Walmart is now canceling some of the pre-orders of the SNES Classic Edition. Though there is no official word from the company, many customers who pre-ordered the console are reporting that the retailer is canceling their orders for no apparent reason.
SNES Classic Edition pre-order woes
Pre-orders for the SNES Classic Edition went live on the Walmart website at about 11:30 p.m. on June 21. In about half an hour, the orders filled the logbook, causing Walmart’s website to crash. At that time, Walmart said they ran out of expected stock, and now, some customers who pre-ordered SNES Classic consoles are getting emails from Walmart about the cancellation of their pre-orders.
According to Polygon, the message either gave no reason for the cancellation or said there was an issue verifying their payment information. However, one of the chat logs between a customer and a Walmart representative read that the customer’s pre-order is being canceled due to some glitch, as the pre-orders went live too soon, notes Polygon.
“We had to cancel this orders [sic] because this item was not scheduled to be displayed on the website yet. We will have it available again soon though,” the chat log read.
Users posted the same news on the Nintendo subreddit chain as well, stating that they got cancellation emails from Walmart.
Replying to the anxious customers, Walmart also said, “We are so sorry! The SNES Classics were released to soon [sic].” But this does not mean that the all the existing pre-orders are being canceled.
The confusion over pre-orders is certainly a poor start for the launch of Nintendo’s second classic console. Now all eyes will be on Target, which is expected to be the next to start pre-orders for the console.
Pre-order confusion good for gray market
Customers who have got their pre-orders confirmed are now exchanging them for hundreds of dollars on eBay, which is a little awkward, as the console will not be available for a few months. The SNES Classic Edition will be available on September 29 for $79.99.
The SNES Classic Edition is a much-anticipated item, and now those whose pre-orders have been cancelled are in a state of confusion, seeing as there are folks whose orders are still in place. In addition, Nintendo has already stated that like the NES Classic Edition, the SNES Classic will come in limited stock; therefore, getting their hands on one will not be that easy. However, the company has promised to manage supply and demand better.
Canceled orders on Walmart do show sign of a supply crunch, and a situation similar to what happened with the NES Classic cannot be ruled out. At that time, the NES Classic Edition was made available to stores in single-digit numbers, and as a result, prices surged in the gray market. Then only a few months into the launch, Nintendo discontinued the console entirely, shocking many who were hoping that the company would ramp up production of the console.
