Rare Pokémon TCG Pocket Cards Drive Underground Trading Market

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has sparked an underground market where players trade digital cards online through its contentious trading system.

Numerous listings for Pokémon TCG Pocket cards have surfaced on eBay, with prices ranging from $5 to $10 per card. This is enabled by the game’s new trading feature, where sellers exchange friend codes with buyers to transfer cards.

For instance, a $5.99 Starmie ex listing requires buyers to have 500 Trade Tokens, one Trade Stamina, and an unwanted Pokémon ex card to swap for the desired card.

This setup raises eyebrows. Despite violating Pokémon TCG Pocket’s terms of service, which prohibit buying or selling virtual items, sellers lose nothing in these deals.

Buyers trade an unneeded card for one they want, resembling a standard trade except for the price, while sellers maintain their inventory. Trading rules mandate matching rarity, so sellers gain an ex Pokémon for each one sold, allowing them to repeat the process.

Countless eBay listings feature ex Pokémon and 1 Star alternate art cards, the rarest tradable items, with prices varying widely. Entire accounts, including Pack Hourglasses and rare cards, are also for sale, a common practice in online games despite breaching terms.

The trading feature in Pokémon TCG Pocket stirred controversy upon its debut last week, though this online market isn’t directly tied to those criticisms.

Besides the standard mechanic limiting pack openings, Wonder Picking, or excessive trading without real-world spending, the trading system introduced Trade Tokens. Players criticized their steep cost, requiring the deletion of five cards to trade one of equal rarity.

Yet, this black market would likely exist even without trading restrictions. The only connection to player complaints is the system’s simplicity, as trading requires friendship with another player.

Some players, like Reddit user siraquakip, hoped for “a secure way to strengthen community ties.” Fans have called for in-app public trading to eliminate reliance on external platforms like Reddit, Discord, and eBay to find desired cards.

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Developer Creatures Inc. has cautioned players against trading cards for real money or cheating, stating before the trading launch that violators face warnings, account suspensions, or other penalties.

Ironically, Creatures Inc. introduced Trade Tokens to curb system exploitation, like these eBay sales, but the measure has failed while alienating much of the community.

The developer is “actively exploring improvements” to the trading system but has shared no details despite complaints starting three weeks ago when the feature was announced.

Players suspect the trading system is designed to boost Pokémon TCG Pocket’s revenue, which reportedly reached half a billion dollars in under three months before trading began.

This is further suggested by restrictions on trading 2 Star rarity cards or higher, as easy trades would reduce the need to spend $10, $100, or more for random pulls. One player reportedly spent $1,500 to complete the first set, with the third set arriving last week.