Nintendo of America is currently facing a class action lawsuit for refusing to pass tariff refunds on to customers, and it’s against that backdrop it today announced a “Customer Appreciation Sale” apparently made possible by those rebates.
In a blog post, Nintendo called this one of its “largest promotions ever”, and included the following line which has had people scratching their heads: “While Nintendo absorbed most tariff-related costs, the refunds helped make promotions like this one possible.”
A quick recap: following the introduction of tariffs by the current US government last year, Nintendo increased the price of multiple products in the country, citing “market conditions” as justification.
Nintendo, in this sale announcement, argues that it “absorbed” most of the costs, but the company has received a refund. The US consumers who bought Nintendo products since the price increase also suffered increased costs thanks to the tariffs, but they aren’t receiving refunds. The reason this is rubbing people the wrong way is because Nintendo is thanking them for dealing with increased costs by encouraging them to spend more money.
The counter argument is, hey, why look a gift horse in the mouth? This is a discount on some games and peripherals at a time when buying new stuff in this market is awfully expensive. This ultimately could be seen as a gesture of goodwill, and one Switch owners could benefit from.
The reaction to this sale has, as you can imagine, resulted in some interesting reactions online. You can find a few of them below:
“The Customer Appreciation Sale… is made possible in part by tariff-related refunds. While Nintendo absorbed most tariff-related costs, the refunds helped make promotions like this one possible.” That’s…. not how sales work. Such odd framing.
– Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) September 10, 2026 at 3:20 PM
“To claim your tariff-related refund, please give us more money” https://t.co/punlfKv5St
— André (@AndreSegers) September 10, 2026
I guess I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth but if this is because of the tariff refund like the post says, why not just… permanently lower the price on some of this stuff? No? No?
– Impish MATT (@impishmatt.bsky.social) September 10, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Nintendo is also currently pushing back against a class action lawsuit that it has no obligation to pass on refunds onto its customers, arguing that Switch buyers got “what they bargained and paid for”. Microsoft and Sony are joining Nintendo, arguing against tariff refunds along similar lines.
This sale is set to run from the 13th September to the 26th September on the Nintendo eShop, Nintendo Store, and participating retailers. Nintendo would like to say thank you, but not for too long.