Of Course Scalpers Are Already Flogging Metroid Dread's Special Edition And amiibo

Already preordered my collectors edition and amiibo, so I’m good.

Managed to get the special edition of the game, but the amiibo, I just can't seem to get hold of. I swear shopto sold out in less than 10 minutes..

"...to sell them on at a higher price to desperate fans who missed out buying directly from a retailer."

If you don't live in the UK or US, lots of times you just don't have a big retailer that can provide you with special editions or Amiibo.
This means the eBay scalper prices are the ones you have to pay.

There should be a law that prevents scalpers from selling new products above MSRP for a given amount of time (ex. 1 year)

The REAL bummer is I expect a game mode will be amiibo locked given recent history... so access will be important for experiencing the full game.

@Muddy_4_Ever it just gives you an extra energy tank and missiles.

As I said in another article; stuff like this ruins the joy of collecting.

On a related note, still awaiting Nintendo Store UK to add amiibo for pre-order.

I saw a really good idea while crawling the web. When it comes to Amiibo and SEs, preordering should work like the LRG method: manufacture the amount of preorders and a few extra to account for mistakes, lost items, some to sell at retail, etc. This, I believe, would really bring down scalping.

I can live without the SE in this case, but I'd really love those Amiibo....

I was on a work trip and was unable to watch the direct. It really frustrates me how when I finally had some free time, pre-orders had already come and gone.

@Jasonmd As someone who doesn't personally care to collect amiibo, that's good to hear.

I hope they rot with the whole stock they got in their hands

I don't even bother buying amiibo any more. Normal consumer items like this shouldn't require you to camp out on websites in the hope that you can get an order in before bots snap up the stock.

I'll go buy the game in a store after it comes out. If the amiibo are there, I'll probably grab them. If not, I'll just play the game and go about my day.

If Nintendo made this stuff more common, scalpers wouldn’t bother. This is bad karma for Nintendo, who starved the fan-base of a particular game. Now the fans are so desperate for a new Metroid that some will pay any price. It’s such a deep seeded problem that simply blaming scalers is out of touch.

I want the special edition game, but I might have to let that dream go.

The amiibo's however, I will push as hard as I can to grab some up. My amiibo collection is far from complete, but I can at least have every Metroid amiibo in hand.

@Sean161 what I read was hey I’m human garbage and effing people for my own greed is an ok practice.

Do you see that one that’s £150 for the game, then £80 for postage? I’m pressing X to doubt… For starters, I bet they’ll put the Actual price on the customs form to keep postage down.

I wish retailers would fight against this. But I guess there's no financial incentive.

Managed to get on UK store this morning after days of trying, just luckily opened the store at the right time and the pre order option was available

Reporting to EBay does nothing. If they lose those sales, they lose their higher percentage.
It’s why all companies do not set up a captcha type system to stop bots.

I’m in the US and managed to snag the amiibo’s from German Amazon 😒 but still no special edition anywhere

I have never pre order anything, if I can find it fine if not, no bid deal.
Usually in my country there is always items on stock at retailers (mind you, I did found 2 Metroid prime trilogy at 70% off waaay past their lunch window) but Metroid is the one franchise I start my gaming career so I hope I can sink my teeth into the special edition 🙂

@Slowdive yeah, it’s a big downside from a free market.

I especially hate housing scalpers. People who buy and resell houses. The housing market is insane currently...

@Giygas_95 I feel you. In my case, they went live in the middle of my workday/busiest day this week and sold out in a blink. I've been trying for at least the amiibo since, but no dice so far. Problem is, retailers don't hardly stock Amiibo in my area, so I can't rely on that.

I'll be on the lookout for restocks of the special edition, but I'm not paying $200 for it on eBay. I'll get the standard edition instead.

@Tyranexx I hope Nintendo does a restock or there's at least some in store stock on release day. If not, what choice is there gonna be besides going to a scalper? Metroid has been my favorite series basically my entire life. I don't want to miss out on the special edition...but I may just have to settle for the standard. Screw scalpers.

This always happens when a specific amiibo comes out. For example, when amiibos such as player 2 Cloud, Squid sisters, Off the Hook, Bowser Jr., and Golden Mario came out they got sold out pretty quickly. And the amiibos are still at a high price today. One of the biggest problems with amiibo is that Nintendo does not restock these amiibos(mainly because they are limited time).

For those even considering this, what's the appeal to you? The art book to me seems the only thing remotely of value with this SE, though I am positive that at some point Udon, Dark Horse or Titan Press is going to put out a far, far, far superior art book on the 'Metroid' games. It's only a matter of time.

The amiibo I do understand, although personally the whole Portal X General Grievous design is not something I've found myself in love with just yet ...

