Just yesterday Nintendo officially announced the SNES Classic Edition, the successor to the NES Classic Edition that was recently discontinued. The console will only be released at the end of September, but it seems that pre-orders from various retailers have already sold out and in turn, have created a rather unfortunate scalping situation.
It seems that there are some opportunists who have started to list their pre-orders on eBay for as much as £299.99, claiming that this is a “guaranteed” pre-order (the listing has since been taken down). If you’re wondering why this sounds familiar, it is because the NES Classic Edition saw a similar situation where it was similarly jacked up in price once news had hit the internet that the console would be discontinued.
Now obviously no one should buy from these resellers since it would be impossible to confirm if they really do have the pre-order. Not to mention the release is still several months away and we’re not sure if paying more than double or triple its retail price is a smart idea. Nintendo has confirmed that they will be working towards making more units available than the NES Classic Edition.
However from what we can see from the pre-orders, they might have their work cut out for them. We suggest that gamers interested in buying the console contact local retailers to see if they might be getting more stock and try your luck then.