Passionategeekz According to Bloomberg, Nintendo decided to remove its products from Amazon’s US website due to disagreement with Amazon over unauthorized sales. This led to Amazon missing out on the first sale of the Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. market, which is the largest gaming console ever released.
According to people familiar with the matter,Nintendo found that some third-party merchants sold games in the United States at prices below their official pricing, so they decided to stop selling products on Amazon. These merchants purchase Nintendo products in large quantities in Southeast Asia and export them to the United States.
Nintendo’s products gradually disappeared from Amazon’s US website last year, when some game news media reported on this. Previously, the list of these products was shown “sold by Amazon,” which usually means Amazon purchases items directly from the brand. Although some of the Nintendo products are still on Amazon’s US website, they are all sold by independent merchants.
Amazon has tried to appease Nintendo by promising to label products that guarantee authenticity, and Amazon usually uses this technology to ensure that products are not fake and help them track products. However, the proposal failed to meet Nintendo’s requirements, and Nintendo eventually decided to remove its products from Amazon’s US website.
When asked about this, a Nintendo spokesperson responded via email: “We will not disclose details of negotiations or contracts with retailers.” An Amazon spokesperson said: “Bloomberg’s statement about Amazon’s relationship with Nintendo is inaccurate.” But the spokesperson did not specify the inaccuracy, saying only: “Amazon is pleased to be able to offer Nintendo products directly to its customers, which is part of our commitment to providing an excellent shopping experience and the widest selection.”
Still, when the Nintendo Switch 2 was released in the U.S. this month, retailers such as Walmart Inc., Target Corp., Best Buy Co. and GameStop Corp. were available in their U.S. stores. Amazon sells Switch 2 in markets outside the United States, including Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom, but American consumers cannot buy it. Some consumers even question on social media when Amazon will restock. The U.S. market accounts for about two-thirds of Amazon’s sales.
Nintendo is not the first brand to conflict with Amazon due to third-party merchant behavior. For years, many well-known brands have called on Amazon to strengthen supervision of independent sellers to combat counterfeit and shoddy goods. In addition, some brands have also removed their products from Amazon because they believe that Amazon has insufficient control over product display and sales. To attract these well-known brands, Amazon has taken several measures, including filing lawsuits against merchants suspected of selling counterfeit products.
In 2018, Amazon reached an agreement with Apple to allow Amazon to sell the latest iPhone and other products, and subsequently prohibit unauthorized third-party merchants from selling Apple refurbished products. Another Nike company that had refused to sell on Amazon also recently said it would resume sales on Amazon.
Recently, Nintendo seems to have re-established a direct partnership with Amazon, and its upcoming Donkey Kong Bananza has been opened for pre-order on the US Amazon website and is displayed as “sold by Amazon.” However, as of last Friday, the Switch 2 has not been listed on Amazon’s US website, and Amazon has not appeared on Nintendo’s list of retailers selling the console in the US.
Passionategeekz noticed that the Nintendo Switch 2 sold more than 3.5 million units within four days after its release, breaking the company’s console sales record, and the company expects to sell 15 million units by March next year.
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