Pokémon TCG Pocket Trading Has Spurred a Strange Black Market for High Rarity Cards

Pokémon TCG Pocket's controversial trading mechanic has spawned a bizarre black market on eBay. Players are buying and selling digital cards for $5-$10 each, exploiting a loophole in the system. Sellers exchange friend codes with buyers, sending a card in return. One listing, for example, offered a Starmie ex for $5.99, requiring the buyer to have 500 Trade Tokens, Trade Stamina, and an "unwanted Pokémon ex" for the exchange. This cleverly circumvents the game's terms of service, which prohibit buying and selling virtual content, as the seller essentially gains an equivalent card in the trade. The restriction of trading only cards of the same rarity allows sellers to continuously profit.

Numerous eBay listings feature rare ex Pokémon and 1-Star alternate art cards, with entire accounts including Pack Hourglasses and rare cards also for sale. While account selling is common in online games, this still represents a breach of the game's terms. The trading mechanic itself, introduced recently, sparked controversy even before this black market emerged. Beyond the existing restrictions on pack openings and Wonder Picking, the introduction of Trade Tokens further fueled player discontent. The high cost of acquiring these tokens, requiring the deletion of five cards to trade one of the same rarity, added to the frustration.

This black market likely would have formed regardless of the trading restrictions. The main issue is the trading mechanic's limitations; trading requires friendship between players, forcing players to use external platforms like Reddit, Discord, and now eBay to facilitate trades. Players like siraquakip on Reddit advocated for a more integrated, in-app trading system, allowing public listing of cards.

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Developer Creatures Inc. has warned against real-money transactions and cheating, threatening account suspensions. Ironically, the Trade Token system, intended to prevent such exploitation, has backfired, alienating the community. While Creatures Inc. is investigating improvements to the trading feature, concrete solutions remain elusive despite complaints dating back three weeks.

Many believe the trading system is designed to boost revenue for Pokémon TCG Pocket, which reportedly generated half a billion dollars in under three months before trading was even available. The inability to trade 2-Star or higher rarity cards further supports this, as readily trading for missing cards would reduce the need for players to spend significant sums on random packs. One player reportedly spent $1,500 to complete the first set, with the third set launching just last week.