WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: The real reason fans line up for the beloved trading cards<\/p>\n
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n He said online stocks are depleted almost instantly, with \u201ceveryday customers\u201d unable to add the hot commodity to their cart before they are sold out.<\/p>\n \u201cThose that have tried will know exactly what we\u2019re talking about \u2013 the constant refreshing of your page trying to get the add-to-cart button to work, and if it does, getting error after error in the checkout page due to the server timing out,\u201d O\u2019Brien said in an online petition<\/a> that has gathered more than 4000 signatures.<\/p>\n \u201cCheckout\u201d, \u201cscalping\u201d and \u201cshopping\u201d bots automate the process for buying scarce, high-demand goods.<\/p>\n They can monitor for a release, add to cart, check out at lightning speed, and repeat that process across a number of accounts, pocketing more stock than per-customer limits allow.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just a few rogue purchases \u2013 automated traffic often overwhelms retailer websites during these launches,\u201d Fastly<\/a> director Liam Mayron said.<\/p>\n Experts say they can even uncover hidden product pages before they are publicly available.<\/p>\n One Pokemon card collector highlighted the issue on Thursday, claiming on Reddit that more than 5000 units<\/a> were \u201cjust botted through Kmart\u2019s backend\u201d before human buyers even knew they were there. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s part of a big issue within the trading card game community because at this point, you are more guaranteed a product lining up (outside a store) at a ridiculous time,\u201d Sydney<\/a> card collector Sebastian-Felipe Castano told 7NEWS.com.au. <\/p>\n O\u2019Brien said he had been a fan of the Pokemon franchise since it launched in the 1990s, and had passed on the passion to his two young girls.<\/p>\n He was inspired to start the petition when he was unable to get his hands on any special 30th anniversary releases through Kmart or Target.<\/p>\n He had wanted to buy them for his daughters as a reward for their hard work.<\/p>\n The problem is not just limited to retailers in Australia.<\/p>\n And in another blow for those that miss out, the packs, boxes and bundles are often put up for re-sale on online market places for exorbitant prices within minutes.<\/p>\n O\u2019Brien said \u201cit\u2019s extremely frustrating\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the greedy few that\u2019s actually taking away from the majority, and they\u2019re doing it for their own benefit,\u201d he told 7NEWS.com.au.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve looked at raising the petition because I want parents to be able to have the chance to actually buy their kids something … at a reasonable price.\u201d<\/p>\n He conceded many long-term collectors are tired of the constant battle to land one of the latest trading card sets.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s almost killing the hobby,\u201d O\u2019Brien said.<\/p>\n O\u2019Brien wants Kmart and Target to introduce protections similar its competitors, and said through his petition that parent company Wesfarmers needs to be aware of the problem.<\/p>\n \u201cKmart Australia very clearly knows there\u2019s importance in setting limits for customers purchasing the stock \u2013 this is reflected in their in-store release day policies, where items over $20 are one per person and anything under that is five per person,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe online system also has limits per transaction \u2013 however there is no limit as to how many times a customer is able to submit multiple orders for the same product. We don\u2019t understand why Kmart doesn\u2019t block this behaviour.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEB Games has hard limits per account and manually validate each account to see who breaks the terms and conditions.\u00a0 Kmart \u2018reviewing customer feedback\u2019<\/p>\n 7NEWS.com.au reached out to Wesfarmers about potential network-wide action against bots and scalpers.<\/p>\n A Kmart spokesperson said it is considering consumer feedback.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know how disappointing it can be for customers to miss out on highly sought-after Pokemon products,\u201d they told 7NEWS.com.au.<\/p>\n \u201cKmart has measures in place to support fair access to high-demand products and to protect our online shopping experience. <\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t provide details of our technological safeguards, as doing so could undermine those controls.<\/p>\n \u201cWe take concerns about product availability and the customer experience seriously and are reviewing the feedback we have received. <\/p>\n \u201cWe will continue to monitor high-demand releases and our processes to help provide a fair experience for customers.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How Pokemon trading cards could become an actual currency<\/p>\n 5 min read<\/p>\n![\"Pokemon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/26b35914011ce4f7e233415f81b35ae715f80338.jpg\")
Pokemon card collectors have called for better protections against scalping bots. Credit: Mario Tama\/Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Many](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/95828d25cbc3c031dd3dec462d0d343bf43c5096.jpg\")
Many long-term customers are frustrated they are being beaten to stock by bots. Credit: John Keeble\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
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\n\u201cJB Hi-Fi have a verification process where if you place orders for a product you\u2019ve already purchased in the last 12 months, they automatically cancel your order.\u00a0
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\n\u201cThis indicates it can be done \u2013 there just needs to be a level of effort actually put in.\u201d<\/p>\n