Rare Pokémon Cards Fuel Black Market Surge

Pokémon TCG Pocket's in-game trading system fuels a thriving black market for digital cards on platforms like eBay. Players are buying and selling cards for prices ranging from $5 to $10, circumventing the game's rules by exchanging friend codes and cards.

One example shows a Starmie ex listed for $5.99, requiring buyers to possess 500 Trade Tokens, Trade Stamina, and an "unwanted Pokémon ex" for the exchange. This exploits a loophole: the seller essentially loses nothing, gaining an ex Pokémon in the trade which can be immediately resold. This directly contradicts the game's terms of service, which prohibit the buying and selling of virtual content.

Numerous listings for rare ex Pokémon and 1-Star alternate art cards are prevalent on eBay, along with entire accounts containing valuable in-game assets like Pack Hourglasses. While account selling is common in online games, it still violates Pokémon TCG Pocket's terms.

The trading mechanic itself sparked controversy upon its release. Besides restrictions on pack openings, Wonder Picking, and trading frequency (unless real money is spent), the introduction of Trade Tokens further fueled player dissatisfaction. The high cost of obtaining these tokens – requiring the deletion of five cards to trade one of equal rarity – was heavily criticized.

Even without the restrictive Trade Tokens, a black market likely would have emerged due to the trading mechanic's limitations. The inability to trade publicly within the app forces players to use external platforms like Reddit, Discord, and now eBay. Many players, such as Reddit user siraquakip, advocated for a more integrated and community-friendly trading system within the app itself.

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Developer Creatures Inc. has warned players against real-money transactions and other exploitative behaviors, threatening account suspensions for violations of the Terms of Use. Ironically, the Trade Tokens system, implemented to prevent such exploitation, has instead fostered this black market and alienated a significant portion of the player base.

Creatures Inc. is investigating improvements to the trading feature but hasn't provided concrete details despite complaints surfacing three weeks ago. Many believe the trading system's design is geared towards increasing revenue for Pokémon TCG Pocket, which reportedly generated half a billion dollars in under three months before the trading feature's launch. The inability to trade higher-rarity (2-Star and above) cards further supports this theory, as readily available trading would reduce the need for players to spend significant sums on packs for a chance at obtaining rare cards. One player reportedly spent $1,500 to complete the first set.

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