Like a plague of gnats hovering around your face on a hot summer's day, or the tidal wave of noisy pop-up ads found on modern tabloid websites, scalpers are once again refusing to go away.
Earlier this week saw the announcement of a brand new Switch, the Switch OLED model, and with pre-orders starting to appear at a number of retailers, some folk have decided to gobble up an order to sell on for profit.
A quick search on eBay reveals several listings that promise to pass on a pre-order once it's been sent out to the seller this October. Some are hoping for a relatively small gain – like this one that's trying to sell the £309.99 machine for £350 plus postage – but some are, well...
Our favourite scalper listing so far is this wonderfully opportunistic effort from a seller in Wigan, UK. The listing shows what is supposedly a confirmed £309.99 pre-order from UK retailer GAME, and asks any potential buyer to hand over the low, low sum of £800 to make it their own. What makes it even worse (or better?) is that you have to travel to Wigan to collect it from the seller in-person. That'd be fun.
Obviously, we'd advise you to avoid buying a Switch OLED from random eBay sellers trying to make a profit – pre-orders are available from stores at the standard retail price, and some stores are yet to even open up their listings. If you're wondering whether or not the new Switch OLED might be for you, feel free to check out our buyer's guide to see how it might – or might not – suit your needs.
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Comments (101)
Scalpers are just scum. Never buy from them
No one is going to buy one for 800 quid, they have been super easy to pre order so far
Removed - offensive remarks
Really hope they get stuck with a load of these. Only an idiot would pay that.
Idk why nintendo doesn't figure some way to contact people who they know own switches and ask of they want to secure an order in some way. Acknowledging a problem is a good start to fixing one.
Imagine trying to scalp a product that's barely worth getting in the first place. Hopefully these fools realise they're wasting their time and money only when it's too late.
I'd like to have faith in humanity but as we've seen with the ps5 and Xbox series these probably will sell for stupid prices.
They only exist because dumb people with lots of money buy from them.
Luckily I already have a pre-order. And no, you can't have it.
It's not even worth the asking price let alone scalp prices 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
You can try to sell at £800, doesn't mean anyone will pay it.
Got my preorder from Smyths yesterday, wouldn't have paid any more than RRP.
The year is 2057. Everything is bought by scalpers and sold to normal people. A banana costs £385.
I do wander if Nintendo will sue these scalpers tbh
Is there even a stock issue though? Maybe these folks should focus on buying up PS5s and selling them to suckers for $1,000. 🙃
The idiots are the ones that buy it.
@Jackowackohoward sue them for what
Luckily for me this is one upgrade that's isn't need, I might just buy the mario red and blue instead
All these scalpers need to get a swift kick in the nads so they can't produce offspring. This is a predatory breed that needs to go.
Good luck moving that product for highly inflated prices when even Nintendo themselves openly stated there's no reason to upgrade if you're fine with your current Switch.
I think it's the new wave of bandwagon scalpers trying to make some money on this. The "pro scalper" brigade probably won't touch it. The PS5 and Xbox Series X/S are next-generation consoles, while this...has a better screen; there just isn't going to be enough demand for it to drive up the price.
Already got mine pre-ordered, funnily enough from Game.
@KeyBladeMaster-Dan,
That's bait, pure and simple.
If somebody buys this for eight hundred squid then my opinion of humanity in general will sink lower than it currently is which is pretty low.
@1UP_MARIO
Selling above MSRP. Nintendo would sue normal retailers if that were to happen.
Tempted to flog mine for that sort of profit!
if anyone is stupid enough to pay that then they deserve to be ripped off.
@KeyBladeMaster-Dan
Totally agree with you. I just don't think there will a be a shortage of these machines.
@ModdedInkling the retailers are not selling above price it’s private sellers on eBay. Nintendo can’t do nothing about this. Me and you are able to buy something and sell something for how much we want.
Must be noob scalpers.
