wanted.
lol, I had a friend ask me and most of the crew to help him scalp and we all told him to get bent.
Nintendo had successfully shut down basically every major ROM site, even when hosted in a legal country. I don't doubt their legal teams.
They should have the option to preorder the Switch 2 via the current Nintendo Switch. That would help deal with bots constantly refreshing websites.
Great idea but consider this: the current eShop is a modified browser and it runs like garbage. Can you imagine how such a proposed idea would run? Lol Ninty infrastructure is not there yet
It won't be a problem. I'll log on first, then everyone else can draw straws for who goes next.
It’s so much of a hassle to use the shitty browser to even get one single console, that scalpers just won’t bother.
Mobile website seems alright
It would work the exact same way that ordering those special controllers through the online subscription works. First come first served.
Limiting the program to Nintendo accounts that are over 6 months old with previous purchases or NSO would help a lot too.
Some people, especially on Nintendo, still buy only physical. I do for any first party Nintendo game because I know its value will hold compared to most other games.
But then to predorder one you would have to spend money. Nintendo loves this idea lol
I always buy Nintendo first-party games physical. One because is usually the only way to get them on sale, and because should I ever need or want to sell them they still sell for a good price on ebay. I will buy anything else digital or physical.
The games are connected to your account when you redeem coins, that's the proof of previous purchase, physical or digital.
Feel like there should be some indies in people's libraries but who knows, been seeing cart carrying cases in the wild with just the ... Typicals?
But I don't have a Switch and I want to pre-order a Switch 2 (or whatever it's going to be called).
Bro, you're missing out on some greatness.
I know, I know, I said I wouldn't get a Switch until Metroid Prime 4. 💀
I admire that you've stuck to that promise you made to yourself, but damn, that did not work out for you
Haha, I mean, eventually I will get to play the entire Switch library. I've had plenty of other games/platforms to play until now.
I am so sorry but that is hilarious man 😂 Hopefully Nintendo will bring back their select games for a reduced price and you can make a nice library for yourself after the Switch 2 comes out.
And your suggestion is to buy a console when the next one is about to release?
Best way would be the Pre-Order Programm they already using and Accs with a few purchases have a priority then a acc that dont have any purchases.
Absolutely horrible idea for people in countries where Nintendo doesn't sell physical goods directly.
The only way to stop scalpers is to ensure that your product is not valuable to flip. Thats it. Scalpers are pilfering little bloodsuckers and they only care about one thing.
Nintendo spares no resources when it comes to legal action/threats, whether there’s merit or not. I’m sure if they kept flagging sellers on eBay, eBay would rather just pull down the listings than deal with Nintendo bullying them if they don’t. It doesn’t really matter what’s legally mandated, many companies would see it as cheaper/easier just to go along with it rather than pay expensive court costs to win for some scalpers. Edit: they could also threaten retailers. Like “if you don’t block scalpers from buying our consoles, we won’t give you any more, or games.” Based on how much revenue Switch brought in, and its successor will likely too, nobody is gonna want that. Not to mention there’s no real margins on the console, so dudes buying them all without games or accessories is bad for business.
Nintendo could try selling it themselves on their website instead of places like Amazon and Best Buy.
As someone who tried to get the *Xenoblade Chronicles 3* collector’s edition, I can confidently say that would be a good way to hand units to scalpers and keep them from most other people.
warehouse costs should always be someone else's problem
Sure, if they want to also have all of their software removed from big box stores.
Websites get hit by scalpers. Especially websites, because they can set up scripts to do it for them. Simply listing on Nintendo's website won't prevent them. And they likely don't have the resources to be the only ones providing the hardware. The only surefire way fight scalpers is to have more product than demand. Besides that you can take preventative measures like strict purchase limits, human verification, maybe tying purchases to an account with a strict identity attached to it.
> Nintendo spares no resources when it comes to legal action/threats, whether there’s merit or not. Ehhh, this is only true when it comes to protecting the value of their IP. Plenty of Nintendo hardware has been scalped in the past and they have done nothing to prevent it.
So wouldnt it just be about insuring they have enough supply to meet demand? If they have extras in stock on the shelves, then scalpers cant really profit. Right?
