Pokémon Trading Card Game's awful scalping problem finally caught Nintendo's attention

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Published Jul 4, 2026, 10:19 AM EDT

Unfortunately, Nintendo is still placing the responsibility to fix it on The Pokémon Company

Even Nintendo knows that the Pokémon Trading Card Game has a terrible scalping problem. In recent years, the cost of buying cards secondhand has risen, and now retailers like GameStop are massively marking up prices on Pokémon TCG products they know people are interested in. It has gotten so bad that Nintendo has discussed it with shareholders.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa was asked about what the company was doing to address problems caused by "bulk purchasing and high-priced reselling" during the company's latest annual meeting with shareholders. Furukawa noted that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are aware of the problem and are embracing measures such as made-to-order sales to address it.

"With respect to the Pokémon Trading Card Game offered by The Pokémon Company, which is an equity-method subsidiary of Nintendo, we are aware of instances where limited-quantity cards are purchased in large volume, leading to high-priced reselling in the market," Furukawa explained. "In response, The Pokémon Company is taking various measures, including made-to-order sales and agreements with marketplace operators. For online priority drawings for certain products, I understand that The Pokémon Company also plans to use an account verification method that utilizes My Number Cards [Japan’s official government-issued ID cards]."

We've already heard about some of these initiatives, like the ID requirement in Japan, but it's good to hear Nintendo knows this is a problem it needs to address. That said, it's a bit disappointing that Furukawa ultimately put the onus of fixing it on The Pokémon Company.

"Nintendo also communicates with The Pokémon Company as needed to discuss appropriate ways to deliver products to consumers," Furukawa went on to explain. "We believe that The Pokémon Company will continue to take measures to respond to this issue."

I'd like to see Nintendo be a little more proactive in finding clever ways to address these scalping issues, as they make collecting and engaging with the Pokémon Trading Card Game much more costly and stressful than they need to be. At least Nintendo now knows that scalping is even a concern to investors and might be more encouraged to fight it as a result.

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