Who in their right mind would pay more than the rrp
I won't even pay RRP let alone that.
That's hilarious, I needed a good laugh, thanks.
People pay $60 for lazy ports of old games sooo why not.
The way I see it, scalpers are going out of their way to have their own practice outlawed.
"If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by." - Sun Tzu
The asking price is already far too much for a 4 year old machine with a new screen that was already behind the pack in 2017, should be sub £200 by now...
@Nin10dood you will be surprised someone will buy two of those at that exorbitant price and still be proud! SMH though. 🤔
@johnvboy It's not bait at all it's how I feel the Switch is already overpriced for what it is and this version which isn't really an upgrade at all is more expensive it's not worth the money at all
I’ve got a physical Switch copy of Mario Kart 7 for $12 000 if anyone’s interested 😐
Scalpers = Losers
@KeyBladeMaster-Dan,
Value is purely subjective, some will agree some won't, a product is only ever worth what somebody will pay for it, looks like the Switch is selling very well, considering how overpriced it is.
But if you feel it's overpriced personally I guess you are correct too.
Don’t understand why eBay don’t stop this form
Going on
Lol. They will be in for a shock when nobody buys them.
It's pointless to scalp Switch with exact same Tegra as earlier. lol
LAN Adapter is available for 10-20$ anyway.
@Buckyooliver As far as i know, scalping is legal worldwide.
Noone force people to pay these prices anyway.
@Jackowackohoward Buying and reselling stuff isn't illegal. It's immoral to do it this way, but nothing you legally can do something against.
@Buckyooliver,
It would be very difficult to implement, plus who makes up the rules, and what products are exempt?, as there will be millions of items for sale on the site, all at more than the recommended price, so we target one item and not others, do we also set a limit on what level of profit a person can make, does it only apply to new items, or used ones as well... as you can see a minefield, and I have only just scratched the surface.
@Ventilator yeah good point , fair enough
Not a surprise.
@johnvboy yeah fair enough , seems a shame robbing ppl but I guess ur only robbing ur self by buying from them
@Buckyooliver,
I hate the scalpers and the whole practice, but they are not the total problem in all this.
I will never buy a console more than retail on principle, so will happily wait until stock is more plentiful, if people can't wait that's their problem.
Scalpers are going to burned on this one. Sure they might make a little profit-but I think more than a few aren’t going to make more than $20 on this.
Scalper > Satan
@sanderev
It depends on the product. Currently, it is only illegal to scalp tickets in the US (possibly depends on the location) They were going through similar problems (and still do). It's clear something needs to be done, and just because something isn't illegal doesn't mean it can't become illegal. It's clear that people are manipulating the market in shady ways to make their own profit. The only reason I think nothing has been done so far is that it's just video games. If scalpers moved into something more controversial or necessary would the government step in. At the same time, medicine is legally "scalped" by pharmaceutical companies. Prices are astronomically high and yet the government isn't doing anything no matter what the public screams and complains about it. I guess its more they just have no reason to care.
Very risky for the scalpers. I think this machine is not going to run out of stock too soon. Plenty of Tegra chips and OLED panels are likely in the storage, so this shouldn't run into the same semi-conductor shortage as PS5/Xbox Series consoles.
It still baffles me how selling the promise that you'll have something for the buyer, something that isn't in your hands yet, is perfectly legal.
I refuse to buy something unreasonably above MSRP, even if I REALLY want it. My common sense overrides any desire at that point. I certainly agree that people shouldn't be foolish enough to fall for such insane prices, but many scalpers use bots and other unfair methods to hog a lot of the stock.
Yeah. Figured this would happen. Makes it even less appealing. If that was possible.
Remember when you could just go into a shop before the days of the internet and preorders and buy a console and games? I miss those days!
@Synnnapse Yeah, those scummy guys, selling items we don’t even need for higher prices than retail. How dare they sell this completely luxury item that isn’t even a basic necessity!
@Little_Squee,
Satan, a bit harsh mate.
