One Pokemon Store Is Combating Card Scalpers with Quizzes

By Megan Peters

Pokemon is one of the biggest franchises in the world, and it has the money to back up the claim. After more than twenty years, Pokemon is a household name, and it hit a surge in the last two years. You may not have noticed, but Pokemon cards are selling for insane amounts these days. A wave of scalpers and resellers has made it difficult for fans to buy cards in-store, but one retailer is flipping the status quo at last.

The report comes from Crunchyroll as the store in question is found in Japan. According to the piece, a Yokohama hobby store has had enough with flippers buying up all its Pokemon cards. This is why any customer wanting to buy cards at this store has to submit to a pop quiz all about Pokemon.

According to Twitter user siro_gaming1, they had to take this quiz themselves after checking out the store. The first question was easy as the Yokohama shop asked which Pokemon is the partner of the anime's main character. It seems the questions are all basic enough for kids to answer, but it might stump anyone who is totally unfamiliar with Pokemon. And if you pass the quiz, well - you can pick whichever packs you want!

This is a clever way to limit resellers from taking up Pokemon stock, and this isn't the first store to implement such measures. In fact, the official Pokemon Center in Japan did so earlier in the year. Ahead of a new deck release, The Pokemon Center asked shoppers to stay away from the store to prevent a line from forming. When scalpers formed a line anyways and crowded out fans, the store's staff allowed customers in starting at the back of the line. And now, it seems pop quizzes are the newest way of weeding out flippers. 

What do you think of this store's prevention strategy? Should others adopt this Pokemon method or...? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.

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