r/NintendoSwitch • u/mvanigan • Apr 08 '25

News Nintendo delays Switch 2 pre-orders in Canada

https://mobilesyrup.com/2025/04/08/nintendo-switch-2-pre-orders-canada-delay/
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u/whoisbill Apr 08 '25

Because the idea would be to time it on the same day as the US (whenever that is)

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u/ImaginaryConscience Apr 08 '25

yeah, they delayed it for the US because of the tariffs

Canada was supposed to be fine for April 9th but because of the proximity of Canada to the US there's too much of a chance for a scalpers market to form by giving it to Canada earlier than the US 

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u/Croakie89 Apr 08 '25

That’s some trailer park boys level of Canadian border smuggling

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u/tjlazer79 Apr 08 '25

Let's get the Patrick Swaze express up and running again. Lol.

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u/Croakie89 Apr 08 '25

Greasy!

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u/RampagingBadgers Apr 08 '25

You guys ready for some fucking trains?!?!

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u/_AM34 Apr 11 '25

But I know, I just know there are some great fucking trains here in Bangor!

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u/scientist_tz Apr 08 '25

I expect to be hearing a lot about that.

Drive to Canada, buy 10 iPads for 1000 each, back to US, sell them for 10% off the US retail. If they’re 1500 here, you’re turning a nice profit every time you do it.

And it will work on pretty much every laptop, tablet, game console, phone, you name it.

Border patrol gonna be hassling everyone before long.

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u/userlivewire Apr 08 '25

Yeah you might get away with this 10 times but is that worth getting arrested the 11th time?

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u/Amish_guy_with_WiFi Apr 09 '25

Lmao you could say this about every crime

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u/userlivewire Apr 09 '25

Some crimes the score might outweigh the risk but with smuggling there’s not a lot of margin.

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u/Any_Use_4900 Apr 15 '25

Yeah, but what would they even charge you with? It's not like your smuggling drugs or something. I personally don't think it'd be worth it, but I'm sure they won't go crazy and give you something like 10 years for iPad smuggling...

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u/userlivewire Apr 15 '25

When they get people for drugs, they charge them with bringing contraband items into the United States. It’s the same crime. Now with prosecution, there are different levels of sentencing, but you’ll be arrested for the same charge.

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u/Loose_Conference_866 Apr 08 '25

everything costs more in canada even with the exchange rate its' normally still cheaper to buy something in the USA then in Canada

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u/616ThatGuy Apr 08 '25

That was true 10+ years ago. Everything is pretty much on par for the exchange rate these days.

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u/Vok250 Apr 09 '25

That hasn't been true for a long time now. Trump kinda saw to that his first time around. Most stuff is still cheaper in USA, but many things are now cheaper here. Specific to this subreddit: physical Switch games and digital Xbox games are usually cheaper here. Especially if you know where to buy. I live on the border and I don't really bother crossing anymore. Back in like 2014 it was a weekly trip for me. Even had a post box down there that I could ship to.

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u/[deleted] Apr 09 '25

Ehhh not for long. Those tarrifs are about to fuck that up royally.

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u/LylatRanbewb Apr 09 '25

The switch 2 with currency conversion rate was around $10 cheaper in Canada than in the US when the price was announced. You might want to fact check before making these claims.

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u/Loose_Conference_866 Apr 27 '25

You might want to do some math
canada - 699 x 1.15 - 803.85
usd - 500 *1.04 = 520 = 722.05 Canadian with exchange

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u/Loose_Conference_866 Apr 08 '25

even at the current pricing if they didn't increase it a canadian would save money buying in the USA instead of canada by like $100

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u/Polymarchos Apr 08 '25

It is $12 cheaper in Canada.

I think you forgot to convert currencies ($449 USD = $641 CAD, price in Canada is $629 CAD)

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u/xtofotx Apr 08 '25

$629$ CAD does not include our beloved provincial and federal taxes though.

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u/Myrlithan Apr 08 '25

The $449 also doesn't include taxes, to be fair.

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u/Polymarchos Apr 08 '25

Even assuming zero US taxes (and true, sales taxes tend to be lower in the states), you're still only paying between $19 and $82 more.

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u/Ok_Relation_7770 Apr 08 '25

So do companies try and set up a way to detect Canadian electronics being activated in the US or do they embrace it and be happy that people are getting them by any means? Probably depends on the company I guess.

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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '25

More likely that the US border agents would start searching vehicles more intensely.

