Nintendo handed out 500 copies of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake at a London midnight launch on Wednesday night, and by Thursday some of the extras were already on eBay. Nintendo Life reported that bundles containing the foil-cover version and exclusive launch goodies were listed on eBay UK for more than £700.
The game itself is a normal retail release. It arrived on Switch 2 on November 5, 2026, at a standard price of $59.99. What sellers are pushing is the scarce stuff around it: a cardboard replica of the original PAL N64 box and an Ocarina keyring, both given to qualifying attendees at the London event.
This piece breaks down the listings, separates asking prices from sale prices, and looks at what the episode says about launch-day extras in general. For the wider release picture, see our Nintendo Download roundup for November 5. The short version of the scalper story: the asking prices are loud, the proof of sales is missing, and the physical items are modest.
What Nintendo Life Found on eBay UK
According to Nintendo Life, the eBay UK listings bundled the remake with the extras handed out at the London midnight launch. Some of those bundles used the foil-cover version of the game, which adds a second layer of collector appeal. The outlet reported that bundles with the foil cover and some of the exclusive extras were listed for more than £700.
The specific Buy It Now prices Nintendo Life named were £646.77, £700.17, £513.91, £717.25 and £696.62. Only two of those five clear £700, so the headline figure describes the top of the range rather than the middle. The cheapest of the five still sits above £500.
A separate seller based in France listed the game and the replica box for £321.62 plus £54.22 postage. That is the lowest bundle price in the report, and it is a useful marker. Even among people trying to cash in, the market has not settled on one number.
How 500 Copies Became a Resale Market
Nintendo Life says 500 copies were available at the London midnight launch. That is a tiny number for a franchise with the pull of Zelda, and it frames everything that followed. Anyone who has watched a limited drop knows what happens when a few hundred people in a queue hold the only physical copies of a giveaway item.
The extras went to qualifying attendees, per the same report. Nintendo has not, as far as the sources reviewed here show, said how it defined qualifying, and no named Nintendo representative has commented on the resale listings on the record. That gap matters. Without knowing how copies were allocated, nobody can say how many ended up with people who queued to play the game and how many with people who queued to resell.
The timing also tells a story. The event ran Wednesday night, the game went on sale Thursday, and Nintendo Life had listings to report within the same news cycle. Resellers did not wait for demand to build. They listed first and let the headlines do the marketing.
Asking Prices Are Not Sale Prices
The most important caveat in this story is also the easiest to miss. The prices Nintendo Life reported are asking prices. They are not confirmed completed sales. A listing at £717.25 proves that someone wants £717.25. It does not prove that anyone paid it.
Sellers routinely list at inflated figures during the first days of a launch, partly to test the market and partly because a high ask costs nothing. If the item sells, the seller wins big. If it does not, they drop the price or delist. Early listings therefore overstate where a market will settle.
Fans have pushed back too. OpenCritic ran a news item describing Zelda fans reporting the scalpers in an effort to get the eBay listings taken down. We cannot say from the available reporting how many listings, if any, were removed. Treat the £700 figure as a snapshot of seller ambition on one day.
Reported Listings at a Glance
The table below collects every price Nintendo Life named. The differences between rows come down to what is included, since the report describes bundles, a box-and-keychain package without the game, and a cross-border listing with separate postage.
| Listing | Reported price | What the report says it contains |
|---|---|---|
| Bundle A | £717.25 | Bundle listing named in the report (highest named price) |
| Bundle B | £700.17 | Bundle listing named in the report |
| Bundle C | £696.62 | Bundle listing named in the report |
| Bundle D | £646.77 | Bundle listing named in the report |
| Bundle E | £513.91 | Bundle listing named in the report (lowest of the five) |
| France-based seller | £321.62 plus £54.22 postage | Game and replica box |
| Box and keychain only | £479.89 or Best Offer | Replica box and keyring, no game |
Note that Nintendo Life’s report does not tie each price to a specific bundle composition beyond the general description, so the A to E labels above are ours, ordered by price. Treat them as a way to read the range and nothing more.
The Arithmetic of a £700 Ask
Run the numbers on the five named bundle prices and the pattern is plain. They total £3,274.72, which averages out to about £654.94 each. The spread from £513.91 to £717.25 is £203.34. Add the French listing at £321.62 and the gap between the cheapest and dearest bundle in the report grows to £395.63.
