GameStop’s Switch 2-Killing Stapler Slays At Auction Fetching $250,000
A quarter of a million dollars can buy you a lot of things, up to and including a used exotic car or a down payment on a mansion. But forget all that because for the first time ever, a simple black stapler just sold for $250,000 on eBay, and it's not even in new condition. It's not just any stapler, though, but the one that notoriously ruined some Switch 2 consoles at a New York GameStop location on launch day.
The infamous stapler made headlines after a store employee made the ill-advised decision to staple Switch 2 purchase receipts to the retail packaging. On the surface, that's a bad idea in general, as some buyers like to keep their retail boxes in pristine condition for sale down the line (or right away if they're a scalper). But the position of the Switch 2 console inside the retail box made it an extra poor decision.
Why is that? What seemed like a mostly innocuous act ended up not just puncturing holes into the retail box, but also the display on the Switch 2 console inside. Oops!
Turning lemons into lemonade, however, GameStop decided to auction off the stapler to benefit Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, an organization that raises funds for 170 children's hospitals across the United States and Canada.
After skyrocketing to over $100,000 on the first day, the auction later ballooned to $249,900 and sat there until almost the very end. It ultimately sold for a staggering $250,000 and attracted 282 bids.
The winning bidder gets the stapler and the first Switch 2 console that it punctured, which GameStop fully refurbished with a screen replacement. They also get the retail box (complete with puncture holes) and the "carefully extracted and preserved" staple that initially ruined the bundled Switch 2. A certificate of authenticity signed by GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen round out the auction haul.
It's the Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundle, so in total, it's about $520 worth of hardware ($499 for the console, around $15 for the stapler, and another $5 for a box of staples).
This is GameStop's first official sale on eBay. Whether it's the last one remains to be seen, but in the meantime, the retailer is deserving of a fist-bump for raising such an huge sum for charity. Same goes to the winning bidder (and the others who participated).
