Akihabara Hobby Goods Stores Take Measures to Prevent Resales - Gunpla and Trading Card Resellers

The resale of toy hobby items such as Gunpla, figures, and trading cards has become increasingly popular recently.
However, the stores are not just sitting idly by.
This time, we will introduce the measures taken by hobby shops in the Akihabara area to prevent resale.

The Dark Side of Akihabara: The Reason for the Proliferation of Scalpers (Figures, Trading Cards, Gunpla)

Measures to prevent resale at hobby stores in the Akihabara area

Sofmap Akihabara Amusement Hall - Pre-lottery on their website

At Sofmap, reservations for popular hobby items such as Figuarts are made by advance lottery system.
Register on the member site and enter the lottery.
If you win, the date will be changed to the release date.
In addition, a separate lottery will be held exclusively for premium members.

AmiAmi Akihabara Radio Kaikan Store -Popular items will be sold by lottery in advance

Like Sofmap, AmiAmi does not accept in-store reservations for hobbies that are expected to be popular, but instead sells them through a pre-order lottery.
Since around 2020, as the release date of a popular product approaches, QR codes for lottery pages have begun to appear in stores.

At the AmiAmi Akihabara Radio Kaikan store, they were selling resale Gunpla in a somewhat underground way, where you would talk to a store clerk, choose what you wanted from a list they would show you, and the item would come out from the back. pic.twitter.com/Y8LgWGbyKG

— Akihabara Base Camp (@akihabara_bc) September 13, 2021

Measures were also taken to prevent the resale of reprinted Gunpla.
The system works by having the clerk give you a list of products, checking off the items you want, and then taking them to the sales counter to be sold.

Yodobashi Camera Multimedia Akiba - Popular game consoles now only available with affiliated credit cards

When the PS5 was first released, Yodobashi Camera Multimedia Akiba was widely reported to have caused a stir, with long lines and other issues, but now they have taken thorough measures to prevent this, to the point that it seems like it might actually be the easiest store to buy a PS5 at.
PS5 and XBOX can only be purchased with Yodobashi Camera's credit card, the Gold Point Card Plus.
In addition, your purchase history at Yodobashi is also managed, so multiple purchases are not possible.
This is a clever way to lock customers into your company's affiliated credit cards while also preventing resale.

It seems that pre-orders for the new Switch at Yodobashi are only accepted with affiliated credit cards. pic.twitter.com/SaQmPUkcCi

— Akihabara Base Camp (@akihabara_bc) September 10, 2021

Perhaps to prevent resale, reservations for the new Switch will only be accepted with affiliated credit cards.

Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara had Bandai plastic models on sale for the first time.
Does that mean Pikachin is also available for a limited time? pic.twitter.com/eHMxLUFvRe

— Akihabara Base Camp (@akihabara_bc) September 13, 2021

In addition, sales of Bandai Spirits plastic models, including Gunpla, are limited to one per person.

Extreme anti-resale measures that became a hot topic online

Selling cut plastic model runners

There are now stores that require customers to open the inner packaging and cut off any runners on plastic models immediately upon purchase as a condition for selling them.
Once the plastic model parts are separated, they cannot be resold as unused items, so people are discouraged from purchasing them with the intention of reselling them.
When this measure was reported on the Internet, it received a lot of positive feedback, but since there are many collectors who want to collect untouched plastic models, this measure cannot be said to be a good one in general.

Sold with the shrink wrap removed from the card box

This is a similar measure to the plastic model mentioned above, in which the shrink wrap is removed when purchasing the card box and handed over.
If the card box has been opened, there will be no buyers on flea market apps, so there will be no purchases for the purpose of reselling. For ordinary buyers, although the shrink wrap will be peeled off in front of their eyes, it will be clear that the contents are untouched, so there will be no problem.
However, there are many resellers who own shrink-wrapping machines, so this is not necessarily a surefire method.

The Dark Side of Trading Card Games (TCG): A Case File of Incidents Related to Merchandise Sales

Manufacturers' efforts to prevent resale

Hobby manufacturers are also taking measures to combat the growing resale craze.
Plastic models, which are relatively easy to reprint, are often announced for reprinting and pre-orders are taken immediately after release to discourage resale of the products.
However, pre-orders for the reprints often sell out quickly, so the only way to ensure a stable supply is to wait for the boom to die down.

Meanwhile, in September 2021, Bandai's online shopping site "Premium Bandai," which manufactures and sells hobby items such as Gunpla and Figuarts that are often targeted for resale,Membership terms and conditions revisedWas done.
Suspicious accounts will be asked to submit official identification, and if it is determined that the account is being used for commercial or resale purposes, the service will be suspended.

The Dark Side of Akihabara: The Reason for the Proliferation of Scalpers (Figures, Trading Cards, Gunpla)

Admission to Gundam Base will be by lottery and ID required

Until now, Gundam Base has taken measures to prevent resale, such as limiting the purchase of one of the same product per transaction and limiting transactions to one per day per person.
For the dates March 5th-7th, 2022 and 12th-14th, 3, advance admission lottery will be held and presentation of identification will be required.
This is a date that coincides with the release of a popular product, and it is likely that similar measures will be taken on the release dates of new products in the future.

The best way to deal with this is to avoid resale items.

So far, we have introduced various stores' anti-resale measures, but in the end, scalpers exist because there are people who buy resold items.
Not only stores but also we users must raise our awareness of measures to prevent resale.
If an item doesn't sell, it won't be bought up.
Even if something you want is being resold, if you don't wait and buy it, believing that it will be resold, the resellers will eventually give up.
Let's be strong and fight against resale!!! (A sudden spiritual thought)

*2021/9/15
AmiAmi and Yodobashi Akiba resale measures, Premium Bandai's terms of use revised

*2022/3/4
Added measures to prevent resale of Gundam Base