The France-based seller’s total is also worth a second look. With £54.22 postage added to the £321.62 ask, the buyer pays £375.84 for the game and the replica box, and gets no keyring. The box-and-keychain package without the game asks £479.89, which is more than that total. A buyer comparing the two listings would be paying a premium of roughly £104 to hold the same accessories and skip the game.
Compare that with the retail side. The game launched at $59.99 in the United States. The price in pounds at launch is not in our verified material, so we will not convert it. The point stands without a conversion. Sellers are asking several multiples of the shelf price for a cardboard box and a keyring.
What the Replica Box and Keyring Actually Are
Nintendo provided a cardboard replica of the original PAL N64 box and an Ocarina keyring. Nintendo Life says it obtained examples of the replica boxes and considered them unlikely to be worth £700. That is a firsthand judgment from an outlet that has handled the items, and it is the closest thing to an expert assessment in the available reporting.
Why the PAL detail matters
The choice of a PAL box ties the giveaway to the UK and European market, where that packaging was the original. It is a nostalgic nod rather than a premium product. A cardboard replica is a keepsake, and keepsakes rarely hold four-figure value unless the story around them grows.
Why the foil cover changes the calculus
The foil-cover version adds to the pull for collectors. The report says some bundles use it, which may explain part of the premium over the France-based listing. The report does not break out how much of any price comes from the foil cover versus the launch extras, so any split would be a guess.
Why This Launch Was Built for Scarcity
Physical giveaways at midnight events are a marketing tool. They draw a crowd, create social media content and give press something to photograph. Nintendo’s London event did all three. The side effect is that a capped quantity of items, handed out in person, with a hard cutoff, is exactly the profile that resellers target.
Consider the incentives from the seller’s side. A person who attends, qualifies and receives the extras holds an item with zero marginal cost beyond the game and the queue time. If even a handful of buyers will pay several hundred pounds, the return dwarfs the $59.99 retail price. That math attracts people who would not otherwise stand in line for a Zelda remake.
From Nintendo’s side, the same event generates attention. Reports about eBay listings keep the remake in headlines for another day, which is free publicity even if it comes with an uncomfortable edge. The company has not commented on the record in the sources reviewed here, so any claim about its intent would be speculation.
How the UK Extras Compare With the US Launch
US buyers face a different situation. NoobFeed’s headline says the remake skips US pre-order bonuses. That points to a UK-centric extras strategy, with the London event serving as the main stage for physical goodies. If so, American collectors have fewer exclusive items to chase, and the resale pressure has less to feed on in the US.
That does not mean US launch day was calm. Retail demand was heavy, as we covered in our report on midnight lines at US stores. Demand for the console and the game ran hot even without a free replica box in the bag.
| Factor | London midnight launch | US launch |
|---|---|---|
| Physical extras | Replica PAL N64 box and Ocarina keyring for qualifying attendees (Nintendo Life) | No US pre-order bonuses, per NoobFeed’s headline |
| Copies at the event | 500 (Nintendo Life) | Not specified in verified sources |
| Resale signal | eBay UK asks of £513.91 to £717.25 on named bundles | None reported in verified sources |
| Standard game price | Not in verified sources | $59.99 |
The table shows the asymmetry. One region got a capped giveaway and a resale scramble. The other got a standard retail release. Whether Nintendo planned that split or simply followed regional marketing habits is not something the reporting can answer.
Historical Context: Launch Extras and the Resale Reflex
Resellers hunting for scarce Nintendo items is an old story. Limited editions, special bundles and event giveaways have drawn flippers for years, and each new hardware cycle brings a fresh round of listings that look absurd on day one. Most settle lower within weeks as supply becomes clear and the novelty fades.
What sets this episode apart is the object. In earlier cases the scarce item was usually a console or a premium collector’s edition with real manufacturing cost. Here the scarce item is a cardboard replica and a keyring, which are cheap to make and hard to value. That makes the price signal weaker and the outrage louder.
The remake’s reception adds fuel. Critics have rated it highly, and we tracked the score in our piece on the Ocarina of Time remake hitting 96 on Metacritic. A well-reviewed Zelda release raises the emotional value of anything attached to launch night, which is the lever resellers pull.
Market Impact on Switch 2 Collectors and Retailers
The resale chatter lands on a Switch 2 market already stressed by Zelda-branded demand. Notebookcheck published a report saying Nintendo says more Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 stock is incoming as scalpers cash in. That headline links two stories: console stock and scalper activity are feeding the same collector frenzy.