@BloodNinja,
So true, people have to manage expectations, if your kid wants a PS5 etc then just tell they may not get one, if you make unrealistic promises, then you will end up paying over the odds.
Considering the divisive reception the Switch OLED has had so far, these scalpers are gonna be sitting on them for a while.
@Tyranexx,
That's my main issue with this, not the scalpers selling the items, but the unfair means to get the products in the first place, if everybody has an equal chance to attain a console, then it's up to them what they do with it.
The scalpers can get lost
I missed Anti-Matter's comment before it was removed, boo.
Does anyone know the tax implications for the scalpers? If they're already paying tax on income they'd presumably need to fill in a tax return for their scalping profits.
@Buckyooliver @johnvboy It's not actually difficult to stop scalping of the video game consoles. It's a harder issue with playing cards and the like, but many industries have done it for a long time by simply having a very tightly enforced authorized dealer network system in place. The video game consoles don't do that, they just dump and run. Tightly controlled authorized dealers, and very vividly disclaiming anything else as gray market, with no warranty, etc would go a long way to solving it. Scalpers will still exist, and some will still buy stock from authorized dealers and resell it gray but it vastly cuts down on it when the mfr makes a lot of FUD statements about the legitimacy of the gray products and ensures no warranty or support for gray purchases.
That has other problems associated with it but given the trouble games have had of late, that's really the first step. It also then allows them to prosecute sellers that are selling outside of the authorized distribution agreement. Of course then Nintendo being Nintendo individual sellers will end up ensnared by the ninja lawyers as well.
Unlike the ps5 and series x I imagine these things will be readily available at retail. I hope these scalpers eat the cost on this one.
Ha, scalpers are seriously clueless how low the demand is for these things.
@johnvboy I'd certainly complain less if there was a fair shot at everyone getting the limited product(s) in question and would, at that point, put more of the blame on the desperate buyer. In my case, the recent issue is pre-orders tend to go up during my work day and sell out in minutes, if not seconds. I don't have the time or allowance to endlessly camp on retail pages hoping I'll get lucky. I've missed out on both the Skyward Sword and Metroid Dread Amiibo recently.
Where's the demand for this? Most people online have not been too eger to "upgrade" for what is an extra OLED screen and extra memory.
@Tyranexx,
Same here, total agreement with you on bots.
@Synnnapse i think its about time something needs to be done with these greedy scalpers they should face jail time for price gouging items.
@RiasGremory I completely agree. I've spoken to eBay about it before and it's a big problem all over the site
@Jacoby He jokingly suggested that scalpers could face capital punishment.
It was such an upsetting comment to read. The very idea of living in a world without scalpers just doesn't bear thinking about!
Sounds like a good deal. I'll go check it out lol.
@King-K-Rool oh thank you very much.
I always enjoy Anti-Matter comments. Actually a lot great comments posted on this site.
At the rate scalpers are going, people are gonna go BACKWARDS in playing games, and start going towards the Atari 2600's Direction for New Games. In fact, I might consider buying E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600, if it weren't so bad! It would mean the Future IS the Past! Why do you think Sony chose to keep the PS3's PlayStation Store open, huh?
But frankly, the only actual improvement I can see of this thing is the 64GB Storage as opposed to the 32GB Storage.
@Jackowackohoward probably won’t sue them, since as far as they’re concerned, scalpers are paying customers.
@VoidofLight Watch, these scalpers will amass more money than Nintendo, because of the "How Bad Do You Want Em" approach, and when they do, they will buy out Nintendo, and jack up the prices on everything, and make Nintendo produce higher-quality systems for the wealthy, while we poor folks are stuck kicking a can, or playing with a ball in a cup, Mexico's favorite toy for over 300 years! AND DURING A CHIP SHORTAGE, NO LESS! Why do you think Trump wanted to encourage people to kill off the wolves? So the price of Furs could jack up, and the Furriers can be among the wealthiest!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4tfL_oCUPA
@Buckyooliver [b]Don’t understand why eBay don’t stop this form
Going on[/b]
This and also why isn't Nintendo pressuring ebay to stop this?
