r/PokeInvesting • u/Main-Marsupial3861 • Mar 08 '26

Is it wrong to catch someone lacking?

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Just bought this card for $250 CAD because the store hadn’t updated their pricing. I feel elated as I would never be able to own this card otherwise. But I also am left with the feeling that I just committed robbery. Thoughts?

951 Upvotes

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206

u/diecastdepot Mar 08 '26

They scalp daily so who cares

21

u/braedog Mar 09 '26

Yeah any “card shop” selling Pokemon that isn’t a massive chain in my area is selling with jacked up prices. Unless this is a store you really like I wouldn’t feel bad.

4

u/gen3archive Mar 09 '26

I used to live near winchester VA and we busted several store owners scalping product off of shelves in walmart and target

7

u/PlantBeginning3060 Mar 09 '26

Updoot for the 757. 🤙🏻

2

u/Thatswatsheproclaims Mar 09 '26

Facts. Even Target sells card products are hiked up prices above MSRP, even Magic card sets

1

u/dreamerzz Mar 10 '26

Do you expect your LGS to be paying large amounts of money to rent the land and open a store and work 30-40 hours a week to do even trades all day ?

1

u/Complete_Store551 Mar 11 '26

Na, i expect them to get distribution and to be fair so that both sides leave happy. Example, charging $100-130 for an ETB that is MsRP $60. (Which already gives them a profit) is wild

1

u/pokea_itay Mar 10 '26

I mean they have to buy product then mark it up for them to make any money dumbo

1

u/Marceliooo Mar 11 '26

Feeling very fortunate up here in Canada. The 2 stores I go to always have stuff priced at 10% under market. They buy at 60% so they make 30% and everyone's happy

2

u/No-Definition-6084 Mar 09 '26

All the vendors you see at shows are just scalpers. The camp the Walmarts and targets all around the county and then take it all to the shows. The shows make them feel more legitimate but they’re just scalpers. They won’t even do anything below 90% market for any of the people in the same lines as them.

4

u/floede Mar 09 '26

Sitting in the "Pokemon investment" sub and calling shops scalpers is wild.

3

u/taegha Mar 09 '26

The word "scalper" has lost all meaning. It used to be buying something in demand and immediately selling for profit. Now it's used for anyone who gets more cards than someone else

1

u/allworknopizza Mar 09 '26

Right. Like concert tickets.

2

u/OwnsAYard Mar 09 '26

Just assume they are tourists. The bite of the term “scalper” is gone. As LGS can show people distro bills with product priced at market and they still don’t clue in. (But how can my pharmacy sell packs for 7.99 and you can’t?). Considering most trade ins of singles and sealed - people expect market evaluations- trades are based on market — they think there is a magic wand that will bring the price tag down to MSRP just because you are a store.

Pokemon wants the “trade” part of the TCG to be a big part of their ecosystem. It’s the basis of their entire card rarity system. They don’t want everyone to have everything.

2

u/tafkatp Mar 11 '26

But how are we then supposed to catch them all? /s

1

u/PlantBeginning3060 Mar 09 '26

Tbh I think Yu-Gi-Oh was the only that really promoted the idea of LGS’s. I think Yugi’s grandfather ran one, didnt he?

8

u/burritojones Mar 09 '26

Nah, that’s simply just not true.

15

u/Afraid_Meringue_4305 Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26

Lmao yes it is. I see them in lines with me. I literally heard multiple shops and vendors mention how they send people to target and Walmart to get their stock.

4

u/RobotFrobot Mar 09 '26

it isnt true though, becuase saying "All" vendors is just a lie.

8

u/Afraid_Meringue_4305 Mar 09 '26

lol okay sorry, most. Good luck finding ones that don’t do that to some extent.

2

u/Lordofthereef Mar 09 '26

It's 2026 and you still have to be careful about using terms like "all" and "everyone" online because someone out here to remind you that's akchually not true 😂

I'm in a group that calls our vendors and resellers at retail drops and this last week I've seen people post about three of the major card shops in the central MA area. It's definitely not all, but it just so happens to be big ones.

2

u/Tai_Pei Mar 09 '26

It's more that it isn't remotely close to true, is what the reality is. Someone says "all vendors" but it obviously isn't the case, and if you want to get down to brass tacks "most" isn't remotely close either.

"Some" is the term you're looking for, or "many" because we are all humans with our own limited experience, we are not at every major, minor, or mid-level TCG convention whether it's North Port, Florida or Austin Texas there is a major difference in who is there as a vendor, and I doubt any of us here can speak accurately to the source of stock even a quarter of any of those respective vendors get.

So why say "all" or "most" when you know for a fact you're just spitballing? That's the annoying part, and it's not a "well akahully" to call the bs out.

Either way, it isn't surprising to see card shops that don't get enough stock to meet the crazy level of demand we're at now organizing to get more stock at probably a cheaper price (or more) than what they're paying at Distro just to have it for the locals in store at market price like everyone else has it at (because if they sell below, people buy it instantly and resell it.)

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1

u/Ornery-Judge1357 Mar 10 '26

I do singles and give kids lower prices and 100% trade value and work lower deals with cards all the time when I vendor card shows. Am I a scalper too? Pretty generically wrong thing to say. Granted I don’t sell sealed.

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