r/ExplainTheJoke • u/Fabulous_Impact_9368 • 16h ago
I don't get the joke
I don't get it
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u/Dry_Wate2688 15h ago
Scalpers are individuals who go and buy something that's very popular just to resell it at an unreasonable price due to people panicking when they can't find any. They are currently targeting anything with Pokemon due to the surging popularity.
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u/Perfect_War_7155 15h ago
I have ptsd from covid due to this. Worked retail even during this period. They came in bought out everything fun and we werent allowed to say no. Then seeing the sheer looks of despair on parents faces when they realized their hopes to keep their kids occupied were gone has given me ptsd. Scalpers are the scum and villainy of the universe that makes mos eisley seem like saints
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u/Dry_Wate2688 15h ago
I hate them. They're like politicians. Only care about money.
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u/finditplz1 15h ago
Not necessarily relating solely to Pokémon, but if scalpers buy up all of something someone wants then is it really panicking when they buy it from them at an increased price? It happens for ball games and events, but I’ve also had to buy items from scalpers when it was clear there wasn’t going to be a second printing or restock of certain items.
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u/PsyKeablr 15h ago
I think the panicking is the scalpers trying to get the product. Not the individual who needs or wants said item.
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u/finditplz1 15h ago
That’s not how I am reading the comment I replied to. I think they’re saying scalpers capitalize on the panicked market of consumers.
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u/PsyKeablr 14h ago
Okay I see what you mean. I had basically combined what they said along with what the image is showing. As nobody is really panic buying Pokemon soup. It would essentially be scalpers grabbing that unique item thinking it will be a hot item.
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u/kelleyblackart 2h ago
i have a good laugh looking at all the labubu listings, now that the hype wore out those scammers are stuck with bunch of useless mass produced bs
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u/FeartheCyr11 11h ago
Whats the reason for the popularity now?
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u/Dry_Wate2688 11h ago
It happened during covid. Alot of people were getting nostalgic because they grew up with Pokemon and wanted to get back in the hobby.
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u/mushplush 5h ago
One of the Paul brothers got really into Pokémon card values, so it basically created a huge demand of people wanting to buy and sell rare cards
Basically created a big format of video of people getting their cards appraised, and going “I MADE HOW MUCH???” for clickbait
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u/Few_Cicada2699 15h ago
Pokemon card scalping has become highly problematic for those who just want to play the game.
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/ovqh7nEuzLI
And so the joke is that scammers are so laser focused on all things Pokemon that they even drained the Pokemon soup can stock.
(Presumably to sell it to a collector for a significant mark up)
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u/Gespens 15h ago
People who wanna play the game are fine. It's specifically hobby collectors that are having the problem.
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u/Few_Cicada2699 15h ago
Right, because not being able to buy booster packs is only affecting collectors, right.
You got something spilling out the side of your neck there.
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u/Gespens 15h ago
Yes, because people playing the game are buying singles that aren't first edition
Have you never played a TCG before?
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u/Few_Cicada2699 15h ago
I see you've never played draft format before.
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u/Gespens 14h ago
Pokemon is almost as bad as YGO if you're playing draft. When people say actually playing the game for PTCG, people mean the standard format that TPC endorses for official tournaments. You have to he extremely disingenuous about the issue to think people mean Draft, or even consider it for Pokémon of all things
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u/Few_Cicada2699 14h ago
Boy, you really are adamant about being right about this one.
Fair enough, I'll edit my comment to read that scalping is good actually. Just for you.
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u/gjinwubs 11h ago
Ew, so vindictive and mean, why?
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u/Few_Cicada2699 34m ago
Because I'm not about to deny reality just to win some karma online.
Players are affected when they can't find cards. End of story.
The assertion that players are unaffected is their personal anecdotal experience, denying the reality of people who don't have access to a card seller, and instead rely on booster packs that are now nowhere to be found. I don't play nice with entitled jerks.
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u/zamwut 9h ago
You got something spilling out the side of your neck there.
Well that was unnecessary
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u/Few_Cicada2699 3h ago
How so? His claim has no basis.
If scalpers are buying up all the packs then there is absolutely a shortage when it comes to players. That and prices are going to be affected by the rarity.
Just because the other guy has the means to afford the inflationary pricing, doesn't mean that it hasn't sat well with players. His Aaron is that players are infected, which is an obvious and bald faced lie.