I’m just waiting for both to go live on Amazon US. They’re really random with when they put them out. Luckily I was able to get the Skyward Swird joycons and amiibo earlier this year, and the Fire Emblem anniversary edition, so I’m feeling pretty good about my luck

I guess if you get that amiibo pack, you have to be prepared for your wallet to be shredded, your money will get a fear of being of this dreaded news.

I absolutely despise people like this trying to leech off of fans. I really hope there'll be an overabundance of these and that these people will end up losing money because these people do not deserve nice things. I want to punch them in their stupid faces so bad.

Is there really nothing to be done about these people? Can't companies do anything to put a stop to this seemingly neverending issue?

@Ralek85 I'll echo @Meteoroid. I want to own the nicest version of any new game in a series I love. Metroid especially.

Hopefully we see a repeat of the last few waves of amiibo where they actually end up being available in stores for a good while...I can still find Cat Mario and Cat Peach figures in most stores, and I didn't have to preorder Banjo, Byleth, or Terry to get them, just walk into a store and grab them. Nintendo seems to be doing a bit (just a bit) better with supply/demand, so I'm hoping this applies here too.

Geez I don’t feel so bad about play-asia and amazon.jp’s prices anymore.

Scalpers are the worst. Human greed on steroids.

I had (more like FORCED) to go Amazon JPN for the game SE/Amiibo plus the monster hunter 2 Amiibos. Nothing shows up for the NA.

The easiest way to diminish this practice is to widen the pre-order window and require in-store pickup. And Nintendo needs to do better in terms of providing second waves of these items after release ... and promising to do so, to alleviate FOMO.

This has become a game of "How bad do you want em?" We need Nintendo to abandon amiibo entirely, and introduce a new official way to make your own amiibo, and sell the data to write to the cards. That, or they can be like everyone else, and sell DLC!

@Luigisghost669 But, it’s not that at all. It’s a damn video game we are talking about, not food. If Nintendo wants to be dumb enough to make all their stuff so limited, then of course people are going to scalp. You don’t see anyone scalping common items. Scalpers are smart, and understand these market trends. They are the furthest thing from garbage, just people who have found a way to make a living. If human beings weren’t so overcome by their own impatience, scalpers would be out of business, think about that for a second.

@avictorao You would have to ask the people who are willing pay scalped prices to not do so, and you would have to see Nintendo doubling production on their more in-demand items for something like scalping to stop.

@BloodNinja No one has ever been to a sporting event or a concert and thought oh the guy selling tickets in the parking lot is a stand up guy. Scalping is a scourge impatient or not. Find a real way to make money that doesn’t involve financially raping people. Why don’t we commend the people who sell bootleg tshirts too. It screws the bands out of money but they are making a living right.

We live in a world where people can make there own choices on purchases and that’s great, but I’m like I think I will just go to a shop and get the game and just the game when it’s out xx

@Luigisghost669 Again, it’s not food or water that’s being scalped, so the person to blame is the person who buys. Nobody is forcing you to buy any of this stuff. Just wait until the pre-order dust settles and then get the thing. It’s not going anywhere.

@Giygas_95 I'm hoping for some in-store stock; I don't trust Nintendo to reliably do a restock. In my case, I can ultimately live without the SE, though it would be nice to have. The Amiibo on the other hand....E.M.M.I. looks really cool, and that portrayal of Samus is my favorite design to date. While I do use the extras that come with Amiibo, I mainly use them for display.

@BloodNinja we are at the point were buying from scalpers is most times the only option. Being food or water has nothing to do with it. It’s just something you tell yourself to make it seem ok

@Luigisghost669 Do you need the game? Let alone the special edition with extra plastic and cards that you won’t use? Food and water is a necessity. Scalping that would be pure evil. Scalping a game nobody needs is an opportunity, without moral consequence.

Didn't get to pre order either one but I'm not worried about it since they always have more out after release. The guardian Zelda botw amiibo was supposed to be hard to get and I found one at GameStop no problem same with other collectors edition games. Patients always pays off.

@BloodNinja I just like the metal case but I won't spend the money scalpers want. I can find it later on.

this bs needs to stop literally we need to voice our anger so either ninntendo or these stores start combating this type of greedy behavior just hoping nintendo will bring more stock for the special edition metroid dread and the amiibo.

@Yosher more like ban them forever from the internet or remove their hands so they can never touch a keyboard ever again

@Bman2425 Exactly

@RiasGremory They'll probably use their feet or nose to use a keyboard but hopefully that ban from the internet will help!

The only thing I've wanted besides the game itself are the amiibo, but even with getting notifications from friend groups they just have been selling out way too fast for me to get ahold of any. It's frustrating.