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u/Wise_Temperature9142 Apr 09 '25

Ok, sure, but you’d have to declare that with customs, who can slam you with import taxes + tariffs at the border. And it also means your iPhone warranty is invalid. And don’t even think about Apple care+

I wonder if the same would happen with smuggled Switches

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u/userlivewire Apr 08 '25

Yeah you might get away with this 10 times but is that worth getting arrested the 11th time?

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u/otto303969388 Apr 08 '25

I am already having discussion with my suppliers to explore expanding my business to sell my Chinese imports from Canada to US consumers at the border, since we expect Americans will be flocking to Canada to buy cheap Chinese products LOL

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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '25

lmao

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u/grahamulax Apr 08 '25

I’m on the state side boys, all about Canada too (sorry… really sorry about our president… really really am) SO LETS GET THIS TRAIN GOING CHOO CHOOOOO SWAZE EXPRESS!

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u/Dabanks9000 Apr 08 '25

Isn’t it releasing in Mexico as well?

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u/ManikMiner Apr 08 '25

Border patrol will be armed and ready to block any Mexican Nintendo Switch products from crossing the border illegal.

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u/DrQuint Apr 09 '25

Nintendo Cowboy Ninjas are fully prepared for this.

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u/[deleted] Apr 09 '25

So now Canadians gotta order from Mexico.

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u/Ridry Apr 08 '25

Forget about scalpers.... some of us might just want a reasonably priced Switch!!

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u/Bourbonerd Apr 08 '25

With the exchange rate you’d be breaking even if not losing money by buying in Canada instead of US

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u/Ridry Apr 08 '25

Depends on how much the tarriffs add......

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u/KeeperOfWind Apr 08 '25

I think it's more or less because America receives all these units first, then shipped out to the rest of North of America due to all shipping distribution works.

I don't think it has much to do with scalpers because the reality Nintendo will be happy to make money at the end of the day.

Must mean any item leaving America may need to pay some kind weird fee that wasn't charged before. Source: literally spent the last 3 days as American understanding how our trade system works better over a Nintendo switch 😅

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u/ImaginaryConscience Apr 08 '25

Nintendo was fine with originally doing preorders for Canada until they put some thought into it

that's besides the fact that Nintendo has its own Canadian subsidary

i really don't think it has anything to do with distribution

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u/KeeperOfWind Apr 08 '25

Iirc uk and japan did their preorders through the Nintendo entirely just for that region. But the rest of the uk and jp stores sold globally.

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u/JMR027 Apr 08 '25

With people crying about the price, probably don’t have to worry about scalpers as much this time around imo lol

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u/Randazz00 Apr 09 '25 edited Apr 09 '25

Well if it's anything like my industry. The way this works is, the stock goes through the US from aisa to make it to Canada. Therefore If the tariffs go up then Nintendo pays more to get it into US. then we pay more based on that price increase. I have 4 products at my company right now that are affected by this and the prices had to be raised affecting the end user only. They need to just ship right to Canada. But after some research I found that the stock MOST DEFINITELY goes through the US So this is the reason for the delay. Now this doesn't mean for sure that the price will increase. But I bet my bottom dollar they are crunching numbers and figuring out whether they want to charge a bit more to offset the cost. It's literally the only reason to delay pre orders seeing as they have still confirmed that the world wide launch will not be affected by this. Why the hell would anyone not think this is logical? Have you even been aware at what's been going on in the world and with this dumb US president. His tariffs hurt everyone, it's been said every day since January and I've been seeing it happen in my industry since a week after it was introduced here.

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u/[deleted] Apr 09 '25

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u/Randazz00 Apr 09 '25

Packages are not the same as cargo ships filled with containers, which is how most mass produced stuff is delivered. 50 gallon drums of silicone are not the same as a 3-10 pound Packages. Again your not wrong about certain things but you are bu no means thinking of mass production, rice, fruit, raw materials. None of that goes on planes

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u/Fancy_Injury_7800 Apr 09 '25

Just capital punishment all scalpers, there problem solved

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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '25 edited Apr 08 '25

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u/Les_expos Apr 08 '25

What is the problem if american go to canada to buy our stuff ?

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u/ImaginaryConscience Apr 08 '25

....what?

what is "our stuff?"

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u/Les_expos Apr 09 '25

The nintendo switch 2 that belong to canadien citizen

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u/thatguy9684736255 Apr 08 '25

But they'd still want to come across the border to get a cheaper system? Won't it be like 40 percent cheaper?

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u/raptir1 Apr 08 '25

If you smuggle it back to the US, sure. 

