@Ryu_Niiyama Thank you for the detailed rundown. I guess what I find perplexing is that there’s just no option for international shipping at all. If the buyer is willing to pay that extra bit (or extra lot, more likely) to have the goods posted internationally, I don’t understand what there is to lose for the seller. I do get where you’re coming from, but in the instance of knick-knacks like this, where they’re most likely coming from China to the country they’re being sold in anyway, I don’t see Nintendo’s reasoning holding up other than a desire to promote some sense of exclusivity. It’s the same as with the goods available only in the Nintendo Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka/etc. stores. There’s definitely a market for people to buy the merchandise globally, but it’s just … not available. Looking at the crowds those stores attract, I think buyer demand is definitely at a high, and again, if they’re coming from China (or in the case of apparel, perhaps Bangladesh or another South Asian country), I struggle to understand Nintendo’s unwillingness to tap a global market.
Sorry, this is just reminding me of years of being unable to access so many things I’d like to get my hands on through official means! Not that this particular Yoshi pouch or the Post-It notes are hills I overly want to die on, but it’s representative of being refused any form of access to goods despite being willing to pay the postage.
Naturally, as you say, there’s always eBay, but my experience on there has shown inflated prices on top of the international shipping, again because the sellers there recognize that there is a demand. Anyway, sorry for unleashing my pent-up frustrations! And thank you again for your well-considered explanation.