I knew it would be a futile pursuit as soon as I saw it.

I managed to get the Amiibo on pre order and I'm not going to lie - seeing these prices has made me think twice on if I want to keep them or flip them once I've scanned them for the extras.

Honestly, people like this should be arrested.

I suggest buying from scalpers, once received, dispute the charges, say your credit card was lost or stolen. Fcuk these scalpers anyway possible.

Items should be new only 1-3 yr from release date to stop "Scalpers". This will help all of us legit buyers not Sellers to get at least one Metroid Amiibo or all 3 Monster hunter stories 2 Amiibos.

@Gwynbleidd Stopping scalpers is pretty simple: don't buy from them.
Easier said then done. As some mentioned some regions or locations don't get all the stuff others gets and that's how Scalpers force them. What should happen is Manufactures should make open PreOrders for specific time. This will stop all Scalpers as buyers will have chances to find a time go Online and buy at MSRP prices+tax. Until this happens Scalpers are the vultures of the Online buying.

I know people said they make more and if that was the case why not do it now rather then make only a limited amount and wonder why people are so peeped at Nintendo for doing so or GameStop for making exclusives.

@BloodNinja
Your right this issue is far more deep rooted than just blaming scalpers, for starters if it wasn't for the buyers then there wouldn't be the scalpers.

@Ralek85 lmao when I watched the trailer I could only see grievous 😭 glad I’m not the only one

I don't care for the actual toy, just the functionality. I buy the PVC card from my guy in China, 5 bucks each. I have a whole binder full of every single one of them as of right now.

@dew12333 Yep, and buyers keep teaching scalpers that they are ok with paying such a cost, and so that cycle continues.

Anyone had success reporting price gouging through ebay? When I try, the drop-down menus don't include "price gouging" as a reporting option.

Games like many other things are a luxury item either way. Even if you buy them from retail it cost quite a lot considering you want them day one. Not to mention with all those limited/gold etc. editions. Scalpers are kinda the same as retail not saying they are doing great thing with such nonsense with buying everything. Either way as price goes never ever will i buy a game or console or any other thing from them. NEVER ! NEVER !

I’m good with the standard edition. The collection is just to much and I stay away from a majority of them. After all that would take up room for another 15 Switch games on my shelf. As for the amino they will plentiful come release time, they are not at all a limited release item and the collectors will have plenty more to come in stock. Also if you preorder from eBay with such a huge window before shipping you are risking getting screwed out of your purchase without being able to return it because it already violates ray policy and you enabled it meaning you helped violate the policy.

@Danondorf if this were last year and it was disinfectant or peroxide or something of necessity, perhaps. it's a toy. nobody NEEDS these amiibo, so as mad as it makes you to see, it's not illegal and the more they sell for the more ebay makes, so no interest in them killing the listing.

It could have been avoided using Nintendo's old E mail system. The actual people that want one, Nintendo know who we are already. Just the game will be fine by me to be fair, but not getting a chance at the special edition (i got the special edition of Samus Returns no problems), it's silly in today's age.

@Slowdive it's a bit difficult (impossible?) to legislate against people buying things and reselling them at whatever the price they want, unless of course we are talking about "essential goods".

@Slowdive well there are 15 states in the US made it illegal but it's not considered as a federal law for some stupid reason besides relating to capitalism

They can stop bots by having a email connected to paypal, CC account with verified address not P.O. Box - that will eliminate any bots using multiple address/accounts. It can be done but the question is do they want to.

@Whitestrider it's a bit difficult (impossible?)
If they can track your Online buying or Smartphone locations they can surely track whom buying what or doing Scalping. Or better yet make it In-Store live person only PreOrders - this can be done it's very simple.

@Slowdive I've seen laws before, but actually enforcing them is another thing.
That is why I've seen it limited to "essential goods", such as the Kentucky guy that got busted for scalping like 17k bottles of sanitizer after the Covid breakout.

@SwitchForce the only way to hurt scalpers and make them stop is to NOT buy from them. There's nothing better...

@Sean161 not shocked at all and definitely 'dealing with it'. Definitely not foaming at mouth trying to get one or the other. Understand why scalpers do it too - but it still doesn't make the scalper any less of a d-bag.

@Sean161 @Sean161 what you said doesn't apply to this kind of scalping. People waiting isn't the issue, it's that scalpers use bots and can buy the stock before a lot of people even have a chance to finish their pre-order. Trying to buy something months after the fact is different from a bot that can buy out the whole stock in seconds. They are cheating the system and in a lot of cases breaking terms of service and they need to be stopped.

