Trump’s Tariffs Are Here to Jack Up the Price of Your Switch 2 (and Everything Else)
https://gizmodo.com/trumps-tariffs-are-here-to-jack-up-the-price-of-your-switch-2-and-everything-else-2000584267Open linkView original on lemmy.worldSyndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.
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45 replies
But I don’t live in the US.
What makes you think everyone else’s MSRP isn’t
based oninfluenced by the US MSRPI don’t think that those prices for US reflect new tariffs in any way. First of all, they were announced before tariff rates but importantly it’s also a complete tossup if they’ll be in place by the summer and in what form. If they remain as they are then I think Americans will be paying noticeably more for their consoles and games.
It’s hard for me to believe that Nintendo wouldn’t have taken into account the possibility of tariffs when deciding on pricing. Trump has only been talking about them for over a year.
It would be kind of weird to even try to guess something this unpredictable and most claiming to have any idea turned out to be wrong. I mean, how do you plan for tariffs that could be anywhere from 0 to 50%?
Yeah, that's what makes this whole "Don't blame Nintendo, it's tariffs!" idea BS. If that were the case, it would only be this expensive in the US. Considering there's a Japan-only Switch 2 that's less than $350, it's pure greed.
Weren't the tariffs announced after the switch price was announced?
If so, the price in the US will probably go up before release date
Tariff uncertainty has been in the air since the US election, it'd be wild for them to not atleast consider it in their pricing decisions.
The thing is the switch 2 price could still go up on top of the experience piece it is for people in the US (not American myself but yeah)
I'm noy sure whatvyou mean by experience piece here?
But yeah, I think I agree. if tariffs hit particularly hard it could definitely still go up, given how sweeping the proposed tariffs are and that shipping itself is probably going to get more expensive as a result. Probably everything is going to get more expensive.
They very well might!
Could it be both? The US market is so huge that tariffs would cause a huge dent on their operating costs, so they raise US prices. Maybe they only raised US prices a little, not enough to cover the tariffs, and decided to do the same elsewhere to make up for it, so the US market doesn't completely miss the release.
Just spit balling. Also possible they raised US prices for tariffs and everyone else for greed because it's all based on the US market anyway
Looks like the US price for the Switch 2 will be raised due to the tariffs, so the "more expensive for everyone but Japan" thing has nothing to do with the tariffs. It does make me wonder, though, what happens if a friend buys a Switch 2 at a cheaper price in Europe, then mails it to someone in the US? Are tariffs also paid for all person to person packages?
That falls under de minimis laws which you should look into because last I heard, I think Republicans are trying to lower the de minimis limit, meaning in that case you would pay taxes on the import. Currently I think the minimus limit is something like $800, so you wouldn't pay tariffs.
Did you say that they're raising the price for the US switch?
Most likely they will be. They stopped pre-orders in the US because they have to figure out the tariff situation. $450 is the pre-tariff price.
I just calculated in another thread that the Australian pre sales tax price converts to us$383.91. That's without any language or region restrictions.
Nintendo consoles are manufactured in China.
US tariffs on China mean those companies have to jack up prices across the board to recoup their losses.
I'm sorry. I didn't vote for him.
That’s incredibly American thinking. Why would anyone else have to cover for your own import tariffs? Do I pay for higher prices in Brazil? They have very high tariffs on electronics too.
Maybe Nintendo of America doesn't want international prices to be higher than international ones (adjusting for currency exchanges) because they're worried about Americans ordering them from elsewhere (losing NoA sales). And Nintendo in Japan doesn't care because Japanese gamers will pay anything for the next Nintendo console, lol
The world doesn’t really revolve around America though so I don’t know why they would treat it special. They’re a business, they exist to make money, not redistribute wealth.
It's a large market. Nintendo of America might even bring in more revenue than Nintendo of Japan.
It’s the biggest market but also 1/3rd of global revenue only.
Revenue by region in $M 2024:
They actually specifically moved production to Foxconn Vietnam to avoid this... Only for Vietnam to get hit by 46% tariffs right after the Direct
Nothing stops US people buying Switch from other regions if it was cheaper
The tariffs kind of do?…
Except, like, the power grid
Na, USB-C charging.
Where can you buy it from that's not subject to a global tariff?
What stops people from the US from exploiting everything regional pricing?
Yup. Life necessities and stealing as much entertainment as I can with good old piracy.
Guess I'm going to have to wait four years to buy a switch 2. Hopefully the McDonald's diet makes it sooner.
Awfully optimistic of you to assume he will be gone in 4 years...
We can only hope to try our best
OLED Version will be out by then lol
This is like almost $300 more than I spent on my 512GB steam deck...
Don’t worry, the price will go up when you buy games to run on it.
What do you mean?
You can generally get Steam games very cheap, especially when using authorized key resellers. Switch games are sourced only from Nintendo and generally stay high in price. Their Switch 2 games are being advertised at $80, above even Sony’s $70 metric.
I'm pretty sure some regions can buy Nintendo digital games from humble store.
The don't support my region so j don't know what the range is like but I believe it as available for some places.
Well the way things are going I wouldn't be surprised if a new Russian shipping service pops up that's tariff free.
How many kids are going to get a Switch Lite this Christmas instead of a Switch 2 because now it's just outside of their parents budget?
Not the biggest deal in the world i guess
An American can hope that this will end well for them (bring this ‘golden age of America’ to fruition) but chances are that American lyfe will get a lot more expensive. I predict a lot more protesting coming soon
I already shop local and buy used. The tariffs don't me shit to me. It's only the rich elites and wannabes that are affected.
Ah yes, the rich elites and wannabes on their electric scooters weaving through the aisles of your local walmart…
Exactly, those wannabes are going to get a wakeup call. And you know the rich elites don't ever have to care what things cost.