Scalping Has Gotten So Bad That The Pokemon Company Is Limiting Certain TCG Packs to Japanese Citizens Only
Bad news for Pokemon TCG players outside of Japan; you’ll need to be a Japanese citizen in order to buy certain decks and expansion packs from its official online store.
Ongoing issues with scalpers have led The Pokemon Company to take drastic measures to limit access to certain TCG packs. The company has decided to restrict these packs to Japanese citizens only, in an attempt to deter illegal reselling practices. The items being targeted for this restriction include the Pokémon Card Game Mega Expansion Pack 30th Celebration Box, the Pokémon Card Game Mega 30th Celebration Futuristic Box, and the Pokémon Card Game Mega 30th Celebration Espeon and Umbreon Premium Deck Set.
These packs, which can range from $39 to $174 USD, require a Japanese citizen to purchase, and they must have a Japanese government-issued ID card and the Digital Identification App. The company has announced this policy in July, citing the rampant scalping as the reason for implementing such stringent controls. The company's move follows previous steps taken to combat scalpers, such as facial recognition scans at select card stores.
The Pokemon Company, along with Nintendo, aims to create a safe shopping environment by preventing crime and enforcing appropriate entry and purchase rules. The issue of scalping isn't limited to Pokemon; it's a widespread problem affecting other high-profile IPs, causing chaos and inflated prices for merchandise.
Written by urgent.news from IGN's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