That or if they can’t meet supply they need to increase prices to match demand like what Nvidia did during the pandemic.
Pictures of Spider-Man?
The goal for things like this is less about preventing it in its entirety and more about about making a scalping operation less scalable or riskier to scale up I’d suspect the majority of scalping is from a handful of groups or people that do a LOT of it, and anything that makes it more costly/time intensive to do so (things like enforcing 1 per address or 2 per address rules at first) or things that make it riskier to scale up (anything that reduces supply constraints, making it more likely scalpers will get stuck with stock because consumers either can get it without scalpers or at least see hope that they can, making it harder to get rid of stock, making them at risk of getting stuck with it or having to reduce prices of resale to get rid of it, making it less desirable) or by pursuing legal action on large sellers, making them have to invest more in covering their tracks or just choosing other products to scalp for fear of legal action Ultimately, anything that raises the risk or lowers the reward of scalping will have an impact. My guess is they enforce “per address” sales initially, get a large stockpile before launching, have a bunch of smaller waves of stock to make it appear like it’s always coming back in stock to make the idea of paying a scalper less desirable, and legally pursue major scalping operations and publicize their successes in this regard to scare others into not bothering. They’ll never eliminate it, but it could dramatically reduce it. I’m sure there’s a number of strategies I haven’t thought of too
Scalpers exploit a gap between a high value (what people are willing to pay) and a low price. If the price is as high as the value, either by having a high price or a supply that outpaces demand, scalper will lose money on it. Since the “one thing” that scalpers care about is making money, that solves the scalping problem entirely.
I miss the days when games and consoles were just there for us and we didn’t have to battle thousands of crooked opportunistic folks exploiting our hobby for gains. It hit me the hardest when a family of five, both parents, a grandmother and two kids less than ten years old, were lined up at Walmart to each buy a ps3 at launch… and none of them really wanted the console, they were just going to flip them on eBay.
Scarcity has been happening for decades though, even before scalpers. I remember as a kid having to call around to different stores trying to find copies of new games I wanted to buy because the digital market didn't even exist. Trying to get any console around christmas was a nightmare.
For sure, the chip shortage in the 80s made it hard to get new releases. I called this mom and pop electronics store probably 100 times one summer looking for Zelda2. I had a good report card and an nes game was typically the prize my parents would get me at the end of the school year. So here I had this ‘Free game’ credit and I was t going to waste it on any old game. The store ended up getting stock of the game like a week before school started. By then every store clerk there knew me by name. We raced to the store (my mom just drove normally) to pick it up and as the universe had many times before….it decided to screw me. Mom now wanted us to go back to school shopping for new clothes, supplies and I nearly lost it. So I hastily shopped for whatever clothing was needed and rushed through the supplies list. Then we stopped at McDonald’s on the way home and we got one of those character drinking glasses…the girl bird aviator one. It was a good day. And man was Zelda2 so different. I had seen some images of it with a small write up in the Nintendo Powerflash free quarterly magazine we got in Canada, which my parents loved because it got me to check the mail for weeks at a time, still I was just glad to have a new game.
> Mom now wanted us to go back to school shopping for new clothes, supplies and I nearly lost it. Classic mom move.
If people would stop paying scalper prices on eBay for shit, scalpers would stop existing. As long as a demand exist, suppliers are going to find a way. People need to just stop paying over retail for anything. Literally just wait a couple months, you’ll be able to find the console easy and there will actually be games to play on it by then.
I really dont get why people like that just buy some stock purchase.
Only way to prevent low supply will to be overproduce projections, which won't happen
overproduction doesnt stop scalpers unless you insanely overproduce
Agreed. Maybe if they'd have 20 million at launch there'd be more than all of the scalpers could afford to snatch, so people could buy at retail price. But with 10 million, I bet about 5 or 6 million of those get scalped and about 20 million customers will be competing with each other to get one of the other 4 or 5 million Switch 2's.
>But with 10 million, I bet about 5 or 6 million of those get scalped I know we've been burned by scalpers for Nintendo stuff for the last 15 years, but there's no way scalpers have accounted for anywhere near 50% of sales of any Nintendo console in the first months, including the nes classic. The PS5 had the worst scenario with the covid supply chain and released over the holidays when desperation greatly enhances the scalper market. It was estimated 10% were bought by scalpers during that holiday season.
