“This is pure greed”: Walmart set to impose limits on Pokémon trading card purchases following viral TikTok that sparked outrage
Walmart finally appears poised to limit sales of popular trading cards, and many Pokémon fans believe a recent viral video is to thank.
An unconfirmed internal memo allegedly from OneWalmart, the company's employee portal, has recently been shared across social media as proof that the company is imposing sale limits on trading cards.
"Effective Wednesday, Nov. 5, customers may purchase a maximum of five packs and/or boxes of Trading Cards per visit," a Reddit screenshot reads. It also says point-of-sale and online systems have been updated to automatically enforce the new policy.
The reasoning behind the change is stated to be a combination of unprecedented demand for trading cards, reselling concerns, product shortages, and "safety first."
"We've seen incidents and disputes and crowding over these cards. By setting a purchase limit, we aim to reduce conflicts—" the memo reads, before the screen is cut off.
The Pokémon trading card TikTok
The memo doesn't make mention of any specific incident, but the timing left many people jumping to the same conclusion—Walmart's alleged decision to finally limit the number of trading card packages customers can purchase in one go is related to a viral TikTok filmed in one of the stores.
In late October, Mike Romano (@mromano2003) shared a video taken at a Walmart in Las Vegas, Nevada, that showed one person buying dozens, if not hundreds, of Pokémon card tins.
"This is what they're selling to one person. This guy right here. One person," Romano says.
The TikTok has racked up over 12.6 million views since it was initially posted, drawing outrage across the internet—often from people who have already been frustrated over the prevalence of scalping when it comes to Pokémon cards.
@mromano2003 This is what pure GREED looks like!! #walmart #pokemon @Walmart @Pokémon Company Int’l ♬ original sound - Mike Romano
A welcome policy change
For the most part, people have expressed a certain amount of relief that Walmart has finally instituted a limit to the number of packs people can purchase of any trading cards. However, there's also the sentiment that it's something that should have happened a long time ago.
On r/Walmart, employees of the megastore reacted to the news.
As some people pointed out, there are still potential workarounds to the limit, although it won't be as easy as just grabbing the entire stock and checking out all at once. Will it be enough to slow down scalpers?
"I think they're really just doing it to save face tbh," one cynical redditor suggested.
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