Pokémon card craze draws even seniors to store 'open runs'
People wait with camping gear spread out on the seventh floor of I’Park Mall in Yongsan District, Seoul, Oct. 1, to enter a Pokémon card store. Korea Times photo by Seo Eun-jae
“I waited five hours from 8 a.m. just to get inside. They said the wait had gotten shorter, so I didn’t have to stay up all night…”
At a Pokémon card shop in Seoul’s Yongsan District on the afternoon of Oct. 23, college student Park, 19, smiled awkwardly as he showed off a newly purchased box of cards. On the screen of a waiting-list registration machine beside him, a notice read, “151 groups waiting, estimated wait time: 181 minutes.” Some customers appeared startled by the long wait and turned away.
The popularity of Pokémon cards, featuring characters from the Japanese manga and animation franchise “Pokémon,” shows little sign of waning. At the Yongsan store in I’Park Mall, the outdoor garden on the seventh floor, where customers wait to enter, is packed every morning with people hoping to buy cards.
Although there are no exact figures, more than 100 buyers routinely lay out mats and cover themselves with blankets as they wait for the store to open. A security guard said some people even arrive at 9 p.m. the previous night to secure a spot.
Most endure the cold and fatigue for the fun of collecting cards or nostalgia for their childhood. But increasingly, the biggest draw is the prospect of making money.
The Pokémon card shop at I’Park Mall in Yongsan District, Seoul, Oct. 23 / Korea Times photo by Lee Yeon-jae
Pokémon cards were originally used primarily in the trading card game, in which players compete against one another using the effects and statistics printed on the cards.
Recently, however, buyers seeking to profit by reselling rare cards have been heating up the market, shifting the focus away from playing the game. They purchase card products at official stores at retail prices and resell them at markups on secondhand platforms.
At the store, card products sell for between 15,000 won ($11.32) and 50,000 won per box. But the popular “High Class Pack,” which costs around 50,000 won for a box of 10 packs, is listed for more than 100,000 won — double the retail price — on secondhand platforms. Scarce or highly sought-after products can fetch four or five times their original price.
The phenomenon has even spawned the term “Potech,” a combination of Pokémon and financial technology, referring to investing in Pokémon cards.
The craze has gone so far that some people have quit their regular jobs to become full-time resellers.
Park, 40, who was waiting in a sleeping bag at the entrance of the Yongsan store at 7 a.m. on Oct. 1, recently quit his electrical installation job to become a reseller.
“I make an average of 200,000 won a day, or around 3 million won a month,” he said. “I earn more than I did at my previous job.”
A customer opens a shopping bag containing a box of Pokémon cards purchased at a store in I’Park Mall in Yongsan District, Seoul, Oct. 23. Korea Times photo by Lee Yeon-jae
The money-making opportunity attracts people of all ages and genders.
Kim, 75, who visits the Yongsan store five times a week, said he stands in line on behalf of his grandson and son-in-law.
“I stand in line for them,” he said. “Even my son-in-law, who used to invest in stocks, is now putting money into Pokémon cards.”
Stores have introduced their own measures to curb reselling. Popular products are limited to one box of each type per customer, while some stores have gone as far as removing the plastic wrapping from purchased card packs on-site to reduce their resale value.
But resellers have found ways around the restrictions by mobilizing family members, acquaintances and proxy buyers.
As the Potech craze overheats, genuine collectors are becoming increasingly frustrated.
Lee, 23, who has collected Pokémon cards since childhood, said prices have risen excessively because of buyers seeking to resell them.
“People who are genuinely interested in the cards and the game are having a hard time even getting a look at them,” Lee said.
Lee Eun-hee, a professor of consumer studies at Inha University, said the resale market has increasingly attracted young people, including those struggling to find jobs, who are seeking occasional income.
“Some level of regulation appears necessary to prevent consumer harm and curb overheating in the market,” she said.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.