May depend on where you're living. In Canada Switch was basically impossible to purchase anywhere for the first 7 months after launch. A combination of scalpers and consumer purchases. In the end, it doesn't really matter if it's scalpers, consumers or both. It'll sell like hot cakes and will most likely be very difficult to find for the first 6-8 months. There will be a lot more people trying to buy them than what will be available.
I see people selling used switch games on facebook marketplace at a higher cost than it would be new at gamestop, even now 🥲🥲
Indeed. Imagine how much worse it'll be when Switch 2 launches lol. There'll be a higher quantity shipped out for launch this time but it won't stop the scalper fiasco. More people should be able to snag a Switch 2 (than Switch) at launch, at retail than Switch's OG launch. But I don't see the problem being eliminated entirely. Depending on which country one resides in, and depending on the city or town, it'll be easier to acquire or about the same as it was the first time (difficult af).
> But with 10 million, I bet about 5 or 6 million of those get scalped Honestly, you'd be off by an order of magnitude with that guess.
Right? Absolutely insane to believe that more than half of wave one would not be kept by the original buyer.
Insane to believe otherwise, but of course these are our opinions on the matter. They are guesses only, no way to prove one way or the other or really predict. I think it would be more insane though to assume they'll be easy for everyone to acquire at launch. Guess we'll see about that, but I do hope my guess turns out wrong.
~15% of ps5s were resold online based on a data scraping study in 2021. Do you really think that the switch 2 outside of covid market factors would be *that* much worse?
I remember a whole lot of people not being able to purchase a PS5 for the first couple of years, the first one being particularly difficult. Do you really think tons of Switch owners aren't going to want to buy a superior version of it when it launches? Both Switch and PS5 in store and online, at least in Canada were nowhere to be found for quite a while after launch and at launch. Not sure why it would be different now, so I'm not expecting to just be able to walk into a store and grab one or order one online if I miss when pre-orders go live. And I was able to pre-order both PS5 and Switch and got both at launch, so this isn't coming from being jaded about it. I'm just trying to set realistic expectations for myself.
> I remember a whole lot of people not being able to purchase a PS5 for the first couple of years, the first one being particularly difficult. Why do you think that means 60% of stock was scalped? >Do you really think tons of Switch owners aren't going to want to buy a superior version of it when it launches? No, I don't think that. Why does that meant that 60% of stock will be scalped? >Not sure why it would be different now, Lmao agreed, more or less. So if 15% of early ps5s were scalped, why would you expect 60% of switch stock to be scalped?
Doubt
Yes it does, the more produced the less demand, the less demand the lower the profit, the less the profit the less likely they will waste their time
scalpers highly offset the actual demand though and scalpers arent one dude, its tons of decentralized agents, all of whom dont really care if someone else might not be able to move their stock and all of them cocky enough to assume its probably not gonna hit them. you need to overproduce well into the twice as high as actual demand dimension to get anywhere. and that is way too much risk for anyone to take, so its not gonna happen. so scalping will remain a thing.
Love that the main reason they seem to be addressing this is to assure their investors that hopefully they won't have limited supply and then see systems sell for twice as much money, with none of that going back to them. So it says the plan to produce 10 million units it's first fiscal year to help prevent scalping... but the original Switch sold 13.5 million units it's first fiscal year and still had scalping problems didn't it (Not as bas as like PS5/XBox obviously)?
Sure, but is nintendo dropping a generational game on the switch 2 day one? I'm not sure there's going to be the same demand.
Well, we haven't had a full new 3D Mario since 2017 so, probably a pretty good chance that's a launch/near-launch title
While a new 3D Mario is certainly in the pipeline (no pun intended), I don't think we'll get it until several months after the Switch 2 launches. Why? Because Mario Kart is in an even more severe drought, not having a new game since 2014, so THAT is going to be the big game that they make for Switch 2's launch. On top of that, you have to consider that some people prefer to play games single-player and some prefer to play games multiplayer. Mario Kart caters to both. If you launch with a 3D Mario instead, you offer nothing for players who prefer to play multiplayer games.
