Summary
We are just ten days away from the beginning ofNintendo Switch 2pre-orders in Japan and retailers are worried about scalpers. As with any product where demand could potentially outstrip supply, scalpers are ready to take advantage of consumers' desperation to own a Nintendo Switch 2 on launch day.
The Age-Old Battle
Nintendo can only employ these counter-measures because it has access to everyone’s data and accounts from the original Switch. Physical retailers don’t have the luxury of this data, and so will have to combat scalpers with their own methods. In fact, an electronics retailer in Japan has issued an open call to consumers, soliciting their advice on how to combat scalpers (thank you,Automaton).
The Japanese version of the Nintendo Switch 2 is region-locked, meaning it won’t work overseas.
In a series of posts on X, Nojima requested fans use a special hashtag to educate the retailer on the best ideas for stopping Nintendo Switch 2 scalpers. Automaton has translated several responses from Nintendo fans, who have a plethora of ideas on how to best combat scalping.
The ideas are wide-ranging: making customers sign a warranty, asking for identification and writing the buyer’s name on the box and even hosting a Nintendo trivia quiz. After all, if you can’t name all the Koopalings in order of their first appearance then do you really deserve to own that Switch 2?
Nojima is already employing unique counter-measures to foil scalpers. The retailer is planning to sell the Switch on an “invite-only” basis, and will be employing a lottery system to choose successful buyers.
Pre-orders for the Switch 2 are currently open in the United Kingdom, while the United States and Canada have beenforced to waitdue to the uncertainty created by Donald Trump’s tariffs.
