Pokemon cracks down on early 30th anniversary card sales over stolen property concerns

The Pokemon Company has contacted eBay over listings for unreleased 30th Celebration cards, prompting the marketplace to remove products under its stolen property policy.

Pokemon TCG: 30th Celebration is scheduled to launch simultaneously worldwide on September 16, 2026. The entirely foil expansion features classic reprints, 30 different Pikachu cards and the debut of the new Futuristic rare rarity.

However, products and individual cards from the set have already been circulating online for weeks. In July, an Australian seller opened an unreleased pack on Whatnot and pulled a mysterious RGB Mew card, raising questions about how sealed products entered the secondary market before release.

eBay tells sellers early Pokemon cards came from unauthorized channels

On August 24, Pokemon card news account PokeTCGAlerts shared a notice sent to a collector whose 30th Celebration card had been listed for auction on eBay.

The collector, Danny MadTown Collect, said he had listed a Sylveon ex Special Illustration Rare before receiving an email informing him that eBay had removed the auction.

According to the notice, The Pokemon Company International told eBay that “30th Anniversary Pokemon trading cards are not distributed or made available for public sale through authorized channels as of today.”

eBay said the listing had been flagged due to concerns surrounding the card’s provenance and authorized distribution. The marketplace warned that the item may have originated outside approved manufacturing and distribution processes, recommending that it not be relisted without documentation proving it came from a legitimate source.

The notice does not establish that the collector personally stole the card. In a Facebook post addressing the removal, Danny said he pulled it from a binder collection won through a Facebook “Razzle” group.

“I had no knowledge or reason to believe there were any issues surrounding its origin,” he wrote, adding that he would respect eBay’s decision and not relist the card while the situation develops.

PokeBeach reports that eBay has started removing multiple in-hand listings for 30th Celebration cards and merchandise. The takedowns concern products already possessed by sellers, rather than conventional preorders scheduled to ship after release.

Under eBay’s stolen property policy, property taken from a company without authorization cannot be listed for sale. The platform can remove listings, issue warnings, restrict selling activity or suspend accounts for violations.

Pokemon has already introduced purchasing restrictions for certain Japanese 30th Celebration products to combat scalping. The eBay removals now target cards that appear to have entered the market outside approved channels, although the precise origin of the leaked products remains unknown.