@Sean161 it wouldn't if websites would enforce their own terms of service. Scalpers are trash people that make it their job to ruin the fun of others by snatching up products with bots before anyone else has a chance, those bots should definitely be illegal

Don't buy from scalpers guys! That is the only real way to stop them! Don't give your money to scum! Let them waste a lot of money until they are forced to sell closer to msrp at least

@Tyranexx "....preordering should work like the LRG method: manufacture the amount of preorders and a few extra to account for mistakes, lost items, some to sell at retail, etc..."

If I'm reading this right, the idea is around reduce the amount of supply just to cater to preorders with perhaps 10% more to account for the few extra? Wouldn't that make those items even more valuable due to increased scarcity?

I don't see price gouging as a reporting option in eBay

I got my hands on both, Special Edition and Amiibos. But took some time. But I absolutely want them and don't scalp them for reselling. Metroid I my most beloved Nintendo franchise

@SeaFishelle nobody has that big of a problem with people buying something and reselling it, the problem people have is they have those bots that buy up everything before anyone else even has a chance because bots are faster than people. That is the issue. Buying a few extra and reselling is fair game, but using bots to literally buy out the whole stock is not.

Retailers may be fine with it, but Sony and Microsoft aren't, for example. They sell consoles at a loss and make profit on software, so they can't be happy because they are losing money. Bots should be illegal.

@SeaFishelle
Of course companies like them. It greatly increases the demand.

However, they aren't as comparable to retailers as you think. Retailers still have to follow the MSRP, so they could only increase the price so much before they hit the MSRP. Scalpers do not and are allowed to sell new products at inflated prices. Imagine if Walmart decided to go buy out all of GameStop's PS5s and greatly increase the price. They aren't allowed to do that sort of thing. That's where the issue lies. If scalpers followed the same guidelines that retailers did, no one would complain.

@ModdedInkling [] Imagine if Walmart decided to go buy out all of GameStop's PS5s and greatly increase the price. []

That's pretty much exactly what CEX did in the UK when the PS5 and XsX first dropped.

@Sean161 where? Also, places restock lol. I'm meaning the problem in general, not just metroid, they may have plenty of stock, or scalpers may not see enough value to bother. It is still a problem with things like this, or shoes, for example. But seriously where can you pre order?

@jsty3105 Perhaps I should have used the term "Open Preorders" (typed that quickly and didn't think of it at the time). Basically, everyone who wants the Amiibo should preorder, then that specific amount, plus a reasonable amount of extras, should be manufactured. This way, nobody who truly wants them misses out. No measly allocations that are burned through in seconds by bots just to be flipped for 2-3x the price on eBay.

Alternatively, they could just mass-produce the figures like when the concept was first introduced, but Nintendo hasn't seemed too keen on doing that for the past while. Or doing new print runs for that matter. Doesn't help that some countries and regions have less options than others.

@Tyranexx Doesn't help that some countries and regions have less options than others.
This is the biggest factor the white elephant in the room.

They can do it - it's come down to the board having balls to face reality and fix the problem. Those money aren't going to them that's a FACT other then when first bought at MSRP and any Scalping beyond that nothing goes to the manufacture beyond the MSRP sold.

@SwitchForce Agreed. While I get not wanting to go too crazy and have supply far outstrip demand, the problem in situations like this is that the demand far outstrips the supply. They need to find a happy medium. I suspect the former happened early on, so now they're a bit more cautious...arguably too much so.

@Tyranexx Ah, that makes much more sense. I really don't see it working for Nintendo though - there's only X amount of manufacturing capacity from partners, only X amount of human resources in Nintendo (they're the smallest of the three in terms of headcount) to manage the logistics. When you reach those kind of numbers, you also need good people to make the right projections otherwise you end up with a new logistical problem that cost you money, where to store them.

Also, a large part of why scalping works is there isn't an existing distribution option in some countries. And it's not efficient to spread distribution operations that wide.

It's an interesting solution to be sure. Just not really feasible when the manufacturing needed starts running into the millions.

@Tyranexx The Happy medium is ONLY In-Store PreOrders or Account on Nintendo or GS site or Other Retailer verifying it's the same person. That will give anyone time to find and get to the locations. This will stop botnets Scalpers and force them to one item or one of each Amiibos. And further messing around will result in name/CC/Paypal banned until they decide. Remember Scalpers don't pay this 3x prices back to Nintendo.

@jsty3105 When you reach those kind of numbers, you also need good people to make the right projections otherwise you end up with a new logistical problem that cost you money, where to store them.
That's a perpetuated myth which has no numbers to backup. Amiibo don't need storage time nor does the game.

