A simple search for “Nintendo” on Amazon will bring up thousands of products. Many are official products related to the company, while many others are individuals selling related but lower-quality or bootlegged products.
Purchasing a used condition Nintendo item on the retailer’s website had the potential to be lower-quality, costing the buyer their hard-earned money.
At the end of October, Amazon sent out an email to all of its third-party product sellers, which was effective immediately. The email stated they could no longer list Nintendo products for sale without prior authorization from the company.
The email ended up being sent out by mistake but was enough to make some sellers go into a panic.
The email stated: “As part of our ongoing efforts to provide the best possible customer experience, we are implementing approval requirements for Nintendo products… Effective on 2019-10-31, you will need approval to list the affected products. If you do not obtain approval to sell these products prior to 2019-10-31, your listings for these products will be removed.”
The email was brief and didn’t contain that much information, such as which items were affected. The email also didn’t explain why the retailer made the sudden decision. Many sellers were already witnessing their products being taken down.
The sellers affected all shared one thing in common: The producer of the product was listed as “Nintendo.” These products range from accessories, consoles like the Nintendo Switch, and out-of-print items.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5uik5fgIaI
This restriction was only for products in the “Used” or “Collectible” condition. Many sellers continued listing products by listing them in “New” condition instead.
Many may not see why this would be an issue. But for those who release low-quality items that don’t match the description or have poor customer experiences may reflect poorly on Nintendo.
The decision may be due to a large number of bootleg items currently on Amazon. The retailer previously made a similar decision with used DVDs and Apple products, requiring approval from their manufacturer before they could be listed for sale on the site.
At the time of the initial email, Amazon did not state if the decision came from Nintendo or if it was decided only by the retailer.
Almost a day after the announcement was made, Amazon made another announcement, this time walking back their decision. Many sellers who had their products taken down eventually saw them back up.
Amazon stated that the email was sent out in error and apologized for the mistake.
