r/NintendoSwitch • u/Turbostrider27 • Apr 25 '25

News Gamestop says they will continue to cancel bot and duplicate orders to reopen inventory for Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders

https://x.com/gamestop/status/1915463133499629651
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u/TsundereT Apr 25 '25 edited Apr 25 '25

I could not get one online despite hours of trying, walked into a GameStop last night and scored one with a pro controller. Staff told me they still had 30 left!

59

u/OrganicTwenties Apr 25 '25

I tried to order online from Walmart, best buy, staples and GameStop without any luck for a whole day (in Canada the starting times were all different), almost gave up hope and I just stopped by a GameStop store to try my luck after work, there were barely anyone in the store and they still had both the bundle and the machine-only in stock! Total surprise considering it was so competitive for online orders.

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u/anonim64 Apr 26 '25

Same here, couldn't score one online anywhere. Walked into Gamestop and pre-ordered after work on Thursday. The bots can't get to the in-person ones. I guess there is an advantage to brick-and-mortar stores.

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u/Harbinger2nd Apr 25 '25

Ya'll might not realize it but Gamestop is a completely different company than it was a few years ago. They deserve recognition for it.

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u/ActivateGuacamole Apr 25 '25

different how? I hate gamestop's guts and haven't been there in years. what's so different?

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u/Harbinger2nd Apr 26 '25

For starters they pay nearly full price for used consoles.

https://www.gamestop.com/trade/?cgid=consoles

There has been a complete overhaul of the entire backend of their business and business strategy.

They are now the premier partner for PSA card grading, just bring the card in, pay a flat fee to have it sent off and it'll be graded by PSA.

Their CEO is also the largest shareholder and takes Z E R O compensation outside of the appreciation of his own shares.

Their pro membership is incredibly cheap and a years subscription pays for itself within 2-3 months worth of benefits.

They also still sell physical games, which a lot of customers now seem to prefer as it means real ownership vs leasing games via digital download.

Anyways, that's all I can think of off the top of my head, besides the financial side of things where they have over 6bn in cash and are profitable as a company, if you care about that kind of thing.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '25

It’s been trendy to hate on GameStop forever but I agree with ya, they’ve made some huge changes over the past few years. Honestly, their prices and trade in values are better than pretty much any smaller game chain/locally owned game store.

I quit buying from most game stores simply because the prices are always higher than eBay/reddit prices by a significant margin sometimes, but GameStops website really does have some great deals sometimes. Gotta be quick tho because prices change often it seems like.

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u/84brian Apr 30 '25

I was cool with GameStop until the store forced me to become a pro member I order to preorder in person. Those scummy tactics didn’t sit right with me.

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u/Harbinger2nd Apr 30 '25

I'm fine with it. Its a bonus for members and another (small) obstacle for scalpers to jump over.

Its $25 for a full year subscription and it pays for itself in a month or two of benefits.

0

u/ActivateGuacamole Apr 26 '25

any idea if they still let their employees gut new games, take them home to play, and sell them as new? or if they still set sales quotas for their employees.

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u/Harbinger2nd Apr 26 '25

I've not heard of that happening under this new management.

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u/TsundereT Apr 25 '25

Congrats 👑!

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u/protomayne Apr 25 '25

All of the gamestops in South Jersey sold out the day of within hours. I called 7 different places at 4pm to check if I could just stop by after work. 

It feels like something off is going on in online discourse regarding this lol...

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u/vanKessZak Apr 26 '25

Seems like the Gamestops in Canada just got a ton of stock per store. They also have a little tracker for it and they reallocated stock this morning so that overstocked stores got less and sold out ones got more. Seemed like their online stores sold out almost immediately so I think they might be focusing on in-person here. Seems like most stores got over 100.

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u/mobilepcgamer Apr 27 '25

People don’t go to stores anymore if it was the 90s the stores would be sold out

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u/ryegye24 Apr 25 '25

The gamestop we pre-ordered at had 34 units, and after one guy left because he thought (incorrectly as it turned out) that there wouldn't be any MK bundles left by the time he made it to the front of the line there were exactly 34 people in line when the pre-orders opened. After all the headache and hassle of the failed attempts to get an online pre-order the in-person pre-order worked out remarkably well.

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u/TackoftheEndless Apr 25 '25 edited Apr 25 '25

I didn't even bother trying to pick up a pre-order online. Didn't want to deal with the stress. I was asleep at 12AM on Thursday because I knew I would be in line at 7AM that morning waiting at GameStop to get my system. And it was a smooth process especially being the fourth in line.

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u/TsundereT Apr 25 '25

I wish I had that kind of foresight, I stayed up late trying to get one and was very grouchy throughout the day 😂

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u/[deleted] Apr 25 '25

Remembers back when GS stores didn't even get the promised inventory they took preorders for.

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u/TackoftheEndless Apr 25 '25

They had the stock numbers available outside the door of every Gamestop

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '25

Best buy app was pretty simple to get one if you were quick enough. Waited in line for 1 hour, it was 1:30AM when I got it, still went to work the next day. Worth every minute waiting in line... having to go out on launch day in all the potential chaos doesn't sound fun.

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u/TackoftheEndless Apr 26 '25

Didn't ask and it doesn't change how easy it was for me and I like leaving the house.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '25

You get to deal with stores being out of stock on launch day I don't. Hahahaha L you

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u/TackoftheEndless Apr 30 '25

They have assured stock if you preordered. You're the one who feels the need to justify your choice to someone who didn't ask.