For buyers of the console bundle, our guide on where to buy the Zelda Switch 2 at $519.99 covers retail options. Retailers have had their own complications, including the cancellations we detailed in our report on Walmart’s $519.99 gift cards. Scarce stock at the console level makes the accessory market look even wilder by comparison.
The commercial effect on Nintendo is probably small in the short term. The company sells the game at its normal price, and each resold copy has already been paid for. The reputational effect is another matter. Fans who could not attend a London event see strangers profiting from a franchise they love, and that sours goodwill faster than any marketing campaign can rebuild it.
What Buyers Should Check Before Paying
Anyone tempted by a listing at these levels should slow down. The reporting gives enough to build a short checklist, and none of it requires insider knowledge.
Check the listing
- Look for completed sales rather than active asks. A price nobody has paid is only a wish.
- Confirm exactly what ships. The reported listings range from full bundles to a box and keychain without the game.
- Add postage before comparing. The France-based listing adds £54.22 on top of its £321.62 ask.
Check the alternatives
- The game is a standard retail release at $59.99 in the US, so the game itself needs no premium.
- Nintendo Life said the original PAL game, the remake and alternative keyrings could cost substantially less than the bundles, per its report.
- Accessories for playing the game exist at ordinary prices. Our roundup of Switch 2 controllers for Zelda shows what real hardware costs.
What Is Confirmed and What Is Not
Because this story moves fast and rests on a single main report, it helps to lay out the evidence status in one place.
| Claim | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Remake released November 5, 2026 at $59.99 | Confirmed | Release announcement |
| 500 copies available at London midnight launch | Reported | Nintendo Life |
| Replica PAL N64 box and Ocarina keyring given to qualifying attendees | Reported | Nintendo Life |
| Bundles listed on eBay UK above £700 | Reported | Nintendo Life |
| Items sold at those prices | Unconfirmed, asking prices only | Nintendo Life |
| Named Nintendo or seller comment on the listings | Unconfirmed, none found | Not applicable |
| Replica box worth £700 | Disputed, Nintendo Life considers it unlikely | Nintendo Life |
Predictions: Where the Ocarina Resale Market Goes Next
These are our analysis, not reported facts, and the story could shift if new sales data emerges.
- Asking prices drift down within weeks. Early eBay asks of this kind tend to fall as sellers realize buyers are not paying the top of the range. The France-based listing already shows a lower floor.
- The listings that sell will cluster well below £700. If completed sales appear, we expect them near the lower named bundle prices, since buyers can compare against the box-and-keychain and France-based listings.
- Nintendo will not announce a reissue of the replica box. The company has stayed silent on the resale in the available reporting, and a quiet approach to scalpers is its usual pattern.
- Future regional launches will tighten qualifying rules. Expect events with capped giveaways to add identity checks or per-person limits, because the London episode gave rivals and press a template for criticism.
- Coverage will shift from the listings to the console. Scalper attention follows the scarcest item, and the Zelda Switch 2 bundle is a bigger target than a keyring. Watch our gaming coverage for updates.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much are scalpers asking for the Ocarina of Time remake extras?
Nintendo Life reported eBay UK bundles above £700, with named prices of £646.77, £700.17, £513.91, £717.25 and £696.62. A France-based seller asked £321.62 plus £54.22 postage for the game and replica box.
Have the bundles actually sold for those prices?
Not confirmed. The reported figures are asking prices, not completed sales, so they show seller ambition rather than what buyers paid.
What came with the London midnight launch?
Nintendo provided a cardboard replica of the original PAL N64 box and an Ocarina keyring to qualifying attendees. Nintendo Life says 500 copies were available at the event.
Is the replica box worth £700?
Nintendo Life obtained examples of the boxes and considered them unlikely to be worth that much. A box and keychain without the game were listed at £479.89 or Best Offer, but a listing is not a valuation.
When did the remake come out and what does it cost?
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake launched on Switch 2 on November 5, 2026, at a standard price of $59.99.
Has Nintendo responded to the scalper listings?
The verified reporting contains no on-record quote from a named Nintendo representative or seller on the listings. Check the outlets above for updates.
Should I buy the extras from a reseller?
That is your call, but check completed sales first, confirm what is included and add postage. The game itself is available at standard retail pricing, so there is no need to pay a premium for it.
