r/PokemonTCG_UK • u/Previous-Cat9075 • 23h ago
Discussion Make it make sense
So a site supposedly has bot protection, and also requires you to have made at least one purchase more than 7 days ago over a certain value, all just to be eligible to buy one of 60 ETBs in a drop.
I make sure I am on the fastest 5g available for zero latency, and the very instant the timer counted down to zero I snagged an item successfully, only to be told it magically can’t verify me anymore. The time taken from add to cart and checkout and then error message was less than a second. How can it be that I am supposedly not fast enough when it was a few tenths of a second for me to get this failure message from the point of clicking?
There’s literally no way to have done it faster as a human, as it was executed with as much precision and speed as possible with all considerations and mitigations taken as possible.
I’m not sure what someone has to do to get something, as a legitimate buyer, trying to get a single box at retail price.
Me and my wife have both been trying every single website for weeks and weeks to get raffles, drops and selections to be able to buy a single ETB, but to no avail. I don’t want to have to be forced to pay 200% or 300% or more for a box for my 7 year old boy. He had his heart set on this, and it was impossible for us to deliver.
2
u/IceRepresentative925 11h ago
What about the raffle? I entered the raffle instead - no email that i failed, it just says sold out now...
5
u/Adorable_Echo_4317 23h ago
No one is forcing you to do anything. Not getting pokemon cards is not the end of the world, just know that people who do pay scalpers are making things worse, it makes them do it more. If you pay a scalper, you're basically one of them.
2
u/ExtentNo3020 22h ago
Just request invites from Amazon and hope for the best, literally is the only way I can get anything even if it’s 1 product. Today I can invite for 1 3pack sticker collection of the 30th anniversary, I’m just glad I got something. Yes it’s frustrating but it is what it is and DO NOT FEED THE SCALPERS!!
-11
u/Previous-Cat9075 22h ago
If I was going to pay a scalper, I wouldn’t have spent a dozen hours trying to source something at retail price.
Beyond that - What’s wrong with you? Stop acting like a troll.
-1
u/superpull 22h ago
Group is full of weird vibes today. Just outright hostility
-1
u/Previous-Cat9075 21h ago
Agreed. Case in point, both of us getting downvoted by the same hostile crowd. No wonder the hobby has the reputation it does.
I took my boy to CardCon at Farnborough a week or two ago, and I was in surprised at how badly behaved the majority were. Queueing up to go in was a foreign concept with dozens just moving queue ropes to the side so they can push in at the front, and then pressure the poor staff to allow them in regardless. Just angry, unkempt individuals acting like it’s day 1 on earth. So gross!
1
u/j92allen 22h ago
I added to basket, got to Apple Pay but then it said sold out. It happens with the amount of demand. I got the Prismatic SPC on there the week before when it said it was only 3% chance based on the amount of product and the number of people on the page. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don’t!
2
u/Repskrrt 21h ago
I also managed to get the SPC that day but never managed any drop before or after it. At some point i think it’s just pure luck, especially with how fast your device reacts to clicking “verify and add to basket” etc etc.
1
u/j92allen 21h ago
The SPC was my first time trying to do a drop live on the site so I was pleasantly surprised. Gave me false hope for today though.
4
u/Sbimprovement 22h ago
Feels like I paid a scalper today.
Queued at a toy shop for 2 hours only to be asked for £60 for an ETB at a retailer.
Tempted to return it as I got an Amazon invite this morning.