Summary
- Scalping of Pokemon TCG’s Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection was rampant, selling for 289% markup on eBay.
- Reports surfaced of botting groups purchasing large quantities of the sought-after product.
- The incident highlights ongoing issues with scalping, rising prices, and limited availability in the Pokemon TCG collector community.
Yesterday’s launch of the Pokemon TCG’s Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection was an unmitigated disaster. Within seconds of the product going live, queues of up to 600,000 people began to form on the Pokemon Center website. Minutes after that, before the vast majority of eager purchasers could even beat the queues, the product was sold out.
Naturally, after the dust had settled, the conversation began to turn to scalping. How many legitimate customers managed to bag the sought-after product, and how many were scalpers or resellers looking to profit off the misfortune of others? Unfortunately, it very much looks like there were a lot of the latter.
Related
A little over 12 hours after the product dropped, dozens of listings have appeared on eBay, selling for well over the Super-Premium Collection’s RRP.
The Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection Is, Unsurprisingly, Being Scalped
The Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection was sold on the Pokemon Center website for £89.99/$89.99, and needless to say, those who bought the product to profit on are doing just that.
Since its Pokemon Center release on March 20, over 50 listings of the Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection have sold on eBay, the highest of which went for $350. That’s a profit of $260 on one product or a markup of 289 percent.
Unsurprisingly, following the release of the Super-Premium Collection, reports surfaced of botting groups scooping up the product. The Pokemon Giveaways Twitter account shared two examples of US scalpers posting an obscene amount of orders, and I was personally sent three more images from a Discord group based in the UK.
This latest debacle is, unfortunately, just another example of how bad things have got for collectors of the Pokemon TCG. Earlier this year, I reported on how scalping was ruining the hobby, how singles prices were rising exponentially, and how sealed products were becoming harder to come by on an almost weekly basis. This, though, may have just taken things to the next level, and I don’t think it’s going to get any better when The Glory of Team Rocket/Destined Rivals releases.
- Original Release Date
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October 20, 1996
- Player Count
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2
- Age Recommendation
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6+
- Length per Game
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Variable
- Franchise Name
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Pokemon