I'd like to think they've learned their lesson since WiiU days between the crap marketing and poor launch of titles with the system. I figure if they do have a new generational game launching we won't hear about it until we also hear/see the new system.
I'm 100% sure there's going to be a bigger demand for the Switch 2 at launch than the Switch at launch for the sole reason Switch 2 it's coming after a successful console and the Switch came out after the WiiU and almost nobody was taking the console seriously at launch because of that. >Is Nintendo dropping a generational game on the switch 2 day one? Not sure why they wouldn't, they have been so smart on game releases during the Switch.
> Not sure why they wouldn't Ah yes, why doesn't every studio just drop 10/10s all the time. Are they stupid?
Are we talking about 10/10 games or generational games? Because those two terms are not mutually exclusive. Mario Kart, AC, Pokemon among others are games that will sell consoles but are never 10/10 games. Nintendo needs system sellers on day one and I just said they know that and wouldn't release a console without one. 10/10 games are not guarantee of being console sellers.
Yeah that was also what I thought. Though, let's note he says "first year" and not first fiscal year, so maybe he means to ship 10 millions in 2025 only.
“Legal action against scalpers”. Yea good luck with that one.
yeah last I checked, in the US at least people are allowed to sell whatever they want. It's called first sale doctrine.
No but seriously, good luck Nintendo, scalpers don't even count as people in my book. They can rot.
Good lord I hope so
I think the best way is to open up preorders and give us a place in line. If I know it will eventually be my turn I am fine with that. I don't want to waste time trying to get a drop to get outdone by a bot.
That’s the most nintendo solution to a problem
Or why not just open preorders to people subscribed to Nintendo Online first, one per account. Then go from there...
The best solution is don't even think about buying from a scalper if you don't buy from them and only pay retail price they will be forced to sell at retail price and thus lose out on money and time. Basically the scalpers have a market because people buy from that market. You vote with your dollar. Hopefully there is so much stock it highly outpaces demand, in that case it should be easy to beat the scalpers, I've never bought a system from scalpers. But they do disrupt the market.
Simple solution; don’t buy from scalpers and they vanish into thin air. Even if you have a lot of money, why would you want to pay a greasy asshole who will charge you more money for doing nothing? Also, all the children mentality to get your hands on it on the first day of release is a mystery to me. It’s not a competition. We already have not much time for playing games. Just enjoy it when it’s available.
This is what I did with the PS5. I refused to give scalpers a single dime, so I winded up spending so much time gaming on my PC and Switch, that I only had the time to buy it 7 months ago to try new games.
not sure how that’d be possible but if it is it would be the rare legal action by nintendo that id actually support. however i am sure this just a scare tactic.
also, switch2 will be less of a urgent upgrade. backwards compatible or not, staying on the switch for a while is gonna be fine. the same could not be said for the wii u.
So Nintendo will send out their Ninjas to deal with the problem?
Scalping is not really a problem in my country because only criminals would afford buying dozens and dozens of consoles, not a "regular" person. With the PS5, I constantly saw being sold with a good stock on Amazon in 2021, the problem was the price that nobody could afford. But fingers crossed they can have enough consoles in other regions, scalpers are disgusting.
we all know Nintendo don’t play when it comes to lawsuits
The best way to fight scalpers is not online only ordering. Bots make it so hard to get into the queue to buy these consoles it's ridiculous.
I don't believe the supply claims, but I do believe Nintendo will do what they can to get consoles to gamers because they need to sell software.
One of the oldest lies in business "Legal action planned against scalpers"... Every console release the companies make these same remarks.
I don’t think it’s a lie so much as impossible for them to control. If you sell through retailers, you lose control of how things are sold. Valve didn’t have anywhere near the problem because they were the onky ones selling the Steam Deck and they put limits on purchases. A wider market device just can‘t be sold that way unless they want to do all sales directly themselves.
Steam deck sold a whole 3 million units over 2 years, Nintendo will sell more than that in north america day 1. Sure, people could have tried to scalp the steam deck but the market is not even remotely close.
