It’s better to just wait for new stock (Nintendo) The eBay vigilantes fighting back against Nintendo Switch 2 scalpers have come up with a new plan, now that US pre-orders have gone live. Despite Nintendo’s efforts to mitigate Nintendo Switch 2 scalping, listings for the console soon popped up on eBay after pre-orders went live here in the UK, earlier in the month. Unsurprisingly, the same thing is happening on the other side of the Atlantic, now that pre-orders are finally open in the US and Canada, following a two week delay brought on by Donald Trump’s tariffs. Disgruntled Nintendo fans have already tried getting these sort listings removed, by reporting scalpers to eBay for violating the site’s terms and conditions. Now, they’ve adopted a new and slightly more bizarre strategy: flood the market with fakes. If you take a quick glance at the US eBay site, you’ll find plenty of Switch 2 listings. Some are naturally more expensive than Nintendo’s asking price of $449.99, while others are around the same price or slightly cheaper. However, as highlighted by Nintendeals on Bluesky, a number of these listings have ‘read the description’ in their headings and if you do exactly that, you’ll see they’re not offering Switch 2 pre-orders but screenshots of the console. ‘This is a screenshot! You are purchasing a picture of a Nintendo Switch 2! This listing is to prevent bots and scalpers. No refunds and no cancellations! I will mail you a picture of a Switch 2. Don’t buy if you’re a real person!’ warns this listing. Similar descriptions can be found on several other listings, so it’s not as if these people are looking to swindle desperate customers out of their money. The goal here is to flood eBay with enough phony listings that it’ll be harder to find actual Switch 2 listings and thus prevent scalpers from successfully selling their pre-orders. More Trending While it’s not that difficult to discern which ones are fakes, the fact that they’re marked at lower prices does mean they’ll be the first ones people track down and push the more expensive listings out of the top page of the search results. Plus, this should counter any bots that have been set up to scour eBay for potential stock, to hoard up and sell afterwards. It’s not just the UK and America that are struggling to meet customer demands. Things aren’t any better in Japan, with Nintendo already having apologised for not having enough stock. Demand is so high for the Switch 2 that it could be the single biggest launch for a video game console ever, despite the widespread complaints about the price of its games. If you see a Mario Kart World bundle with a price that’s too good to be true, that’s because it is (eBay) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy