An innocuous black stapler became public enemy No. 1 for some New York City-based gamers after it damaged a Nintendo Switch 2 at a local GameStop in June.
Now, GameStop has turned that viral mishap into a marketing opportunity: That same stapler, and some additional items, are now selling on eBay for nearly $250,000 as part of a GameStop-organized charity auction.
As of Saturday, there were almost 300 bids.
“Let’s consider this GameStop’s version of ‘corporate accountability,'” a GameStop spokesperson told Business Insider.
The saga — dubbed “staplegate” — began last month when the highly anticipated Nintendo Switch 2 became available to the public. It had been a long road for fans, who were introduced to the original Nintendo Switch eight years ago and were forced to weather a tariff-related delay on the newest version of the popular gaming console. The Nintendo Switch 2 sells for $499.
While many fans received their Nintendo Switch 2 orders without fuss, some said their consoles arrived damaged with puncture holes on the screen. The culprit was a lone stapler at a Staten Island GameStop used to secure the receipts to the console boxes.
Although GameStop replaced the damaged consoles, the company spokesperson said it wanted to “turn the snafu into something for a good cause.”
The winning bidder will receive four items: a stapled Nintendo Switch 2 (now fixed), the console’s box with stapler marks, the stapler, and the “carefully extracted” staple.
The winner will also get a very personal item from GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen, who said in an X post on Wednesday that he’d include his underwear in the auction if bids surpassed six figures.
They did. By Thursday, Cohen told his X followers that if the auction reached seven figures, he’d “fly the winner to Miami, take them to McDonald’s for lunch and personally deliver my preowned underwear.”
The GameStop spokesperson said the decision to auction the items was a no-brainer.
“It pitched itself, honestly. Once the story took off, the stapler basically demanded an agent,” they said.
Fortunately, tracking down the stapler wasn’t difficult.
“We asked nicely and it was surrendered peacefully to our social media and marketing team,” the spokesperson said, adding that the response has “exceeded our expectations.”
All proceeds from the auction will go to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. GameStop will stop accepting bids on July 16.
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