@jsty3105 Also, a large part of why scalping works is there isn't an existing distribution option in some countries. And it's not efficient to spread distribution operations that wide.
That's the problem they need people to setup Nintendo Accounts and buy from that and pay for shipping. That will stop Scapers dead in their tracks.

@jsty3105 It's an interesting solution to be sure. Just not really feasible when the manufacturing needed starts running into the millions.
That's pittance to the sales market needs. Millions isn't alot consider - NA including everyone old/young is 360mils. Take a million into that and you will see otherwise.

@SwitchForce I honestly don't know what you're on about. I'm talking manufacturing, logistics, planning etc. It takes more than 1 person to handle. You need people to manage shipping. You need to find manufacturers to produce the extra units. You need time to produce those units and ship them to warehouses.

Also very puzzled about your claim the Amiibo don't take space (have you looked at game store shelves displaying them maybe?) and your response to my point about distribution issues. Your suggestion doesn't relate to distribution at all.

Just a very puzzling response really. Like you didn't understand what I wrote. Shrug

@jsty3105 I think Nintendo and any needed third parties would be able to dedicate the resources to it, though I agree it isn't nearly as simple as I'm making it out to be. Particularly in countries and areas where Nintendo doesn't have much of a footprint (if any). I'm not under the illusion that it'll take care of scalping once and for all, but I do think such a method would help deter it.

@SwitchForce In-store would probably be a safer route, though I could see plenty of customers whining about convenience. So I don't think website preorders will go away. Forcing accounts with limits and verification would be helpful, but this isn't a perfect system either. Where there's a will, there's (unfortunately) a way.

Heck, if I really wanted and wished to put in the time, I do have the technological know-how to write my own bot or automated process. But it would only be for my needs, and I fully understand how unfair it is to use them compared to everyone else (Well, humans). And I'd NEVER use them for asset flipping. While it technically isn't illegal, morally I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

@ModdedInkling Honestly this is a good idea. It doesn't block collectors from making a profit and discourages artificially inflating prices at launch time. But enforcing it would be a whole other story.

You know what's funny? If it weren't for the morons willing to spend so much money on these items, scalpers wouldn't even exist. It's the people who are buying them that are the problem. Stop giving in to scalpers and they will stop doing what they do. Until then, they have every right to take advantage of those that are low IQ and desperate.

@hypercoyote
Yeah, it would require every independent retailer website to add a restriction on very specific products to last for a very specific time frame. Too much work to prevent inflated prices.

@ManaOwls or you can go without the extra special goodies. It does suck, I'm not saying 'boo hoo', but gaming is a luxury and the extra trinkets aren't required to enjoy the game itself. The second people stop supporting scalpers, it'll end.

Even better, boycott eBay entirely and make that a huge social presence. The will explicitly tell you they don't allow people to price gouge, and then you call them on their *****. Flag every post for illegal activities, make it a crusade on social media. I did that during the PS5 launch (I still got my 2 but friends weren't as lucky so I was helping), and while I can't make a huge difference, it did help in getting bigger retailers to take notice and start doing something. You really want to stop scalping? Start openly insulting and annoying eBay. Take out the big dog and watch the worthless piece of ***** garbage mouth breathing cousin ***** scalpers scurry like ants to try and offload their merchandise.

really hope there's a restock

This is why I don't even bother to get excited about special editions and items anymore. I'm the biggest Metroid fan there is. I mastered the original on the NES when it first came out. I completed every sequel as they came out. I hated Other M long before anyone else did. The mere suggestion of a new Metroid game gets my blood pumping. But mere mortals like me don't get special editions or Amiibos. We just get to buy the regular downloadable version of the game and count ourselves lucky for it.

@Slowdive Real life Parasite Queens, I tell ya

@checkr911 that's a very noble but lonely crusade

@Chamver to be fair, some buyers just don't have any other way to buy the item other than importing from scalpers.

@BloodNinja Don't you think it's a garbage move to buy up the supply that is already priced for the end cosumers and putting these consumers in the situation where they have 2 options?
1) Not getting their product..
2) Paying person who have contributed to this situation way more than what you should have to?

I think it's a scum move..
Imagine when you have to tell your kid, sorry I couldn't get that thing you wished for so much for your birthday.

Because adult people are buying them all up and reselling them for for prices we can't afford.

Scalpers are scum, they know they are doing something bad and yet they do it.

Adult men flocking the stores to grab all the pokemon cards they can get their hands on. Leaving nothing for the kids. These "men" are not men at all.. No honor.. Gabage..

Scalpers should get their drivers licens revoked, their funds should be managed by their parents and they should be sent back to elementary school so that hopefully once they grow up they can land a real job.

Also I wouldn't call them smart.. I could easily figure out what is "scalpable".. I just don't do it.. Because it's wrong..