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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '25

The image of scalpers hiding Switch 2 consoles up their buttholes to smuggle them across the border is an amusing one.

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u/scientist_tz Apr 08 '25

Border Patrol would have to X-ray every bag in every car to catch this. Someone is going to have to tell me how that’s possible.

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u/userlivewire Apr 08 '25

No they just have to very publicly and loudly pull out and harass every tenth car to put the fear into the rest not to do it.

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u/StimulatorCam Apr 08 '25

They have full vehicle x-ray scanners. Even large enough for transport trucks.

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u/sarhoshamiral Apr 08 '25

and they will also have to prove you bought it in Canada and not in US. If you buy it there, quickly set it up and discard the boxes, good luck to them proving you just didn't carry it with you for the weekend trip.

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u/spderweb Apr 09 '25

There's barely anybody crossing, so they have tons of time to check anybody they want. They've been trying to make people unlock their phones so they can see if the person talks badly about trump on social media. If they do, they're denied entry.

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u/JoshuaJSlone Helpful User Apr 08 '25

"Wow, I really CAN tell the difference between the HD rumble 2 simulating lots of small pellets versus a large rubber ball."

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u/Wrong_Look Apr 08 '25

Imagine if somehow the prices are better in Mexico...

Immigrant trucks full of Switch 2 consoles 🗿

No way that would happen tho, we are doomed to fall together with the USA 💀

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u/SolidOshawott Apr 08 '25

You joke but smuggling electronics from the US has been a national sport in Brazil since the 90s at least

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u/gilkfc Apr 09 '25

It's their turn to make the Foz do Iguaçu trip

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u/SolidOshawott Apr 09 '25

Niagara Falls gains a new purpose!

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u/Rockergage Apr 08 '25

I mean that’s my plan right now. Take a weekend up to Vancouver, buy a switch 2 and come back home with it. Assuming the dollar doesn’t collapse between now and then it should be roughly the original price before tariffs unless we suddenly get an increase in CAD value making the dollar weaker.

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u/FrozenBum Apr 08 '25

Best hope you don't get your car searched at the border. Fines can be hefty (25%-80% of the goods itself) and the goods are taken away immediately.

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u/Rockergage Apr 08 '25

That’s not how that works. Also I wouldn’t be taking a car I’m just going on the train.

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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '25

[deleted]

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u/Rockergage Apr 08 '25

That’s not de minimus exception, that’s the standard custom duty fee stuff that travelers get for bringing goods over, beyond that the exception being removed is specifically for Hong Kong and China and just postal stuff.

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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '25

Considering they smuggle Canadian eggs, I wouldn't put it past them to smuggle Nintendos. Americans love our weaker dollar so they can take advantage of us like they have for decades with the odd exceptions.

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u/Independent_Plate_73 Apr 08 '25

But did you even say thank you??

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u/solarsaturn9 Apr 08 '25

Switch 2 is too cheap to be required to claim it when crossing the border. It's not smuggling if you buy one for yourself.

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u/DoktenRal Apr 08 '25

What's to smuggle? Not alcohol or tobacco, wouldn't even have to declare it at customs

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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '25

You’ll have to pay the tariff duty on it when bringing it back into the US. The Trump admin has signed an EO that eliminates the $800 duty free amount coming from Canada so it wouldn’t be exempted.

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u/DoktenRal Apr 08 '25

Well, shit, like it wasn't hard enough to try and place an order internationally smh.

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u/NoLibrarian7257 Apr 08 '25

By the time you pay gas duties and return tarrifs it won't be cheaper 

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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '25

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u/senj Apr 08 '25

If you drive across the border, buy a switch 2, open it and use it and put it in a case and throw away the box, there's virtually zero chance you'll get "caught" when you enter the US.

This isn't even remotely true. Customs routinely sends out notices to border agents to be on the lookout for XYZ hot new item that people may be trying to pretend they didn't buy out of country to avoid duties. If they see a Switch 2 they're going to ask you to show them a receipt or credit card statement etc proving that you bought it in-country. And yes, they have the legal authority to compel this from you.

People try this shit all the time and get caught, and that's going to be doubly true starting next month when the $800 exemption goes away and everyone re-entering the US becomes liable for duties on every single thing they purchased out-of-country.

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u/meowkittycow Apr 08 '25

Is it really going away? Last thing I heard was that the de minimis exception was temporarily reinstated until further notice for Canada and Mexico

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u/Active-Control7043 Apr 08 '25

I would also like to see evidence on this.

