For as long as Pokémon TCG (Trading Card Game) has been a thing, scalping has been an ongoing issue. If you’re somehow unaware at this point as to what the practice entails, it essentially sees certain consumers purchasing products at retail price before selling them on at huge mark-ups. It’s not limited to Pokémon TCG, by any means, but it’s a problem that’s been getting exponentially worse over the last few years.
In a recent statement from Pokémon Center Singapore thanks, VGC), the store has confirmed that it will be removing the plastic wrapping from Pokémon TCG products at the point of sale from 13th March 2025 onwards. The move has been standard practice in Japan for a while at this point, but this marks the first instance that the change has been utilised in another region.
So how will this deter scalpers? Well, by removing the outer wrapping from the products, secondary buyers have no way of definitively knowing whether or not the packs have been tampered with. It effectively ‘devalues’ the product without actually messing around with its contents.
Now, there’s a chance that genuine buyers who like obtaining sealed products for their collection might be inconvenienced by this change, but for the majority of potential customers, it will likely foster a fairer environment in which to purchase TCG products.
Only time will tell if stores in other regions will adopt the same approach, but we honestly wouldn’t be surprised if similar statements start cropping up in the coming months.
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