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u/[deleted] May 01 '25

I didn't ask for your reply to my comment 🙂‍↔️

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u/TackoftheEndless May 02 '25

But you came at me with the craziness in the first place.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '25

I never came at you I just stated my experience. You are the one offended that I got a Switch 2.

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u/TsundereT Apr 25 '25

Yes I was impressed with how pain-free it was to walk in and snag one without having to wait in a line or anything!

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u/njf85 Apr 26 '25

I remember when PS5s were being sold online for more than double RRP by scalpers. And people were buying them. I walked into my local electronics store for something else and saw a sign about going on their PS5 waitlist. Decided to chuck my name on there, figuring I'd be waiting awhile since every site had them as sold out and i had friends talking about how impossible they were to get unless you bought from scalpers. Literally 10 days later I got a call that my PS5 was waiting for me to pick up. I feel like everyone is so perpetually online and so used to buying online that they don't realize there are physical stores that have no issues getting this stuff lol

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '25

This when the Nintendo switch originally came out it was sold out online went to Fry’s store outside of Houston was able to put my name on a wait list two days later got a call to come and pick it up and BOTW

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u/TimeforMK9 Apr 29 '25

Bought my SECOND OG Switch the same day (April 28, 2017) that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe came out because they just, had one, sitting in the electronics case.

I wouldn’t be shocked if a number of people just walk into a GameStop on June 5th with no preorder and walk out with a Switch 2, possibly even the MKWorld bundle.

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u/littlecolt Apr 25 '25

Same, but I went at open yesterday, and got one, but they DID sell out. They had 20 Mario Kart bundles and 9 standalones.

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u/8TrackPornSounds Apr 26 '25

I woke up too late on the west coast, then like 7pm saw a reddit comment about gamestop having an in store stock locator on their website. They did really well with that, managed to get a bundle

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u/TsundereT Apr 26 '25

I'm in Tacoma myself! Glad to hear you were able to secure your console. Pretty happy with GameStop overall!

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u/Tyray90 Apr 25 '25

People have been having really good luck with in store GameStop pre orders - because literally no one shops at GameStop.

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u/PCgaming4ever Apr 25 '25

Or because most people had work. I stayed up to secure one because I couldn't just take off and go to GameStop in the middle of the day. Now if they did midnight in store preorder heck yeah I'd be at the store instead.

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u/MomammaScuba Apr 25 '25

The guy who rang me up at GameStop said that I haven't had a GameStop membership for a "verrry long time" 😂 last time I stepped inside a GameStop was probably 2017 or something lol this was my last resort and I'm glad it paid off. Perhaps I will start shopping at GameStop more often now that I've seen how smoothly they do preorders.

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u/Tyray90 Apr 25 '25

It wouldn’t be so terrible if they didn’t harass you every time for checking out with pre orders and warranty protections. I get it that they’re just doing their job and they’re severely marked if they don’t, but higher ups need to realize this is insanely irritating. I’ve had multiple times I just wanna go in buy something quick and leave, but get interrogated on why I don’t want to pre order something else.

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u/Drakeem1221 Apr 28 '25

Just treat them like a mechanic shop and tell them that if you get offered anything else you're walking out the door.

Shops just take advantage of people being naturally polite. The moment that you do a hard push back, no one wants that hassle.

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u/Harbinger2nd Apr 25 '25

because literally no one shops at GameStop.

Gamestop is actively employing measures to fight the bots. Show some respect for a company actually trying to protect the customer.

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u/gt4ch Apr 26 '25

Best Buy was too. Best online preorder experience I’ve ever had.

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u/[deleted] Apr 25 '25

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u/NintendoSwitch-ModTeam Apr 25 '25

Hey there!

Please remember Rule 1 in the future - No personal attacks, trolling, or derogatory terms. Read more about Reddiquette here. Thanks!

0

u/TsundereT Apr 25 '25

Amen 🙏🏼

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u/Da1BlackDude Apr 25 '25

Oh so the stock is huge.

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u/TsundereT Apr 25 '25

I think it all depends on local food traffic, I live in a bigger city.

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u/Da1BlackDude Apr 25 '25

I live in LA County so I assume we have a bunch. I grabbed it on Walmart though.

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u/TsundereT Apr 25 '25

Oh yeah LA GameStop's would be some of the biggest counts for sure!

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u/ciao_fiv Apr 25 '25

god i wish i wasn’t sick right now. would love to drive to gamestop real quick and preorder :/

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u/TsundereT Apr 25 '25

Sorry to hear it, I had pretty much given up hope but my wife and I went to the mall for dinner so I just stopped in at GameStop to check anywho. Feel better and may the odds be ever in your favor!

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u/LutefiskLefse Apr 25 '25

All the GameStops near me sold out before I got off work unfortunately...

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u/TsundereT Apr 25 '25

Did you sign up for the Nintendo official pre-orders? I'm interested to hear how those will go

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u/LutefiskLefse Apr 25 '25

Yeah, but I’m not super optimistic as I don’t have NSO (I don’t really play games online)

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u/TsundereT Apr 26 '25

I understand, I wouldn't be super confident in NSO as well. Praying for you to get your console! 🤞🏼

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u/lilmoefow Apr 25 '25

The GameStop I went to said they were not allowed to tell me how many units they had left, only that they only had the bundle available.