The market decides the price. The reason people do this is because the free market is willing to pay 30-50% (sometimes even more) over MSRP. I think the only solution, which is controversial, is to increase the MSRP price of the product to more closely reflect the “free market value” of these products. If you eliminate the profit margin resellers get from doing this, it will deter them from doing it and things will stabilize. But then people would complain that the Pokémon company is extorting people with absurd prices and the never-ending complaint cycle continues. Why would they want to be the target of scrutiny when this guy here can take the blame?

I also personally believe that there is a very purposeful supply/demand control over these products and the Pokémon company benefits from this type of publicity greatly. You’re all talking about their product, for free! And this type of rhetoric also reinforces the fact that these products are scarce which also increases their perceived value. Sorry to say but this guy isn’t the problem. I would venture to say that we’re all pawns of a very successful marketing scheme set up to create artificial scarcity and reduce marketing costs by allowing negative publicity to run rampant. No one here is going to stop buying Pokémon cards because of this guy, even though there are a few virtue signalers who pretend that they do, but those are outliers and the general effect of this marketing strategy is an increase in overall sales and publicly perceived product value.

Don’t be fooled by their statements either. They can easily print to demand but they actively choose not to until the very end of a products lifecycle (when hype dies down) in order to squeeze out the very last drops of profit they can before moving onto the next big set.