Scalpers tend to think any Nintendo hardware is worth scalping. The track record is mixed, but the potential profit could be big if it works out for them. The problem I have with modern scalpers, is they're using bots to buy large quantities of items, far more than people driving around to various stores and buying several units at each. Modern scalping, according to reports, looks like it involves buying hundreds or thousands of units in some cases. At that level, they are manipulating demand and the price. And if there's no mitigation, they are incentivized to do it.
@sdelfin It's because Nintendo is a big name, even BIGGER than SEGA is right now! Meanwhile in America, I have yet to see any listings of an OLED Switch on eBay.
I don't think there will be a stock shortage, there wasn't one with the existing Switch.
Here's the Real Deal OLED with no noticeable Performance upgrade for Scalper prices.
Its just some noob ***** trying to jump on the trend. As someone else the said the scalpers what do this for a living most likely won't bother unless it heats up, i bet the £800 price scalper is new to the game and just thinks charging a stupid amount for a "new" console is easy gain. The demand for the OLED won't be huge unlike the PS5 so i can't see scalpers making much if anything from it.
Report any auctions you see, because eBay policy does not allow people to sell preorders of any item they can't ship in 30 days. https://www.reddit.com/r/XboxSeriesX/comments/iv9cwm/remember_to_report_scalpers_on_ebay/
Here's the direct link to the US eBay policy: https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/presale-listings-policy?id=4252
Fu** that guy, honestly.
PS: Ban me if you want but it’s the truth.
@crashcontrol this is worse than the scalpers for ps5! Smdh
@YoungLink64 I’m being sarcastic. I don’t think scalpers are a problem on their own, because it requires a buyer to give in to their own impatience to buy the thing. But, the writers on this site like riling people up with another scalping story.
Flogging vs scalping….gotta love two countries separated by a common language….
I am interested in picking one. But I won’t pay 350 so that means trading my switch in. But I want to play my switch. So I will only get it if it is in stock at release
@Ocaz
Nintendo is not our friend we need to stop acting like they are
@blindsquarel I don't see how what I said alludes to this conclusion you've drawn. But, if you are stemming from this and you think it is a problem then you are preaching in the wrong place. I don't think anyone sees Nintendo as a friend (unless you do because you are being specific on this) we just want hardware.
You said that they need to give switch owners access to preorders before others. Nintendo does not care about that. Maybe I misread your of comment though. And yes sadly many people think Nintendo is our friend including many from this site and you tubers like switch force and arlo
@blindsquarel na but giving someone a shot at an upgrade through an email or something isn't asking to be friends its just that there will be people who want it but cannot hover over Best Buy or gamestop like the unemployed scalper can. People like me. I work and have a busy personal life but would love to be able to get the new switch because I move around a lot and use handheld mode, this new model feels like it targets me and I will be glad to take it. Having a zero effort required shot at making a purchase on it would be very appreciated.
@Ocaz
I get you now, I misread your of comment but that makes more sense
I think some scalpers are overestimating how many people want this. If it was completely replacing the standard model or it had improved performance in some way then maybe. But this for all intents and purposes is no different to all those multiple revisions something like the XBox 360 had. Most people will end up purchasing the standard model still if they plan on playing it on their TV mainly.
I think it's time for eBay to step in, at least for pre orders. It's starting to ruin the excitement of new releases.
@blindsquarel yeah! I think it's a good idea. Ensures that people who actually want to use it would be offered a link to purchase one.
@johnvboy harsh on Satan, right?
I almost bought a Nintendo 64 from a scalper when it first came out. When I found out she and her husband frequently went on safari hunting trips, I made 100% sure they would never scalp or hunt again.
@Grandiajet Capitalism
@Little_Squee,
I guess so.
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