Scalpers have been taking full advantage of the extreme shortage of Nintendo Switch consoles caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As we have covered in the past, Nintendo has needed to halt shipments of the console due to the health crisis, which has left many consumers with no option but to either purchase their systems from third-party sellers — and usually as incredibly high mark-ups — or take the time to build their own systems from scratch.
To make matters worse, certain scalpers have employed the tactic of using bots to purchase the units from online retailers in mass quantity to further restrict the already dwindling supply. These scalpers then take to eBay and other venues to sell the systems that they had effectively blocked people from purchasing.
The scalpers have also made it a habit to use a Discord server to share stories of their purchases and the profits they are making with them. There is no word yet on if retailers can or will enact countermeasures against the practice, but the hope for many is that one will be found or that the normal shipments of Switch consoles will resume soon.
