The Pokemon Company Resorting to Drastic Measures to Fight Scalpers

The Pokémon Company is thinking about a new rule in Japan. It would require people to show a government-issued ID when buying certain Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) products online at the Pokémon Center, and when entering product lotteries. The TCG has been a key part of the Pokémon world since the beginning, and remains popular with fans and collectors worldwide after 30 years.

Since the first Pokémon trading cards were released in 1996, it’s been difficult for fans to find the cards they want due to high demand and limited availability. Recently, this problem has gotten worse because of resellers who buy up products to resell at a higher price. Card shops and The Pokémon Company are both working to address this issue and ensure that fans can actually get their hands on the cards.

Using a Government ID to Buy Pokemon Cards

The Pokémon Company is considering a new system to verify identities for things like Pokémon card lotteries, events, and purchases on the Pokémon Center website. Details were recently posted on the official Japanese Pokémon Trading Card Game website. The system would use Japan’s My Number card—scanned with a smartphone—to confirm a user’s Pokémon Player Club account. This aims to stop people from using multiple accounts or automated bots to buy up products and prevent problems at live events.

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It’s currently unknown if The Pokémon Company will implement a new verification system using personal identification numbers, but it could start as early as August. Whether they move forward will likely depend on how fans react. This measure probably won’t stop people from reselling Pokémon cards at inflated prices, especially in North America and other areas, but it shows The Pokémon Company is actively trying to address the issue. While card production has increased, it’s evident that more solutions are needed to combat the problem.

Resellers are a major problem for the Pokémon Trading Card Game. When new cards are quickly bought up and sold online for very high prices, it prevents dedicated fans from being able to purchase them. This could lead collectors to explore other card games like Lorcana or Magic: The Gathering, or even lose interest in Pokémon altogether. While it seems positive that products are selling out quickly, this isn’t actually beneficial for The Pokémon Company, which is why they’re working hard to address the issue of resellers.

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The Pokémon Company needs to consider its business partners as well as its fans. When fights happen over Pokémon cards—especially at stores like McDonald’s, Walmart, or Target—those companies might stop selling the trading card game. Because of this, The Pokémon Company is looking at serious solutions to address the problem, but it’s unclear how effective these changes will be or how fans will respond.

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2026-05-21 20:06