Pokémon has been an intergenerational hobby that has brought people together for nearly three decades. We have enjoyed the games on our Game Boys, attended the films in theatres, and collected the cards for as long as we can remember. However, challenges arise when resellers exploit the popularity of this cherished pastime for profit. Many enthusiasts now find it difficult to visit their local card shops or major retailers to purchase cards. Even more concerning is the practice of resellers marking up prices to as much as 300% above the standard manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP).
You would think as we steadily approach the franchise’s 30th anniversary, there would be more joy and celebration towards The Pokémon Company’s accomplishments and some excitement for what’s to come. Instead, fans in North America have been subjected to anger and frustration with the current state of the trading card game because, at this point, you have better odds of winning the lottery rather than purchasing the latest released card sets through the Pokémon Center website or any retailer.
So why is this? Currently, with the releases of the latest expansion sets, Prismatic Evolutions and Destined Rivals, the hype for Pokémon has reached heights that haven’t been seen since 2022. These recent sets have set the hobby ablaze, and inventory hasn’t been great for its fans, so obtaining cards has been really difficult. But before we understand what’s happening now, we have to go back a few years.
As I recently mentioned, the hype for Pokémon cards has, once again, reached another all-time high for the first time since 2021. During the pandemic, collection across all mediums saw a resurgence, but with Pokémon, we also were met with the company’s 25th anniversary, which saw many timed exclusive Celebrations sets, which included the highly sought-after Ultra Premium Collection box and the coinciding Pokémon Center edition Elite Trainers Box, which were only available through pre-order on the official Pokémon Center website.
One year later, we would get the release of the now highly coveted expansion set, Evolving Skies, which really turned the hobby on its head. This particular set had a chase card that everyone was after, that card being the Umbreon Special Illustration Rare, which now has a market value of over $2000 USD.
We can’t talk about Pokémon hype without speaking to the frustration that was trying to get your hands on the “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat” promo card that was originally exclusive to the Vincent Van Gough Museum in Amsterdam. The Pokémon Company teamed up with the museum and created Van Gogh-inspired products that were available for a limited time and as supplies lasted. These items were tote bags, playmats, deck boxes and many more.
On top of that, you received one promo card, “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat,” with your purchase, this was limited to one per person. As you can imagine, this didn’t work, and people were swarming the museum to get this promo card and flip it for a profit. Soon after, The Pokémon Company decided to put the items online to allow equal opportunity for people to get the product and, as you possibly assumed, chaos ensued, the site was crashing, carts were being emptied, orders were getting cancelled, just horrible times overall.
Scalpers have been working overtime to control the market and take absolute control of their profit margins. So much so that sneaker resellers have started scalping Pokémon cards. But we need to break this down a bit further to get a better understanding of why this particular thing happened. A sneaker reseller could buy a pair of “hyped” Air Jordans for a price range of $180 USD to $220 USD and resell them for onwards of 50% to 100% more for what they paid for.
“The Pokémon TCG community has always been a great place to learn about the franchise and share stories of my childhood with others…”
So when it came to the idea of selling Pokémon cards, they saw this as an opportunity to spend way less money and make far more. Another example: you can buy a Pokémon Center exclusive Elite Trainer box (ETB) that retails for $59.99 USD and resell it, depending on the hype of the set, for over 200% profit or higher. It’s a lower barrier for entry and a much higher profit margin for a reseller, especially for a sneaker reseller who has been used to spending more upfront.
For many reasons, like the massive influx of resellers in the Pokémon hobby, many retailers have decided to add varying stipulations to how Pokémon can be purchased. A popular one is having a limit on how much product you are able to purchase during a single transaction or per household. But sadly, this hasn’t stopped or even slowed down scalpers from getting what they need.
When it comes to purchasing cards online, this task, as of late, has been seemingly impossible. Scalpers have used these online “bots” to bypass any security measures that online stores have set up in order to make as many purchases as they need. This causes products to be sold out in literally seconds as soon as they are released to the public. On the opposite side of this, some retailers have actually been repricing products to the value that these scalpers and resellers have turned to market to be, which, to be frank, is absolutely ridiculous.
Imagine you take your child to a local card shop to buy the latest ETB, knowing that the suggested retail price is $59.99 USD, only to cash out and find out it’s now $230 USD due to the “current market price.” It’s obvious that businesses need to make money, but this is truly sad because it makes buying the latest cards almost close to impossible for the average fan, as these prices are often way over and beyond their budgets.
As it currently stands, buying cards online sometimes really feels impossible and trying to purchase at the retail level often builds up anxiety about whether or not the retailer will have anything in stock. There are rare opportunities where you could get lucky and find something at your local big box store like Target, Walmart or GameStop, but truthfully, these wins are so few and far between.
So the question stands: how are you going to buy cards in 2025? The Pokémon Company has recently put out a statement saying that they will be reprinting most of the recently released sets as well as the future sets planned for this year in order to help the struggling fans who haven’t been able to buy anything.
I will forever be a lifelong fan of Pokémon. I hope the community finds a solution to this growing problem. It’s sad that I can no longer surprise my niece and nephews with cards, let alone buy any for myself these days. The Pokémon TCG community has always been a great place to learn about the franchise and share stories of my childhood with others, but recently, it’s just been folks sharing their displeasure and frustration with the way things have been going with no possible end in sight.
