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Why Korean Cards?
Well - like the US many months ago - Japan is running low on Pokémon Cards too. Allow us to start with a little background.
Pokémon Japan doesn't work directly with Americans. No American has access to warehouse pricing and no American is an Official Vendor of Japanese Pokémon Cards. That includes us at PokeNE.com
So how do we get our cards? Well, it's thanks to our 2 Rockstar suppliers who work as middle-men between Pokémon-Japan and us. To keep our relationship with our suppliers, we're required to spend a monthly-minimum of $25,000. You'd be surprised how quickly that inventory goes.
The Problem
Over the past few weeks, our suppliers have kept us posted on the state of the card market in Japan. Everyday, Japan is looking more like the US - empty shelves, rising prices, the whole thing. This week, things took a turn for the worse. At this point the warehouses have run completely dry; and that means no cards for our suppliers.
So, What Does That Mean for You?
Products on the site as of now will still be shipped out in 12-24 hours and prices will remain as-is. We have some guaranteed inventory coming including Full Metal Wall, Night Unison, and Eevee Heroes but once those are stocked, we're not scheduled to receive anything else in a large quantity.
Solutions We're Considering
As our inventory runs dry (likely over the next 4-6 weeks) we'll be working day and night trying to find a new supplier who has enough inventory on-hand to work with us. Until then, begin offering some new products to keep the business afloat. Korean Pokémon Cards are going to be our first new-product we'll introduce.
Why Korean?
Korean Pokémon cards will likely be the next thing Trading Card enthusiast go to. American cards and Japanese cards will grow harder and harder to find for the average consumer and market prices will likely reflect that. Korean cards, while similar to American and Japanese, do have a few noteworthy differences. We'll be releasing marketing information in the coming weeks demonstrating these similarities and differences so you're informed before you make a purchasing decision.
In addition to Korean Pokémon Cards, we're mulling over introducing alternative products such as Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh Cards. To keep our Asian-influenced theme, we're going to continue focusing on non-English sets. We like being different.
In Conclusion...
PokeNE ISN'T dying and we're NOT abandoning Japanese Pokémon Cards either.
We're just doing our best to keep inventory available until Japan can get a handle on the shortage. We'll be working night and day leveraging relationships to keep us on track. Overall, we're choosing to look at the bright side; this shortage is forcing us to diversify our product offerings while maintaining the level of service you've grown to love and expect.
Thank you for being the best community on the internet. You make PokeNE.com worth fighting for.
-Brian and Andrea Gentile | PokeNE.com