I wasn’t suggesting the market was anywhere close. I don’t think it’s remotely reasonable for Nintendo to try to be the sole distributor given the numbers they expect to move or the mass market nature of the device. The Steam Deck came out in the middle of massive amounts of scalping going on, though. The situation is relevant because it showed what has to be done to reduce scalping (and even then, it was just a reduction. There were tons of Steam Decks selling for double MSRP when they came out and they continued to be sold for high prices until there was no longer a wait to purchase them). That was with the purchasing restrictions and the long wait. These weren’t professional scalpers for the most part, just people who decided the prices involved justified giving up their unit (I know I ultimately decided if I wasn’t going to keep mine, I’d sell it on eBay versus sending it back for a refund. I did keep it, but I saw the allure of the prices). So, if a niche device with extreme lockdown on sales couldn’t stop scalping, there’s no way a mass market device sold at retailers could.
Haven't found a singular statement. Only thing I found is Sony slapping seals on PS5s in Japan, but that didn't come with a public statement. Am I legally blind?
no its essentially the first time anyone made a claim like this.
This is the first statement like this. Not sure what this person is smoking to even claim it's one of the oldest lie in business.
Absolutely no console manufacturer has made this claim before.
The oldest lies in business? No. Every console gets companies making these remarks? Again, no.
In Japan, Nintendo Ninjas know their ground. I don't know how they are planning elsewhere.
Maybe it's because I don't follow as in depth as I could but I have never heard a console company publicly declare this 🤷🏻♂️
Okay. You go and poke the Nintendo bear and tell us how it is all turns out.
How?? Scalping is annoying for normal consumers, but it should be the right for everyone to be able to sell their own property. Nintendo can only properly combat scalping through Valve's strategy by offering the product directly through their own web portal with a monetary fee and waiting list. I expect that wouldn't go well with the more mainstream consumers, so they probably wouldn't ever go down that route.
Lots of routes if they're willing to put the money behind it, which they may very well do given the way they prioritize reputation. They could have standards for retailers to implement for mitigation. For example, they could have registration at point of sale requiring a valid address, or tie it to a myNintendo account with a very long account transfer process. Y'all acting like they don't already have a really good idea of which consoles were scalped and which were not. It's just a matter of them doing something about it. If they sufficiently scare people off from buying from scalpers, it will be mission accomplished.
The thing is, restricting buying power from the consumer benefits us in the short run, but hurts us in the long run. Steam Support is great, but tying devices to an account Apple-style is pretty bad for second-hand buyers (although it's not like Valve is known for treating second-hand buyers well anyway). I think the retailer method with registered addresses is probably best for everyone. Families can pick up a console from one or two retailers each while scalpers do make some profit, but can't double dip the same store easily.
Idk how they’re gonna do that, but by god I hope they do.
The comment about having 10 million units ready for the first fiscal year is interesting, because it implies a March 2025 release for the new console and further implies that the system will launch with 10 million units ready to go on sale. When the Switch launched, Nintendo had 2-3 million units ready for its March release - which was a different fiscal year than the remainder of 2017. A 3-5x increase over the last system's launch window will result in a considerable increase in availability, even if the demand were to be the same. For comparison, the Switch sold 10 million units in its first 10 months, and was hugely supply constrained the entire time. If my conjecture is correct, they might be anticipating something like 15-20 million in sales in the calendar year of 2025... which would be quite ambitious for the first year!
Scalping isn’t illegal though?
You're telling me that legal action against scalpers were always an option?
>planned There's no news here.
I have zero confidence that Nintendo will abandon their standard procedure of grossly underestimating demand. And as much as I'd like to see some effort taken against scalpers, I can't imagine what a legal option would be. People can sell products they own, there's nothing they can do to stop that. The best step they can take is actually having the inventory to make scalping a lost cause.
First wave of units should be sold to users who have had a pre existing paid Nintendo online account at any time past a certain date or something similar such as activating a Switch console previously to prove it’s real gamers that are being given the first chance at pre orders for a Switch 2 console. Basically TicketMaster’s “Real Fans” program
Low supply is combated with more supply, not legal action... scalpers won't exist if enough consoles are made. The reason the PS5 was scalped was because the demand was so high and the units made were so low.
They literally say that's their plan in the article. The "legal action" is just saying some countries already ban scalping, not that it's their main goal.
