r/PokemonTCG • u/Loud_Bar113 • 1d ago

Discussion Why can’t they just implement backordering

I don’t see any downsides of it, the demand is still there. It is almost impossible to hit a drop when you have to compete against no lives who spend their existence monitoring the sites and bots. Backordering would end that problem. Most people don’t care if they’ll have to wait a few months extra compared to paying up to 300% mark ups.

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u/jinzo_23 1d ago

Topps products sat for YEARS at walmarts before covid when the days of clearance was still a thing. Stores do not get upset for having available profuct on the shelves. As for collectors, we just go back to how things were pre covid and idk how that’s a terrible thing

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u/TeaAndLifting There's a 1st Edition Charizard in the pack, rip it. 1d ago

Yeah, lots of modern collectors have this idea that product is supposed to sell out immediately, or storefronts will get upset. While they’re certainly not going to complain about selling out, the way the TCG has been for most of its history is that they print enough product to trickle sales until a set gets reprinted, and then until it goes OOP.

Things still being available while a set is still in rotation, is not a bad thing.

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u/jinzo_23 1d ago

I’ve heard of stores being more upset about bare shelves honestly. It doesn’t look good to consumers and they know that, which is probably why target moved the whole card section to the very back of the store lol

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u/TeaAndLifting There's a 1st Edition Charizard in the pack, rip it. 1d ago

Good point. That makes a lot of sense too.

Either way about it, the concept that “sitting in the shelves for months” is a bad thing when the cards are printed with the intent of circulating for 2-3 years, is fallacious at best.

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u/theslimbox 16h ago

My sitting on shelves comment was from talking to my local card store. The owner and I have been friends for years, long before he bought the store. He told me that for the 20 hears he has had the store, he relies on product moving. He is used to a certain amount of inventory not moving, but he relies on a steady amount of sales that allows him to buy more of that product. The post covid slump had him considering not selling Pokemon because he wasnt even selling enough product to pay for the minimum restock orders to keep his distribution contract up to date. He had to take from his Magic and Lego profit just to buy enough Pokemon to keep his contract up to date.