I decided to have a no limited edition policy when the Switch was released after some horrid experiences during the WiiU era. I'm a much happier gamer this gen with a nice clean collection to boot. When I see the Metroid 5 LE priced at £80 and the game only for £43 that only reinforces the choice as a good one. A nearly 50% mark up for an art book and some post cards is silly.

@Old-Red Yeah - I didn't see much value in this particular limited edition. Didn't pre order one because of that and not really interested in it apart from the steelbook.

So do the scalpers include the Nintendo e-shop?? I'm sure it's a good game, but £49.99...... seriously!!

@DaniPooo Again, they are scalping something that is not a necessity, so it’s very hard for me to have sympathy for your argument. If food or water is scalped, that’s scum, anything else is just business.

@BloodNinja Now we’re just comparing different levels of “scumery” based on the product they’re selling.

The practice still a scum practice, And it should be illegal to sell overpriced items unless they have been professionally valued by some organization based on antique value or collection value.

@DaniPooo Demand always dictates value. Again, it’s not scum because they are selling something that you don’t even need to survive. I think it’s a little funny, even.

@DaniPooo or if companies like Nintendo just made enough product for all of the fans there wouldn't be any issue at all.

Its False Scarcity that creates a strong after market, buying/selling stock is just business and I would think a lot of these "scalpers" do this as either work or to subsidise an income.

Hell, I only buy Amiibo because I know they will raise in value once I've claimed the DLC from them and will resell them for Market value. Someone bought the Magnamalo one from me for £75 after putting it in an open auction on ebay - do I feel bad, not at all it paid for my game! It was the buyers that decided the products value in that situation not me. I also plan on doing the same with the Loftwing and Metroid Amiibos I've got secured on a pre order, does that make me a bad person?

I'd rather buy Sonic merchandise, because Sonic is the SECOND Fastest Thing Alive, first being Nintendo Collector's Items and Amiibos. In fact, if he truly IS the Fastest Thing Alive, then how come Nintendo stuff sells out faster than his stuff? That's something to ask Sonic, if they do another Sonic Twitter Takeover, this year.

@karatekid1612 Every digital storefront sells games at maximum price before release (excepting some preorder discounts). This is not new.

@BloodNinja I disagree with your definition of a scum

@DaniPooo Fine by me, it’s no sweat off my back if you allow trivial things to bother you.

@Mr-Fuggles777 sure and there has always been scalpers and people have still managed to get hold of what they are looking for.
But since Covid, the situation has been extreme.

And I understand, it’s the consequence of sudden increase in unemployment. But that doesn’t make it right.

Look at India for instance probably the majority of the worlds scams comes from there. And why are they doing it? Because there’s poor people and someone came up with the idea to make money by fooling people into paying them for nothing.
These people just want to feed themselves and their families.
Or because it’s easy money and they don’t mind stealing money from old people and children.

It’s not right and they should look for honest jobs. Bad karma that…

To me Indian taxi drivers who charge foreigners twice the price are the same type of scum as scalpers.
It’s unfair business. And there should be laws and regulations against that kind of practice.

I ordered a PS5 in November last year and I’m still waiting.
My son keeps asking me “When is the PS5 coming”
And then I have to explain to my 6 year old son what a scalper is and why we don’t buy from them…

Sure it’s trivial for some, but not for a kid who is looking forward to something.

Still think the price should be as high as it is?

Here's the thing.

Everything ends up on eBay in some quantity. Literally EVERYTHING. So there was never any universe or dimension where we weren't going to see some listings.

The question is, in what quantity? Is it just a few hundred listings? If so that's like 1-2% of total supply. Hardly anything to get in a tizzy over.

If it's like 5,000 listings, on the other hand, then ya, that's a problem.

Just putting this out there so people can think critically. I was lucky enough to get one of each. But they went quick.

@kducky11 Definitely not, in fact I could not unsee for the entirety of the trailer! 😁

@Giygas_95 @Meteoroid Appreciate the feedback folks! 👍

I am a 13 year old that did chores around the house like sanding doorframes then pintong them, painting a fence, staining our backyard deck. And not that i have enough money to buy the special edition, since i am a harcore metroid fan. I go onto the website, out of stock it said. It isn't even out yet, it is just preorder, yet it is still out of stock, a quick look at ebay confirms that people are scalping metroid by buying it in bulk and selling it for three times the price. And you know what's crazy? People actually buy it! I just want to buy my game and these ***** scalpers are taking that privilage away. It isn't fair, give me a chance. I got hard earned money and these scalpers are just sitting on their lazy butts in thier living room watching tv as the income starts pouring in from ebay. Some of these scalpers even have bots to do it for them. And as many of you know it isn't just metroid dread. So if we want to stop them just stop buying from ebay, they have to run out of money and go broke eventully right?

