Even before Nintendo's new game console 'Switch 2' is officially released, prices are skyrocketing in the used product market. Ahead of its launch on the 5th of next month, it is registered as a sales product at more than twice the regular price on e-commerce sites, sparking controversy.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported on the 18th that Switch 2, which has not yet been secured by major Japanese e-commerce sites such as Yahoo Auction and Amazon, is being registered as a sales product one after another. The officially launched consumer price in Japan is 49,980 yen (about 480,000 won), but the price on the e-commerce site exceeds 100,000 yen (about 960,000 won). The official release date is the 5th of next month, but individual sellers are registering their products on the sales site with phrases such as "Send on the 4th" and "Purchase is 100% certain."

According to Nikkei, popular game consoles are likely to be targeted by those who want to resell them at a high price because demand far exceeds supply. At the end of last month, the first official lottery sale for Switch 2 reportedly reached 2.2 million applicants in Japan alone. After the results of the lottery were notified, product sales registration was posted on e-commerce sites one after another.

In the case of Switch 1, which was launched in 2017, it is estimated that about 30% of its popularity flowed into the proprietary market at the peak of its popularity. A similar situation occurred when Sony PlayStation 5 was released.

In the wake of the controversy, LY Inc., which operates Yahoo Auction and Yahoo Free Market, said, "It is a prohibited act to sell and post a product before the release date or distribution date. "We can take strict measures such as suspending our accounts," he said, before taking measures to delete the information on the products for sale. Amazon and Rakuten Ichiba also said they can take intervention measures against entries that are sold at prices significantly exceeding the regular price.

However, the sales information for Switch 2 keeps coming up. As of the 16th, it is estimated that at least 50 cases are being resold in the form of pre-orders around 100,000 yen. Nikkei pointed out, "Not only manufacturers and large retailers, but also secondary distributors are required to respond to expensive resale."

Items legally regulated for resale in Japan are limited to paid tickets such as concerts and masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Resale of game consoles is not illegal, and countermeasures are also left to companies' autonomous measures. Professor Hikaru Yamamoto of Keio University's Department of Commerce said, "The resale of high-priced products should not be based solely on education or ethics. It is difficult to draw a boundary between where they are expensive, but platform operators need to present clear standards."