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The SNES Classic launched in North America last Friday, and the system’s actual release went a bit smoother than the pre-ordering process. While Nintendo seems to have shipped more SNES Classics than the NES Classics last year, demand still outpaced supply. And that means the system has value on the secondary market.
While the retail price of the SNES Classic is set at $79.99, the system starts at $184 on the Amazon seller’s market, although the least expensive system that isn’t being sold by a seller who “just launched” is $190.
We covered the widespread use of scam accounts on Amazon after the launch of the Switch, and they seem just as prevalent now. While Amazon guarantees each sale, make sure you buy from a seller with a good rating and a long history on the site.
The auction site eBay stated that, as of Sept. 29, the service had around 17,000 listings for the SNES Classic, with an average selling price of $165. The “buy it now” price on many of the listings seems to have crept up a bit, but you shouldn’t have any issues finding a system for under $200.
So there you go, the SNES Classic is worth around $170 to $190 on the open market, give or take a few bucks. The price is likely to rise slightly now that the initial shipments have sold out and fans or desperate parents find themselves unwilling to wait until the system is restocked. With a market value over double that of the retail price, expect scalpers to continue to scoop up as much inventory as possible.
Nintendo, like every company that finds itself in this situation, has two options to fight scalpers: It can either raise the retail price to more closely match the actual value of the system, or it can ship more systems to lower the market value of the systems by removing scarcity.
Nintendo has promised more inventory through the holiday season. “I would strongly urge you not to over-bid on an SNES Classic on any of the auction sites,” Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told the Financial Times.
The price of the NES Classic continues to be high on the secondary market as well, starting at around $200 on Amazon from legit-looking sellers, despite the system’s announced 2018 return.
