Walmart has it in stock today
Hundreds of people are still buying the Switch 2 as of April 26, more than 48 hours after pre-orders
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🎮 Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders continue at one store in the US today
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🔄 Refresh Walmart’s Switch 2 with Mario Kart World until it’s in stock
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🏆 10 people per hour, from just my link alone, scoop up Switch 2 pre-order
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😅 Tens of thousands of you are still trying to buy it, according to our data
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🌟 Walmart+ Week starts on Monday. We may see new pre-orders at that time
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📧 Need help? The Shortcut subscribers get priority help in our Substack Chat
Finding a Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order on Saturday is possible if you’re in the US and know where to find it in stock. According to The Shortcut’s exclusive retail data for April 26, the one store with pre-orders is Walmart.
Refreshing the Walmart Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle has shown that the pre-order is still available at random times in the United States. Yes, 48 hours after Switch 2 reservations first launched, we have fresh evidence to support this fact, both from our exclusive checkout data (transitions show sales of the Switch 2 are going through) and from subscriber replies (it shows bots aren’t buying up the Nintendo consoles).
Here’s fresh proof for Saturday to support our prior story about Switch 2 pre-orders being in stock at Walmart this weekend. The mantra is “Just keep trying,” according to US customers who have successfully bought the console today.
The timing that works the best seems to be odd hours, when fewer customers are trying to pre-order the Switch 2 from Walmart. You won’t have as much competition, and most of the people who bought the console are now looking for the best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories, like the Switch 2 Pro controller and USB camera.
Purchasing a Switch 2 pre-order from Walmart takes two things: persistence and luck. You have to tap the refresh button until “Sold Out” gives way to an add-to-cart button. Due to the fact that this console ships to your home, make sure you select “Shipping” if your browser gets stuck on Pick Up with each refresh. Unlike Best Buy, you won’t be able to pick up your order at a store, so that option will always fail.
The next step to securing that Switch 2 pre-order is to log in and confirm your ID with two-factor authentication if that’s set up. At this point, Walmart may send you an error message saying the console is out of stock. This will happen 99.9% of the time. But there’s new proof that hundreds of people are ending up with a console today.
If you keep seeing the Switch as “Sold Out” on Walmart, I will continue to offer pre-order restock alerts through Matt Swider on X. I’ve helped thousands of people find a Switch 2, and before that, I helped 400,000 people get PS5 restock (and Xbox) when they were hard to find a few years ago.
This isn’t 100% confirmed, but Walmart loves to use rare items, just like the Switch 2, to attract online shoppers to its tentpole sales events. Well, one is coming up. The retailer will kick off Walmart+ Week starting at 9am ET, and it’s prime for a good opener.
This doesn’t mean that Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders will be locked behind a Walmart+ subscription. So far, the Nintendo console has been in stock without requiring a paid membership in the United States, and that goes for all retailers, even GameStop. This may have been a requirement of stores from Nintendo, and it may have gotten one GameStop in trouble in New York.
In other words, the best date and time to check for a Switch 2 pre-order is Monday, April 28 at 9am ET, when Walmart+ members’ exclusive shopping window starts. Walmart+ isn’t going to be required to buy the Switch 2, but Walmart is likely keen on you checking out its many deals and logging onto its website at that exact time.
There’s proof that people are cancelling their Switch 2 pre-orders at Walmart after either having second thoughts or after securing a console reservation at Best Buy, which will offer the console for in-store pickup at midnight on June 5, the release date.
That’s why we’re likely seeing new Walmart pre-orders trickle into the system. Inventory is coming back online, and new customers are buying the console. Even if it’s only 100 pre-orders per hour, it’s still possible to get the Nintendo Switch 2 this weekend.
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.
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