Interest
Nintendo Switch Fan "Wins" 17,500-Yen Auction for Catalog
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
The new Nintendo Switch console, which launched worldwide on March 3, is proving popular in both Japan and the Americas. With the device sold out in most stores, fans are clambering to get their hands on this year's hottest gaming commodity. Of course, eager fans who turn to the world of online auctions need to be cautious.
A Yahoo! Auctions bidder in Japan may be learning a hard lesson this week. After 18 bids, the user won an auction on Sunday with the terms "New Nintendo Switch Joy-Con (L) / (R) neon" and "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" in the title. However, the winning bidder may or may not have noticed the key phrase in the auction's title: "catalog only." The auction ended at 17,500 yen (about US$153).
The auction ran from March 3 to March 5. The person who offered the catalog edited the item description one day before the auction ended to note that the auction was for an "official catalog" that was not released for sale (for a good reason). The person holding the auction emphasized in the edit that the listing did not include an actual Nintendo Switch. However, the term "hontai" from the edit, which can refer to the actual body of an electronic device, also appears in the auction's title.
Despite the poster's edit of the item's description, it seems the catalog may have been listed with the intent to deceive. The listing's pictures include images of an actual Nintendo Switch and art from the The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild game. The title seems to have been copy-pasted from another online auction or retail listing because it includes the words "Amazon limited bonus item not included gray." The listing also had a buy-it-now price of 32,990 yen (US$287).
Unfortunately for the winning bidder, the listing did not allow cancellation after placing a bid. Furthermore, cancellation would have resulted in a 1,000-yen (US$9) fee and automatic negative feedback for the bidder. So it seems the bidder was out of luck after placing the bid.
On the plus side, the auction included free shipping.
In other unlucky auction news, a Detective Conan fan won a mug set for 101,000 yen (US$964) in October shortly before it went on sale for 2,200 yen (about US$21).
[Via Yaraon!]
