Card Game Tournament Takes Stand Against Greedy Pokémon Scalpers

It’s a tough time for fans of Pokémon trading cards. Unless you’re willing to camp out for a day before a retail release or invest in a fleet of bots, snagging Pokémon cards without turning to resellers is nearly impossible. Some retailers are even hiking TCG prices by almost 50%. Videos of brawls over cards in stores are popping up online almost daily. The situation has become so dire that one card game community has decided to take action.

Feel Good Gaming, a trading card game community based in Baltimore, focuses on Yu-Gi-Oh! while also hosting events for other major trading card games, including Pokémon. Recently, they organized a free weekend event dedicated to Pokémon, allowing fans to play, trade, and sell cards and related merchandise. The day after the event wrapped up, founder Evan Lipshultz shared plans for future events that will change the game.

“The scalping situation has gotten out of hand,” Lipshultz stated in an Instagram post addressing feedback and concerns from attendees.

In his post, he announced that Feel Good Gaming will no longer allow vendors to sell sealed and current Pokémon products available in stores. While attendees can still sell sealed products to vendors, the goal is to limit the influence of large-scale businesses that profit from flipping Pokémon cards at inflated prices.

Lipshultz also expressed his commitment to finding quality vendors for future events, aiming to bring in those who can enhance the experience for everyone involved.

“I care a lot about the vibe of my shows and the community we’re building together,” Lipshultz wrote. “I appreciate all of you who show up and speak up — it genuinely helps shape what this becomes.”

While Lipshultz hasn’t responded to requests for further comment, his decision has resonated within the broader Pokémon trading card community.

“This is a great way to weed out some of the scalpers that do these random shows to sell their products,” one comment on Instagram noted.

“More shows should do this,” another user added.

However, not everyone is on board with the new policy. Some comments on Instagram labeled the ban an “L” and speculated that it might hurt attendance at future shows, as many attendees come specifically to find products that are hard to locate in stores.

Overall, though, Pokémon fans are excited about the change and are urging more events to adopt similar rules. A Reddit post discussing the ban has garnered thousands of upvotes.

“My God please let this catch on, it’s so sickening going to shows and seeing rows of vendors with sealed stuff they bought from Target,” one user wrote.

“I wish Pokémon would mandate that,” another suggested. “Give way more inventory to local stores but then require things be sold cut AND at MSRP.”