At least in the US, both the amiibo and special edition of the game has been available the last few days as a web in store order at GameStop. I know a lot of people hate Gamestop, but if you got stores nearby, walk in and ask them to check. I had to go to two different GameStops to get both the amiibo and Special Edition. You pay now up front and have it shipped, but it was worth it to me being a huge Nintendo fan, amiibo fan, and Metroid fan. Yeah it cost me Gamestop’s expensive shipping on top of the MSRP cost, but it’s still far from what scalpers are asking for.

I hate scalpers, but none of these companies are being proactive about stopping it and likely never will. We as a community of fans need to help each other where we can and notify each other of tips and tricks to secure these things. That, and not buy into scalpers insane prices thus giving them little by little less incentive to use bots to buy up these kinds of things. People are inherently greedy though and they are always going to look to make a buck even if the means to do so is of questionable integrity.

If you are able to web in store order successfully, please pay it forward and spread this info to other good, honest fans, who aren’t just looking to exploit others fandom to make a buck. I hope you get what you want. Have a nice day.

At least in the US, both the amiibo and special edition of the game has been available the last few days as a web in store order at GameStop. I know a lot of people hate Gamestop, but if you got stores nearby, walk in and ask them to check. I had to go to two different GameStops to get both the amiibo and Special Edition. You pay now up front and have it shipped, but it was worth it to me being a huge Nintendo fan, amiibo fan, and Metroid fan. Yeah it cost me Gamestop’s expensive shipping on top of the MSRP cost, but it’s still far from what scalpers are asking for.

I hate scalpers, but none of these companies are being proactive about stopping it and likely never will. We as a community of fans need to help each other where we can and notify each other of tips and tricks to secure these things. That, and not buy into scalpers insane prices thus giving them little by little less incentive to use bots to buy up these kinds of things. People are inherently greedy though and they are always going to look to make a buck even if the means to do so is of questionable integrity.

If you are able to web in store order successfully, please pay it forward and spread this info to other good, honest fans, who aren’t just looking to exploit others fandom to make a buck. I hope you get what you want. Have a nice day strangers.

This is how you report price gouging on e-bay

Go to the report item link: (It is at the bottom next to description)
Choose listing practices from the drop-down menu.
And then choose search and browse manipulation.
Then choose search and browse manipulation again
It will ask you for a reason:enter the following
PRICE GOUGING

@Slowdive,

What would the law apply to?, are we suggesting nobody can sell anything for profit on e-bay at all, or are we suggesting it's only certain items, so therefore people can profit of certain items but not anything video game related. And also what are the rules, is it o.k for someone to buy an item and make a small profit, as surely we do not expect people to buy things and sell them on e-bay for a loss.

Genuinely interested in your view on this and how it could be possible policed etc, if it does come into law as you suggest it should.

@Kriandis,

Only works for essential items in periods where said item is in demand, for example face masks and hand sanitizer during a global pandemic, video games are classed as non essential items so do not fall under any such rules on e-bay.

Basically e-bay do not care as they get a cut of the sale, so the more money charged for a PS5 etc, the more profit for them too.

@Snail163,

Totally agree with you on certain points, do not agree it's the retailers or manufacturers fault, as a lot of this comes down to human nature.

What I do agree with you on is the use of bots to give the scalpers an unfair advantage over everyone else, as if a batch of for example PS5's appear on a site and everyone uses the normal fair means to secure a console, then I have little issue with it either being used as a purchase, or for resale, as there is no advantage afforded to either party, and in my opinion the whole situation with scalpers would be lessened if people were not buying multiple consoles online.

Another issues is the stores themselves, and we recently witnessed this with Pokemon cards, people rushing into a store and buying boxes of cards, the store should have a reasonable limit to what you can purchase, and in this case the store is just as bad as the scalpers.

The very best of luck to you securing one of these at normal retail price.

@Muddy_4_Ever I honestly wish the Amiibo was optional instead. And we could unlock things, by progression or completion. Something needs to change, if no one can pickup the Amiibo. Curious if Nintendo might even take notice (or should)

@Friendly,

Exactly, it seems only certain products are targeted with peoples outrage,what if you had a valuable piece of artwork you paid very little for, can you now only sell that for a few dollars more?.

