Nintendo's been making plans to stop scalpers from hoarding Switch 2 consoles and then reselling them for extortionate prices, like they did with the PS5 launch, but the publisher might not have even needed to - fans are fighting off scalpers all on their own, too.
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders have gone live almost everywhere in the world - apart from the USA because of all those tariffs, sorry - and scalpers were, of course, right behind, waiting to buy up any available stock and attempt to resell the consoles with price tags far higher than even Nintendo's.
Emboldened by the promise of a playable Moo Moo Cow in Mario Kart World, fans are now fighting back. All across the Nintendo subreddit, there are dozens of posts both complaining about scalpers and posting about how to take them out. You see, resale website eBay has a rule against selling items unless it'll be shipped within 40 days - which is impossible for the Switch 2 since it comes out on June 5 - so fans have been reporting scalpers en masse and are mobilizing to make sure others do the same.
"Not all heroes wear capes," one fan commented in response to someone who had taken down multiple scalpers. "You're doing god's work," another comment said, reacting to a fan who had allegedly booted 20 listings off the website.
One of the warriors against scalping even provided other fans with a template to use against early Switch 2 pre-sales: "From eBay's terms and conditions: 'Presale listings must clearly state that they are 'presale' in the title and description, and guarantee postage within 30 days of purchase.' As the games console isn't out for longer than 30 days, this listing breaks the rules, even if they have 'Presale' in the title."
Not realizing fans would do some of the heavy lifting themselves, last year Nintendo revealed one cunning trick to beat scalpers: produce enough consoles from the start. And, earlier this month, the company also said it would limit pre-orders to people who had a "certain amount of time" spent in-game on their OG Switches.
Secured a pre-order? Why not check out the upcoming Switch 2 games that'll hit the console soon?