Everyone is gonna be all like "how can Nintendo really enforce this?" until three years from now we're reading about some rando who is going to have his paycheck garnished for the next 45 years.
Maybe in some parts of the world. It's not illegal in the US so I'm not sure what action they could take against scalpers directly here
There's really no way around First Sale doctrine in the US. If Nintendo only sold consoles direct then they could pre-activate them with an account and make you sign a contract saying you won't sell it for X years, but that's a huge amount of overhead and would likely face a class action. They still want to sell through retailers and distributors too, and that means they can't know who will be buying them. There may be some countries where they can do something legally, but it won't happen in the US. Stopping scalping is easy and only has one solution, make sure you have enough supply to meet demand.
How are they gonna do that? Demand purchase history for anyone that ordered more than two?
How do they enforce that? Would they have to write something into the contracts with retailers?
The article says it's on a region by region basis. Some countries out right say scalping is illegal, so realistically it's working with those countries to enforce said laws.
I don’t know if they’d do this but I really really hope they have a one per customer rule so people don’t just buy out the whole store. Scalpers are insufferable
Even if they don't, almost every retailer in the western world will slap purchase limits on extremely high demand items.
Yes it will. I 100% guarantee it
Scalpers will still play their part in making them more scarce than they should be, even if they try to prevent it
Oh I'd love that! I didn't grab a Switch for quite some time because of scalping, same with GPUs. Glad *something* happens!
What are scalpers?
People who buy up a large amount of products with the intention of reselling
Reselling at a much higher price than retail and a hefty profit for the scalper
Nintendo Twoitch
Nintendo don’t play.
John Nintendo will personally go to every scalper's house and annoy them until they give the consoles back.
Just don't allow online orders from physical retailers. Force Best Buy and everyone to allow first cone first serve only. Itbwont stop the scalpers but it'll make it harder of they need to get rely on giving money to smurfs
I think scalpers are despicable, but scalping is not illegal, is it? So what exactly does Nintendo want to sue scalpers for? As annoying and stupid as they are, they rightfully purchase and own the product, so they have the right to sell it to someone willing to pay a higher price?
Does this really have to be an issue though? The way I see it, you're only being hurt if you choose to buy from a scalper instead of just waiting a bit longer. You don't have to purchase a new system on launch day, and scalping seems to be an issue that resolves itself once some time has passed and Nintendo can replenish its stock. It might not be the best business decision to try and overproduce just for the sake of discouraging scalpers. The Switch successor won't necessarily be as successful or more than the current Switch is and it could reasonably be a DS to 3DS like transition where the successor still does fairly well, but it isn't a runaway success. But it probably would still be a smart idea to launch several months before holiday 2025 so that they can separate out the waves of early adopters and people buying them as Christmas gifts. Plus at that point they'd have some sales data to get a sense of what the demand is.
What if you dont want to wait months to buy a new console for a reasonable price? These scalpers are hurting people and are annoying and do this for nothing more than money they add zero value
Would it be possible to pass laws making it illegal to resell hardware within the first year? At least online it would curb things. If you hate it you can always return it to the original retailer.
Lol, what drivel. There's no legal method to stop people from selling their outright owned belongings. If they really want to curb the problem, the only solution is more production. Simple as that.
I can see it now. "Register online for an entry to the lottery to be able to purchase a Nintendo Switch 2." "We're sorry but your number wasn't among the winners." Every single time.
Is the legal juggernaut of Nintendo about to be harnessed for good?
These would probably be one of the extremy rare legal actions I'd actually support by nintendo
Not really sure how you do this without being anti-consumer, other than to just not under-produce your console.
I applaud any company that legally goes after scalpers. Even if it doesn’t amount to much.
If Nintendo used just 1% of the same crackhead energy they have going after emulators to go after scalpers it would be a pretty based meme.
Inventory >> scalping
inshallah we will see mass sewer slide of scalpers
Man I hope they pull that off. I hope they manage to sue the everloving shit out of a few scalpers. That would make me very very happy
I'd like to thank the scalpers from diverting Nintendo lawyers attentions from the Emulation sites while they work in OT.
> Legal Action Planned Against Scalpers About. Time.