@jsty3105 Not correct I'm afraid. This game is still over priced for what it is, even though it looks good and will sell well. Me personally will wait until it is around the £20 mark (if I do take the dip) which is what I believe to be a fair price for this Metroid game. Also, Nintendo (on e-shop) sell their games for roughly £10 or more than other online companies such as base.com or shoptonet. The only time they are in line or sometimes cheaper than other online companies is when they have their sales. Therefore your argument does not hold water and their prices do indicate a form of scalping (due to knowingly being more expensive than most online retailers, this also includes the pre-order stage). An example of this would be Mario Golf which I pre-ordered a month or so a go on base.com, for £10 less than the Nintendo e-shop pre-order price and I purchased Mario 3d world after it was released for again, £10 less than Nintendo's e-shop. Finally, if we take the environmental impact with regards to physical games over digital, then surely, Nintendo should be leading the way in making digital games cheaper so they are leaving less of a carbon footprint, wouldn't you say??

@johnvboy I have no problem with artwork, really rare collectors items and antiques being sold for WAY more than they did initially..
As long as it doesn’t prevent people from getting a product for it’s intended price while it’s still being produced.

In these cases, the product isn’t even out yet and is already difficult to get hold of due to the scalpers preordering all of them before normal people even have a chance to.

I think this is a really unfair practice and it should be illegal.
Every country should have laws around how much you can earn from reselling a product that is still actively being produced.
It should be a set percentage of the intended price (not the price of the retailer)

Once the product is discontinued these laws should not apply anymore and people can then sell the product for whatever lofty price they want.

If a law like this existed that would mean that the scalpers wouldn’t be able to really overprice the product but they could still earn som money on reselling it. If this was the case I actually wouldn’t mind buying some things from scalpers as they would then not be able to charge that much more that the retailers. However I would probably prefer to buy some things from retailers for the extra warranty benefit.

@Slowdive,

Agree with laws on bots, but I doubt anything will come of this latest proposal with scalping the latest consoles.

@DaniPooo,

My issue is while a law would be a good idea in principle, how the hell do you apply and police it, and what would the rules be.

And the practice of scalping being unfair is another issue, I do not like the practice and will not pay over the odds for things, but as it stands they are breaking no laws.

Not sure sure they could only make a law for a certain time, and if you are against the inflated prices, then surely you would not be ok with it years down the line, as it's pretty much the same thing. Also not sure suggesting you can rip people off at some point, but not initially when a product comes out, is such a great idea.

Nintendo should serve eBay notice, and considering they aren’t released yet I’d just cancel all preorders and open them agian later.

I Can’t even get an amiibo of all things so sad and Nintendo uk hasn’t even listed them it seems what’s going on there .

If Nintendo cared about their fans they would be able to tell scalper orders and cancel them , sell to honest people it’s going to backfire and annoy your fans who are buying your system that is doing so well.

I like videogames, not shelves

@johnvboy

Well I’m pretty sure most countries already have laws around the upper limit of how much you are allowed earn from reselling a product as a retailer. And this is in percentage.
So you could just add a line to the existing law
“This also applies for private people reselling products which have yet not reached their End of life” just rewrite it in fancier English.

How do you police it? Well you offer people a chance to know about the new law for starters. If people break the law then they could be reported, banned and even taken in by the police.

Many of these scalpers are running it like an illegal business.
Meaning they are not a registered company, they don’t report earnings, they don’t play by the rules.

But they are organized, they are hiring people and they have hierarchy within their organization.

So I bet they are already breaking some laws.

@DaniPooo,

Good luck with all that, an item will only sell for what the current market dictates, and even though a manufacturer can suggest a retail price, it's still up to the individual retailer at the end of the day, as otherwise it's a monopoly or price fixing.

None of this will ever go to the police..

I think the main issue here is with the bots used for the scalpers to obtain stock in the first place.

@karatekid1612 So should Sony and Microsoft. Prices are higher than retail for preorders. As much as we and others hoped with digital sales, none of them would ever sell preorders digitally for less than what retailers are already charging for physical copies. Evidently, a retail presence and relationships with retail partners is more important to them than providing cheaper digital prices. I would prefer things to be different but the economics doesn't work right now.

A bit bizarre to say to say that high digital prices are a form of scalping too.

@jsty3105 As much as I understand what you are saying, the fact remains it is cheaper to buy from online retailers than Nintendo uk store/e-shop (disregarding Nintendo sales) and this is completely wrong. And in some cases where available, I have also seen (in the past) the digital games cheaper else where than on e-shop even at pre-order stage?? With regards to my scalping comment, not bizarre at all, as the fact is, Nintendo are selling their games (physical and digital) for more than other online retailers. This to me is a form of scalping, especially when the games have been a limited run. As for Sony and Microsoft, well with the fiasco of their next gen console launches, they are both the biggest scalpers going, as we both know their ploy will keep the console prices higher for longer!! And yes, they should all make digital games cheaper than physical games by a considerable margin to encourage us all to look after the environment better!