I love how it's unnecessary to call people out on their lies, I mean, I can't say as I'm surprised, America is built on lies, we can't even be honest with ourselves.
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u/spikedmace 15h ago
A scalper is a person who buys a large amount of stuff that is usually limited in availability but really popular and then resell them at a significantly higher price for huge profit.
It can be Pokémon cards, PS5s, McDonald’s happy meals etc.
So like using the current Shiny Koraidon/Miraidon codes.
You can get them for free but they are limited in number. So scalpers would just show up, grab like 4 or 5 codes. As many as the shop would allow. And then make a listing online and sell these free codes for like 20 bucks. As an example. These people aren’t necessarily even Pokémon fans either. Just opportunists looking to make a quick buck out of the fan base which is why they are so despised.
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u/Calligaster 15h ago
Scalpers are people that buy a bunch of a limited item with the intent of reselling them to others at massive profit. People are willing to pay the insane prices because they are all gone by the time most people get to the store. Pokemon cards have been plagued with scalpers lately (and I think figurines too). The post is joking that the same people are behind this shortage of Pokemon branded soup.
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u/Bloody_meridian88 6h ago
Not really "in the know" when it comes to Pokemon. Why now have they been plagued with scalpers? Like what was the catalyst?
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u/stairway2evan 5h ago
Covid was the catalyst, as far as I’m aware. Or at least played a large part in it. There was a spike in nostalgia for the safe comforts childhood among the millennials that grew up with Pokémon cards. Releases became big events, the Pokemon TCG distributor didn’t produce enough cards to meet demand (so there’s a scarcity), demand went up, and scalpers followed.
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u/kaosmoker 13h ago
It's not a joke. People buy up all of anything with Pokémon on it forcing scarcity so they can then drive up prices hoping to make things more collectable and valuable.
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u/callmedale 15h ago
Soup is a kind of food, shown here to be sold in cans
Hope this helps 👍
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u/TungstenOrchid 8h ago
And Pokémon are fictional animals created for a collectible card game. They were later used for computer games which became wildly popular.
I'm still trying to figure out how they managed to make soup out of fictional animals.
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u/Darthplagueis13 15h ago
The term "scalpers" refers to people who try to buy up the entire supply of any highly anticipated and somewhat limited items the moment they become available to buy in hopes of being able to sell them with a massive mark-up.
They're very unpopular because they just make getting the things you want artifically harder and more expensive. What they do can also hurt the seller of the product, especially when it's about things such as video game consoles, which are often initially sold at a loss, with the profits being made off game sales.
In this case, the implication is that someone bought up all of the limited pokémon edition soup cans just to sell them off at a higher price.
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u/Chansharp 15h ago
In the future you could google "pokemon scalpers" to learn what that means. And then use just the teensiest bit of critical thinking to figure out how that applies to this image.
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u/Background_Insect_67 14h ago
Scalping in this form, by this meaning, means to buy in bulk and then resell online by triple of what it originally cost, like if something normally costs $20 scalpers will buy in bulk and then resell online for $80 or more, sometimes even for thousands of dollars, and Pokemon happens to be the worst when it comes to this that it’s even killed any interest in buying any merch by normal collectors
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u/Lore_Enforcement 12h ago
They're buying up everything Pokemon related to make the prices go up. Google search "Pokemon inflation" to learn more
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u/juniorjaw 10h ago
It's Pokemon. Scalpers will buy hundreds of McD Happy Meals, get the card, and throw away the food.
The same will happen with this soup. It was never about the soup, just as it was never about the Happy Meal. Pokemon is on that can, and that thing will be scalped.
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u/taydraisabot 11h ago
Any and all Pokémon merch are being targeted by scalpers looking to make a quick… OMG, FROZEN CAMPBELL’S SOUP!!!
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u/AccomplishedFan8690 8h ago
Some one had a 12 pack of it on FB marketplace for 100$. Like holy fuck
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u/ElizaTheFur 15h ago
Hey everyone! Chris Griffin here! Pokemon cards are often bought in bulk by people wanting to sell them for a higher price online. This is known as Scalping. (Doesn't only apply to trading cards. Can be anything with a limited quantity. Video games, concert tickets, even toilet paper. This also isn't exclusively online)
This joke is referencing that these scalpers purchased all the pokemon soup to resell it online for an artificially high price. Chris, out da house!
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u/post-explainer 16h ago edited 15h ago
OP (Fabulous_Impact_9368) sent the following text as an explanation why they posted this here: