Despite plenty of measures in place to theoretically slow them down, scalpers remain a big issue for Pokemon TCG fans and trading cards in general. Item limits are in full force pretty much anywhere you can buy Pokemon cards or exclusive merch like what was available at Worlds. Yet that doesn’t seem to be enough, especially where online orders are concerned. That’s led many retailers to get creative about anti-scalper measures in recent years. Some shops in Japan are giving out full-on Pokemon quizzes to prove you’re a fan. Target, meanwhile, has started slashing the cellophane wrap to render high-value items like ETBs worthless on the sealed product market. Now, Walmart has come up with its own unique solution.
Like many companies, Walmart is putting measures in place to make it harder for scalpers to secure online product using bots. This tactic has led to product vanishing the moment it goes in stock on store websites, which is incredibly frustrating for fans. Rather than the online queue system currently used by the Pokemon Center website to slow bots down, Walmart is instead relying on random chance. To buy new Pokemon TCG drops from the Walmart website, you now have to enter a random lottery for the opportunity to snag some product. Like any anti-scalper solution, it’s imperfect. But it’s certainly something.
Getting new Pokemon cards when they drop, online and in stores, is typically a race to be the first to check out. Online, that often leads to site crashes and technical issues. In person, well, we all know about the infamous Costco fist fights. But one-per-person limits are harder to enforce online, where people can set up multiple accounts and use bots to clear out product. So, Walmart is getting creative with its “solution” to the problem. Starting with the August 31st drop of Scarlet & Violet – Prismatic Evolutions ETBs, buying highly coveted Pokemon cards from Walmart is no longer first-come, first-served. Instead, it’s random chance.
Here’s how it works. When new restocks are about to go live, customers can enter a free drawing for a shot at buying the Pokemon products in question. To enter, you’ll need a Walmart account. You also have to provide your shipping address and payment method, plus the quantity you’d like to buy, up front. If you’re selected as one of the lucky winners of the lottery, the purchase will automatically be processed. So, you’d better be ready to pay up and double-check your shipping address when you enter. You can enter more than one drawing at a time, which suggests that Walmart may scale up from its single drop on August 31st to include multiple products at once.
Walmart stipulates that the company may “identify and remove entries it reasonably believes involve fraudulent or abusive activity.” So, it’s possible there will be an effort to sort out scalpers from the rest. This might stop or significantly slow down bot activity, but it’s unclear what criteria the company would use to determine a “real” fan compared with a reseller. It’s likely that bot-like activity such as spamming entries for the same mailing address or attempts to buy large quantities of product at once could lead to disqualified entries. Beyond that, though, it’s not clear what might cause Walmart to throw out entries in the drawings.
There are some definite pros to the Collectibles Draw system compared to first-come, first-served or a queue model like that used by the Pokemon Center. Random chance means scalpers won’t necessarily be able to clear out the entire drop. However, it doesn’t fully prevent them from throwing their hats into the ring, either. The account requirement and Walmart’s additional screening measures may slow down the bot situation, but there’s nothing in their rules to stop a scalper from entering the draw just like anyone else. Speed won’t be the factor here, but rather luck. So plenty of actual Pokemon TCG players and fans may still be unable to get the new drops. This makes the Collectibles Draw another imperfect attempt to slow down scalping and help more people actually buy new Pokemon TCG product again. How much it actually helps, only time will tell.