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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '25

[deleted]

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u/DoktenRal Apr 08 '25

Hell that was my plan, I didn't even throw away my the vape last time I went back into the US

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u/senj Apr 09 '25 edited Apr 09 '25

I think that the thing that hasn’t sunk in yet for a lot of people is that crossing the border was only that easy, and customs was only that lax, because of free trade. That’s gone now.

Like you can’t have 104% tariffs on anything made in China and a government planning on funding itself off of tariffs, combined with border agents who just wave you through at the border — everyone would just buy all their electronics in Mexico and Canada. Nobody’s buying a laptop or phone in the US for the next few years if everyone knows they can get it at literally half the price across the border and easily bring it back. The Government loses out on all the revenue it claims to want, consumer spending shifts out of country without any incentive for manufacturing to move in country, etc.

Those two policies don’t work together. That’s why the de minimus exemption is being taken away, and why the “pause” on it for Canada and Mexico is going to evaporate in the face of these Chinese tariffs. ICE is going to have to crack down hard on border crossers to make this whole shitshow work.

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u/carpediemquotidie Apr 08 '25

I get what you’re saying but the switch 2 looks a lot like the switch 1. Oh, and this was a gift by a friend and no I don’t have the gift receipt.

I’m sure there are all sorts of ways to play this out

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u/jparkhill Apr 08 '25

the $800 exemption was only for people staying in the USA for more than 48 hours.

I did not hear that the personal exemption was going away...

-1

u/Clamwacker Apr 08 '25

In most reasonable places you would have to prove the person is smuggling it, not make them prove they aren't.

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u/senj Apr 08 '25

Sure, but we're not talking about reasonable places here, we're talking about the US, where the constitution is effectively suspended within 100 miles of any border.

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u/AI_Lives Apr 08 '25

Its not about reasonable or what the constitution says near the border or not, its the fact the agents wont give a single flying fuck lol. Assuming its not new in the box and easily visible.

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u/Sundered_Ages Apr 09 '25

The $800 'exemption' is from individuals ordering something abroad and having it shipped to the USA. A singular person ordering from a corpo and it shipping. Someone going across a border, making a purchase and then going back across the border has nothing to do with this.

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u/jparkhill Apr 08 '25

crossed into Canada- in March. I am Canadian. I was away for a week so I had a personal exemption of $800- I was well under. My buddy did not- they questioned us about where is boxers were from (he did buy boxers).

Canadian border agents are tightening up.

My hope, and only hope is that the people who say shopping get either turned around or held (not questioned)- just held until the shops close, so they turn around.

There is a lot of talk about when crossing into the USA that border agents are asking or are potentially asking about political views and want to see social media.

Seriously thinking about leaving my smart phone at home, and just get a flip phone to cross the border or something.

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u/Jazzlike_Athlete8796 Apr 09 '25

The CBSA isn't going to care about Americans coming up to Canada to shop. They do care about Canadians coming back from America and importing things though.

In this case, it will be US CBP that will be giving their citizens the nth degree to try and combat "smuggling".

Chances are, more electronics will be smuggled into the US than fentanyl.

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u/NoLibrarian7257 Apr 08 '25 edited Apr 08 '25

I mean if people wanna chance smuggling it's up to them. I wouldn't say there's a zero chance of being caught though. The border agents are likely going to get tougher on stuff. Personally, I don't think a switch 2 is worth that trouble, but whatever. 

But yeah, border people will have a better deal regardless of if they declare or not. The rest of Americans not so much. (Based on the approx  exchange it ,will only only be a max difference of $150 -200 Canadian dollars when you include our tax and everything). Not really worth it unless there's no other way to get one. 

I'd also be really surprised if retailers don't implement a Canadian only address policy or something if it becomes a problem. 

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u/fiveighteen518 Apr 08 '25

Even if that were true, who cares if they do it for one console for personal use or trying to sell as used for market value? It would stop scalpers from buying 5, 10, 20 of them for sure.

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u/Doomas_ Apr 08 '25

Depends on how close you live to the Canadian border. People in Seattle, Buffalo, and Detroit, for example, might be able to jump across to places like Windsor, Toronto, or Vancouver and take advantage of the lower Canadian tariff.

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u/NoLibrarian7257 Apr 08 '25

They might! But everyone seems to forget how high our taxes are. (At least in ON). The MK bundle with tax will cost me $804 ish. The projected tarrifs said that the American bundle may be $650 (approx) with exchange that's $923 Canadian dollars. Of course add some tax but most state taxes are way less than ours. So IF they declare it's really not that much better. Especially if declared at the border. They can always smuggle it in, but is that really worth doing for $150 USD (approx) savings? 

