The Zelda Switch 2 sold out in hours - please don't feed the scalpers

You know the feeling. A limited edition goes live, you open the tab, and it already says "sold out". Nintendo's Switch 2 for the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda disappeared from preorders within hours, and the scalpers, naturally, were faster than the rest of us.

Dozens of eBay listings popped up almost immediately, many asking close to double the retail price. In the UK the console officially costs £434.99, and resale listings go past £700. On the US side, the most extreme listing - console, Pro Controller, case and game - wants more than $1,700. For a console that doesn't even ship until October 29.

So what are people actually paying for? Link-green Joy-Cons, a triangular pattern inspired by the Triforce, and a matching Pro Controller and carry case. Under that skin it's a Switch 2 - the same games, the same experience you get from the one already on the shelf. You're paying for looks.

I'm not saying it isn't pretty. It is. Collector's editions have their audience and wanting a Zelda console on your shelf isn't silly. But there's a line between "I want this" and "I'll hand a reseller a few hundred quid extra for green plastic".

For players here, the story is even trickier. Nintendo's own online store has never been the natural route for people in Croatia - we usually wait to see what distributors and local shops bring in, and with limited editions that often means small quantities or nothing at all. Which is exactly why there's a real risk this console ends up here mostly through local classifieds, with an "imported from Germany" tag and whatever price the seller dreams up.

If you're really itching for one, a few things are worth knowing. Nintendo has said the collection is currently sold out and that it will announce restocks through the Nintendo Store app - so nobody has said this was the only batch. There's a reasonable chance of more stock around the console's launch or the Ocarina of Time release a week later. Not guaranteed, but enough that panic buying makes no sense.

Second, be careful with listings. Remember the PS5 shortage: ads showing nothing but a product photo, shipping costs hidden in the fine print, people paying upfront for something that never arrived. A resold preorder is really just a promise that the console will reach the seller - and then, maybe, you.

And the most important one: if you care about the games rather than the colour, a regular Switch 2 does the job just as well, and the money you save over a scalper's price covers a few games. Including, ironically, the new Ocarina.

Image: Crisco 1492 / CC BY-SA 4.0, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nintendo_Switch_2_in_Docking_Console.jpg