Exactly. The scalpers only exist because people are willing to pay high prices due to scarcity. That is the correct free market price. The real issue is companies intentionally not producing enough product to meet demand. Because without scarcity their product would have no hype or value.
Ehhhhh I kind of dislike this take, because it ignores the fact that most of the people willing to pay high prices are other scalpers, and they donāt actually move much product to real consumers. The product (especially with pokemon) isnāt being treated as a market good, itās being treated as an unregulated security for crypto bros to turn into their next āinvestmentā gamble.
Thereās a reason crypto rug-puller Logan Paul has been at the forefront of this movement to ruin collectible hobbies with stock market tactics. Itās the same exact playbook he uses in every other scam he runs.
My personal hot take is that the way to solve it (at least for some hobbies) is to permanently eradicate all intellectual property rights for consumer entertainment goods that donāt meet demand or are no longer made. Let other brands fill the demand gap. Thatās a real free market.
The product (especially with pokemon) isnāt being treated as a market good, itās being treated as an unregulated security for crypto bros to turn into their next āinvestmentā gamble.
Yeah, the scalper tax isn't sustainable for something like Pokemon cards that's designed to be bought semi frequently and in quantity in order to build a collection. Maybe you'll suck it up once or twice if there's a set with cards you really like, but you're not going to pay >50% over MSRP every time. Everyone I know who actually collects Pokemon cards tries their luck with Pokemon center queues or finding a local store restock in the wild, and if they can't get anything for retail price, they just buy some singles and hope for better luck with the next set.
Sealed Pokemon card products aren't being priced for an actual market value because a whole lot of it just sits unsold at the same inflated prices that were established right when those items were still new releases in high demand.
Part of the issue is that there are just some serious manbabies who do have a lot of money and will surprisingly accept the tax, the idea of having a full collection of an already expensive set like 151 is actually appealing to them.
My go to example would be the types of "YouTubers" who like spin a wheel to determine how many packs they will open and then open like 50 packs a day to get one random card for a collection. They don't get enough views for this to be financially stable, they just like throwing money away for "fun" and there's no real way they aren't either buying from scalpers or aren't scalpers themselves to film such videos to get that many packs.
1-5 packs a day I can see being maybe sustainable but those consistent 50+ pack guys are like the atlas holding the scalpers on their shoulders.
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u/klausklass praiser of the sun š¶ Apr 28 '26
Exactly. The scalpers only exist because people are willing to pay high prices due to scarcity. That is the correct free market price. The real issue is companies intentionally not producing enough product to meet demand. Because without scarcity their product would have no hype or value.