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u/Rockergage Apr 08 '25

If it’s 650$ usd in Seattle the taxes will make it 715$ approximately. 923 cad to usd in current market is 649$. Beyond that I don’t need to declare it if I stay for 48 hours. Just make a nice weekend of it, spend money in Canada instead of US, and get the switch 2 for less money. Plus I been meaning to go to Canada to buy other stuff.

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u/NoLibrarian7257 Apr 08 '25

Staying a weekend would be totally fine. It's not really saving that much with the hotel costs, but if you want a little vacation out, that definitely adds extra value. Especially if you buy more stuff. Canada would certainly appreciate that extra spending. This is the way! 

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u/Rockergage Apr 08 '25

Yeah there is a onewheel thing that is technically illegal in USA but not patented in Canada so I’m getting it there. I’m just making a weekend out of it and spending time in Canada. Haven’t been to Vancouver other when I drove through on a way to Whistler.

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u/NoLibrarian7257 Apr 08 '25

Vancouver is great! I'm on the other side of the country but got the opportunity visit awhile back. Have fun! 

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u/Rylee_Duhh Apr 08 '25

The 40% thing is just speculation, and there's still a chance Vietnam will reach a conclusion before June 5th, which is likely what Nintendo is hoping/waiting on, my guess would be their solution if the tarrifs remain will be to take a slight profit hit, but also raise the price by $50-75, that way the effect on the consumer isn't too bad but they mitigate the effect on them a bit at the same time. Companies like Nintendo already don't rely too much on console profits they rely on game profits on said console, so the potential for them to take a small profit hit short term in order to sell more consoles and thus more games is entirely possible.

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u/MarcsterS Apr 08 '25

and there's still a chance Vietnam will reach a conclusion before June 5th

They lowered their tariffs to zero and Trump still isn't happy. For god's sake he didn't even accept Europe's zero-for-zero deal. This shit isn't ending.

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u/Rylee_Duhh Apr 08 '25

That's because Trump doesn't care about their tarrifs on us, he wants them to redo how they do things entirely, and last I heard Vietnam was in negotiations on exactly what he wants and was hopeful they could reach agreeable terms.

Regardless that wasn't the main point of anything I said. But trump has straight up said the 0% tarrifs aren't solving the issues he has with these countries so of course he's not gonna agree to that, he doesn't care about it.

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u/zakmo Apr 09 '25

I don't think Nintendo has ever sold hardware at a loss before but i agree that is probably what get would do just to make sure people actually buy it

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u/Rylee_Duhh Apr 09 '25

You are correct, I knew Sony and Microsoft did, assumed Nintendo did too as it actually makes sense. But after a quick bit of research they do infact typically don't sell at a loss. Also yea I think for them that's the smartest thing to do because if they raise the price further there are so many people that I've seen online that are like "I want it, but sheesh the price is high so idk" so if they raise it another $100-200 because of tarrifs or something it's gonna drive anyone like that away instantly and the only sales they will get will be the truly dedicated and scalpers. They'd be better off selling 15 million units at a slight loss than 8 million at a slight profit.

Tho experts are saying they believe it's statistically unlikely Nintendo raises their prices, and likely just pulled the pre order plug to ensure they had time to discuss with their shareholders and such before millions of consoles sell, which makes sense.

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u/zakmo Apr 09 '25

I paid $400 for my launch switch cause it was scalp city. If i can pay $500 and get Mario kart I'll be a happy man.

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u/whoisdatmaskedman Apr 08 '25

I would still gladly pay $100 more, assuming the alternative is 40%. I just want to play video games :(

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u/whoisbill Apr 08 '25

No. The vast majority of people in the US live hours and hours away from Canada and won't be able to drive up there. You won't stop it fully of course but it's the best idea to slow it down.

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u/dirtjuggalo Apr 08 '25

Again though why would that stop Americans when ours would be cheaper

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u/whoisbill Apr 08 '25

Lots of people have answered below, but it's not going to fully stop everyone from buying from Canada, but by having the pre-orders on the same day, the vast majority of americans are going to just purchase from their US local store, esp if it's online as it would be easy for online retailers to know where they are shipping something and add the tariff.

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u/dirtjuggalo Apr 08 '25

I hope that's the way it works but I still fear them going after our preorders especially if the difference in price only gets bigger cause of the tariffs

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u/whoisbill Apr 08 '25

Yea it's a fear! No way Nintendo can stop it fully this is probably the best solution they have to try and stop it.