Guide
how to track Pokémon TCG restocks
Sealed Pokémon TCG product behaves differently to the rest of the range. Allocation goes out to distributors in waves, which means a set that looks sold out everywhere quietly reappears at card specialists a week later, often at RRP, and often in small quantities that never get announced.
That pattern rewards breadth over speed. The people buying sealed product at retail aren't faster than everyone else, they are simply watching more shops, including the independents that don't send marketing emails.
Developed for mobile:
how sealed product moves
Distributor waves
Restocks cluster. If one specialist gets a set back in, others usually follow within a few days, so an alert from one shop is a reason to check the rest.
Per-customer limits
Card shops cap sealed product to one or two per order. Buying the quantity you want often means several separate windows, not one big basket.
Supermarket drops
The grocers and catalogue retailers get tins and bundles, not boxes, at odd hours, with no pattern. They are worth tracking precisely because nobody is watching them.
shops that get sealed product
Australia & NZ
Pokemon AIO (Shopify), Pokemon Center, Target
Canada
Pokemon AIO (Shopify), Pokemon Center, Walmart
Europe
Pokemon AIO, Pokemon Center, Topps
Japan
Pokemon Center, Target, Topps
United Kingdom
Argos, Buckenham Cards, Card Chaser, Card Giant, Chaos Cards, Hills Card, Magic Madhouse, Pokemon AIO, Pokemon AIO (Shopify), Pokemon Center, Smyths Toys, Topps
United States
GameStop, Pokemon AIO (Shopify), Pokemon Center, Target, Topps, Walmart
Worldwide
Pokemon Center
keywords that outlive a set name
Keywords filter every store you track, so one list covers all of them. Start broad, then cut it down once you have seen a week of alerts.
- booster,box
- elite,trainer,box
- booster,bundle
- pokemon,tin
- premium,collection
- upc
how to buy at RRP
Use product-type keywords, not set names
Set names go stale every few months. Product types like booster,box and elite,trainer,box keep working across every new release, so you set them once.
Include the independents
The specialist card shops restock at RRP more often than the big retailers do. They are the reason to track more than three stores.
Keep a second region on
European card shops ship to the UK and frequently hold stock after the UK sells through.
questions
Which shops actually restock Pokémon TCG at RRP?
In the UK the specialist card shops do it most consistently, and MerchVault tracks a number of them alongside Pokémon Center and the larger retailers. The coverage list on this page is pulled live from the current store list.
Can I get alerts for one specific set?
Yes. Set a keyword for the set name and you will only hear about that set. Most people run a broad product-type keyword plus one or two set names.
Do you track in-store stock?
A few retailers are tracked for in-store availability where that data exists, which is listed separately in the store list. Everything else is online stock.
Is three stores enough on the free tier?
For one specific set, usually yes. If you are buying sealed product regularly, Premium exists because the whole point is watching the shops nobody else is watching.
start tracking Pokémon TCG
Install the app, add the stores from the coverage list above, and set your keywords. The free tier includes three collectables stores, and Premium removes the limit along with Shopify Scanner and price drop alerts.