One of the most popular Black Friday items has no discount

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One of the most popular Black Friday items has no discount

nintendo switch

AP/Koji Sasahara

The Nintendo Switch is a popular item this Black Friday - even if no discounts are being offered on it.

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  • Nintendo Switch is one of the most popular items this holiday
  • Retailers had plenty of stock on the video game console on Black Friday, though no discounts were offered on it.
  • It was still one of the best-selling items at Black Friday events on Thanksgiving.


Though Black Friday events are usually all about the deals, sometimes getting a hard-to-find item is even better.

The Nintendo Switch is one such example this Black Friday. The highly sought-after video game console has struggled to remain in stock since its debut earlier year, and it was widely speculated that there wouldn't be enough stock to last through the holiday.

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Part of the issue, as admitted by a Nintendo executive, is that the company did not anticipate the popularity of the console.

That means all retailers had to do was advertise that stores had stock of the new console, and they would fly off shelves. Both Target and Walmart advertised the Switch in their Black Friday circular. The items stood out as having no discount attached to it - just its typical $300 price tag with no "save $xx!"

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As a still-new console, discounts were not expected on the device for Black Friday. Retailers saw enough demand for it, however, that they decided to include it in their advertising anyway.

It seems to have worked. Target specifically called out the Switch as one of its best-selling items in the post-mortem of Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving, right alongside the Xbox One and its $50 discount.