Pokémon scalpers have been a point of contention for many over the years. They buy up a bunch of product in hopes of getting rare cards to sell. But, in the process, there’s less for everyone else and said rare cards are sold at ridiculous prices. You see this with gaming consoles and PC parts, too. A dad in Washington recently shared a sad TikTok exposing the reality of scalpers and how it affected his household.
The video was posted to @leos.lucky.cards, a TikTok where the doting father shares videos related to his young son’s Pokémon obsession. His son, Leo, can be seen opening packs of cards and showing off his favorites. This time, Leo was after a special edition Pikachu. He went from kiosk to kiosk, searching for the TCG packs that had it. Sadly, he was too late.
The father shouts, “Hurry up, you gotta beat the scalpers!” When his son gets to one of the kiosks, he says, “Oh no, Leo. There was a person in front of it. Were they scalping?” In a last-ditch effort, Leo runs to a kiosk at the back but finds it’s empty, too. His father eventually took him to the counter at the front of the store. There were some cards available but they weren’t the ones Leo was hoping to purchase.
One person commented on the depressing nature of the video, “I hate how scalpers have ruined every single hobby including Pokémon. But at least you guys are making core memories.” While Leo didn’t get the card he wanted, he did get to open packs at the end of the video.
Many people have suggested that The Pokémon Company should do something about scalpers, even suggesting that “scalping has only pushed up demand of something that would otherwise by relatively niche.” I know at my local stores, they limit the number of Pokémon cards you can purchase at one time.
Time will tell if tactics like that increase availability. It certainly throws a wrench in your operation if you need to enlist in the help of others to buy packs. You know people would want a cut, and that would affect a scalper’s bottom dollar. And wouldn’t that be a shame?
