If you’ve recently been in the market to purchase a Nintendo 3DS, you’ve likely found that the throwback handheld has jumped up to some incredibly high prices at resale. Long before Nintendo took over the gaming world with the Switch, the 3DS was the company’s premier line of portable platforms. Following its initial launch in 2011, the Nintendo 3DS would go on to get numerous revisions like the Nintendo 3DS XL, the *New* Nintendo 3DS XL, and the Nintendo 2DS. The 3DS line was eventually discontinued in 2020, but that hasn’t stopped many from still having fond memories of the era. And that reason, among a handful of others, is why 3DS handhelds still cost a pretty penny.
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Depending on the version of the Nintendo 3DS you might look to get, resale prices for the various versions of the hardware can cost hundreds. The standard, original 3DS tends to sell for around $150 on average, depending on the color you might want. Conversely, the 3DS XL goes for about $200, while the New 3DS XL is between $250 and $300. As for those looking to get a 2DS, it happens to be the cheapest of the bunch and sells for about $120, although the 2DS XL is usually $200 or more.
These costs can get astronomically higher, though, if you want a limited edition version of 3DS. Specific handhelds tied to franchises like The Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, or Metroid can sell for as little as $400 to as much as $1000. And if these 3DS units are complete, which means they come in their original box, they happen to sell for even more.
To put this into context, these are the highest average prices for all 3DS handhelds since 2023. In that year, Nintendo shut down the 3DS eShop, which led to interest in the platform spiking before the closure of the digital marketplace. Prices for the 3DS have since fallen a bit, but in the back half of 2025, they shot up once again.
Why Are Nintendo 3DS Prices So High?
Perhaps the biggest cause for this spike in value for Nintendo 3DS handhelds is because of the homebrew and modding scene that has developed for the platform. This ability to hack a 3DS and customize it has become incredibly common over the past couple of years. The main reason this has become so popular is because it also allows users to download any game they want from the 3DS or DS library and play it without having to purchase the game for themselves. Given how many incredibly expensive titles there are within the 3DS library, and that many of these games aren’t available elsewhere, this has started to become one of the primary means through which people revisit games from this era.
If you look at resale sites like eBay or Mercari, many of the Nintendo 3DS handhelds that are being sold have already been hacked and feature homebrew software installed. These pre-modded 3DS units sell at a pretty high rate, which shows that this is a big driver of the resale market at the moment. As more Nintendo fans continue to learn what the 3DS is capable of when jailbroken, they naturally head online to look to buy one.
Other than this, the other main component of 3DS interest is simply that the platform has a fantastic library of games that remain highly replayable. Pokemon games from the 3DS and DS, in particular, continue to become more popular over time and are sold for anywhere from $50 to $200 or more, depending on the title. In a time period where many Pokemon fans aren’t thrilled with recent entries like Scarlet/Violet and Legends Z-A, this has prompted millions to go back to the installments that they hold in higher esteem.
Will Nintendo 3DS Prices Go Down?
It’s hard to say whether or not Nintendo 3DS prices will begin to fall from where they’re at currently. Throughout its life cycle, the 3DS family of handhelds sold nearly 76 million units around the globe. As such, there’s not necessarily a dearth of handhelds for people to get their hands on. Because the 3DS isn’t as scarce as, say, a PlayStation Vita, this will likely prevent resale prices from ever spiking too much beyond where they’re at now.
Then again, as time goes on, the 3DS is only going to continue to become rarer. Those who grew up playing games on 3DS who now have their own money to throw around might decide they want to pick one up for themselves and revisit some specific games on it. This will undoubtedly ensure that 3DS devices will retain a good bit of value well into the future, even if the average sale price begins to dip again.
Likely the biggest thing that could contribute to 3DS costs falling is if Nintendo starts to bring over more games from this hardware to Switch 2. Whether that be through new ports, remasters, remakes, or even the ability to play 3DS games through Nintendo Switch Online, this would surely contribute to prices falling somewhat for 3DS games and hardware. Still, even if this were to happen, the 3DS itself would still be the only place that Nintendo fans would be able to play these games natively with the 3D functionality still active. As a result, this will surely lead to the 3DS family of handhelds still selling for hundreds of dollars well into the future.
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