Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order surprise: it's in stock at Walmart with this trick
You can still pre-order a Switch 2 console with Mario Kart World from Walmart in the US, according to The Shortcut's research
Update: See our in-depth Nintendo Switch 2 review, which is live after a week of thoroughly testing the new console. Check out our full Switch 2 news stories, too.
🎮 Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders in the US are still in stock today, on and off
🌟 Buy Walmart’s Switch 2 with Mario Kart World with this simple trick
🧠 How? Persistently tap the add-to-cart button to force a sale of the console
😅 It’ll say sold out 99.9% of the time, but thousands have gotten it this way
🚫 Switch 2 orders that people cancel are likely trickling back into Walmart
📧 Need help? The Shortcut subscribers get priority help in our Substack Chat
The Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order isn’t completely sold out in the United States if you know where to look, according to our exclusive research into buying the new console, and we have the evidence to back up that statement.
The Walmart Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle can still be pre-ordered with a simple enough trick that you should try if you’re desperate to find Nintendo’s video system in stock. The key? Try the page every few minutes until it replaces “Sold Out” with the add-to-cart button, and then persistently tap Walmart’s blue “Buy Now” button. It may take hours of checking every once in a while, but it is working.
Yes, 99.9% of the time, trying to add Switch 2 to your cart will result in an error message, or you may simply see it as “out of stock.” But long after the system has supposedly “sold out,” gamers keep telling Matt Swider on X that they were able to snag a console.
Here’s proof that, hours after the Walmart Switch 2 pre-order first launched at midnight, people are still able to check out with the console by being on the page at the right time.
Why Walmart Switch 2 pre-orders are back in stock
Walmart hasn’t officially confirmed that Switch 2 pre-orders are back on sale, but it also hasn’t said the console is completely out of stock. What’s likely happening, based on our expertise from our years of PS5 restock reporting, is that customers are canceling their Nintendo Switch 2 orders, and every hours or so, a batch comes back in stock.
That means you need a strategy of persistence when checking for Switch 2 restocks and a little luck. So many US consumers gave up after the first wave of pre-orders were gone, but there’s so much evidence that people are still buying the console hours later.
How to get Switch 2 pre-order alerts
Get our instant alerts: Your best chance to find a Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order is to follow Matt Swider on X – and turn on notifications. It’ll look like:
Why would people cancel their Walmart Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order? It’s not because they’re having second thoughts necessarily. They might have successfully pre-ordered the console at Best Buy, Target, or GameStop, so they don’t need two or more pre-orders.
What about Best Buy and Target?
The Switch 2 pre-orders coming back in stock aren’t isolated to Walmart, but we haven’t seen the same volume from Target and Best Buy hours after they launched midnight pre-orders in the US. Officially, GameStop has said that its online orders are completely sold out, according to a company statement and employee sources.
Walmart: Switch 2 console / Mario Kart World bundle (still seeing success)
Target: Switch 2 console / Mario Kart World bundle
GameStop: Switch 2 console / Mario Kart World bundle (confirmed sold out)
Best Buy: Switch 2 console / Mario Kart World bundle
Sam’s Club: Unknown time Switch 2 console / Mario Kart World bundle
What’s unique about Walmart, the largest retailer in the US, is that it is likely to have the most Switch 2 pre-orders to sell (and therefore, more people are canceling due to its sheer size). The expectation is that pre-orders will become available every few hours.
Of course, not everyone was a winner, as demand for the Switch 2 is far exceeding supply. That doesn’t mean you’re out of luck, though. We’re rounding up all the retailers where you can still secure a Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order before June 5 using our expert knowledge and first-hand experience.
Walmart Switch 2 pre-orders: will they be back in stock?
There’s a good chance we will see more Switch 2 pre-orders from American retailers like Walmart if two things happen. First, more cancellations like we’re seeing now could build up for a mini-restock of Nintendo console reservations in the US.
More likely, Switch 2, if Nintendo is able to ship more Switch 2 systems to the US from Vietnam (where it’s being made), we could see pre-orders of it open up before the June 5 release date. You might not get it on June 5 (even some pre-orders today are slated to arrive after the release date), but you’ll have the console reserved at the very least.
Stay tuned for more Switch 2 pre-order news if you’re in the United States. We’ve been tracking the Nintendo console better than any technology publication. According to our exclusive US retail analytics, we’ve helped tens of thousands of people pre-order a Nintendo Switch 2 today, and we’re not stopping when it comes to helping consumers.
Matt Swider is the Editor-in-Chief of The Shortcut, the #1 consumer tech publication on Substack. Matt, a trusted technology expert with over 25 years of journalism experience and the former US Editor-in-Chief of TechRadar, can be found on social media through X (Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
Holy sh*t, I just got 1, thanks bud!!