Nintendo has pulled the plug on a major retailer due to what they claim are “unauthorised sales” of their popular Nintendo Switch 2.
The move by the Japanese Company to deny Amazon supply of what has been dubbed the worlds’ most popular consular and the one driving sales at Australian CE retailers came about after Nintendo management started tracking goods sold by suppliers on Amazon marketplace which recently caught the attention of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission for the sale of questionable goods.
This resulted in Amazon pulling their products from the Amazon.com site after a disagreement over unauthorized sales claims Bloomberg.
The decision to pull the plug on Amazon.com came about after Nintendo management noticed that third-party merchants were offering games for sale in the USA at prices that undercut Nintendo’s advertised rates, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Observers claim that if this had happened in Australia the ACCC could pursue Nintendo for claim of price fixing.
According to sources sellers were buying Nintendo products in bulk in Southeast Asia and exporting them to the US, said the person, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential information.
When this was spotted Nintendo product listings started disappearing from Amazon’s US site last year, as Nintendo ramped up their probe. v
The listings had previously appeared as “Sold by Amazon,” which typically denotes merchandise the online retailer buys directly from brands.
Some Nintendo products remained on the site, but they were listed by independent merchants who sell their goods on Amazon’s sprawling online marketplace.
According to insiders Amazon offered to attach labels to products that guarantee they’re authentic.
Amazon uses the technique to assure shoppers products aren’t counterfeits and to help it track merchandise. But the offer wasn’t sufficient, the person said, and Nintendo ultimately opted to pull its products from Amazon’s biggest web site.
“There is no such fact. We do not disclose details of negotiations or contracts with retailers,” a Nintendo spokesperson said in an e-mailed response, declining to elaborate further.
An Amazon spokesperson said “the claims made by Bloomberg regarding our relationship with Nintendo are inaccurate” but declined to specify how.
“Amazon is pleased to offer Nintendo products directly to our customers as part of our commitment to providing an exceptional shopping experience with the widest selection possible,” the spokesperson said.
Amazon is still selling the Switch 2 in foreign markets, including Australia Canada, Japan and the UK.
Bloomberg claim that Nintendo is hardly the first brand to clash with Amazon over how third-party merchants conduct.
Big brands have long said Amazon needs to do more to police independent sellers and stop counterfeits, an issue that ChannelNews understands the ACCC is pursuing in the interest of Australian consumers.
Over the years, brands also have pulled their products from the site because they say Amazon doesn’t give them enough control over how their goods are displayed and sold.
Nintendo sold 3.5 million-plus units of the Switch 2 in just four days, a record-breaking start for the company’s first new console in eight years. The company hopes to sell 15 million units by next March.
