GAME accused of ‘scalping’ Pokémon cards by only offering £20 shipping option
Staff allege that the retailer deliberately won’t offer cheaper delivery for the £11 tins
UK retailer GAME has been accused of ‘scalping’ Pokémon cards by only offering an extremely expensive delivery option.
The latest Pokémon TCG expansion, Prismatic Evolutions, has been in short supply as The Pokémon Company struggles to print enough to meet initial demand.
However, a Eurogamer report finds that while GAME is taking pre-orders for the expansion’s new Mini Tins – which each contain two booster packs and an Eevee coin – it’s charging extremely high delivery fees.
The tins cost £10.99 each, and customers don’t get to choose which of the eight designs they will be sent. On top of this, the only postage option available is £19.99 for what GAME is calling an “oversized delivery”.
Other items on GAME offer £4.99 for Standard Delivery, £4.99 for Collect in Store or £11.99 for Next Day Delivery. None of these options are available for the Prismatic Evolutions Mini Tins.
The same goes for other Prismatic Evolution items available on the GAME website, including a sticker collection and a binder collection. All only have the £19.99 “oversized delivery” option available.
Pokémon TCG Mini Tins are 124 x 76mm and 25mm thick, making them significantly shorter and only 1cm thicker than a standard DVD case (190 x 135 x14mm). As such, they almost certainly shouldn’t be considered “oversized”.
Indeed, as Eurogamer’s report points out, much larger packages such as PS5 and Nintendo Switch consoles aren’t marked as “oversized delivery” and have cheaper delivery options available.
While this could potentially be explained as an error, Eurogamer cites GAME staff (speaking under anonymity) who say they were told by management that the decision was deliberate.
The implication being made by these staff members is that by charging £19.99 delivery for a relatively small item, GAME may be making some of this fee back as extra profit, essentially allowing it to ‘scalp’ the items for higher prices despite listing them at normal retail prices.
The Prismatic Evolutions expansion is proving extremely sought after, mainly due to the combination of its focus on popular Pokémon Eevee, a surge in popularity for the TCG following the recent release of the Pokémon TCG Pocket mobile game, and the usual general interest in Pokémon cards among scalpers.
The upcoming pop-up Pokémon Center in London has already confirmed to VGC that it will feature no Prismatic Evolutions products.
The Pokemon Company released a statement last month confirming that it plans to print more of the set, due to many fans being unable to find any of the TCG products at retail stores.
As such, players are encouraged to hold fire and wait for more stock to arrive, instead of paying more than retail price.
