To the Management of Kmart Australia,

We are writing to you as a group of several Australian Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) communities, representing thousands of dedicated players, collectors, and parents of disappointed children. Our goal is simple: to ensure that Pokémon TCG products remain accessible to the genuine fans and customers who support Kmart and its stores.

The Current Challenge

Currently, the kmart.com.au online shopping experience for high-demand Pokemon releases is compromised and unusable. When Kmart lists new Pokemon TCG products, they frequently appear "in stock" on your website, yet human users are consistently unable to complete a purchase. These products are often completely sold out within seconds, all purchased by software robots, leaving genuine customers frustrated and unable to participate in the hobby.

The latest examples: 

• Today, 12th of May: Pokemon TCG Pokemon Trading Card Game: First Partner Illustration Collection Series 2
• In previous weeks: Ascended Heroes Booster Bundles, Elite Trainer Boxes - highly popular products and systematically purchased by bots, not humans

Technical Exploitation

This issue is driven by the use of automated "bot" software. This software does not navigate your website like a standard customer; instead, they utilize techniques to bypass the standard Kmart website or app. These methods include:

• API-Direct Checkout: Bots send data requests directly to your backend checkout and payment servers, skipping the "Add to Cart", shipping information and payment pages entirely, even if the product is not meant to be orderable yet. This means bots buy the products, owned/run by scalping opportunists, not real buyers.
• Fake order details: Bots cycle through names, credit cards, email and physical addresses, to maximize the amount of stock they can order automatically.
• Inventory Monitoring: Automated scripts scrape your servers at millisecond intervals to detect stock changes before they are even visible to the public.
• Automated browsing: Multiple automated instances act simultaneously to overwhelm the system and secure all available inventory before a human can click a single button.

Proposed Solutions

To level the playing field and ensure a fair distribution of products, we urge Kmart Australia to implement robust bot-mitigation strategies. Specifically, we recommend:

1. Advanced Captcha Systems: Implementing a challenge-response test (such as hCaptcha, reCAPTCHA v3, or Cloudflare Turnstile) at the point of adding items to the cart or at the final checkout stage.
2. Queueing Systems: Utilizing a "waiting room" or queue for high-demand releases to process transactions in an orderly, human-verifiable manner. Cloudflare can offer you this capability.
3. Account limits: Ensure that TCG purchases require a one-pass subscription and enforce an account limit for each product.
4. Lottery: If you can’t invest in better technical systems like other stores have, stop selling online and ensure all stock is sold in-store, with a fair numbering or lottery system.

For the best successful examples of solutions, please refer to: JB-Hi-Fi and EBGames.

Call to Action

Facebook marketplace Australia is full of products that were purchased from Kmart, via bots run by scalpers, thereby taking advantage of collectors. We call on Kmart to implement a solution as soon as possible, with potential options outlined above. We call on Kmart to please stop helping scalpers profit.

We are calling on the wider Australian TCG community to share this letter across social media platforms and community forums. By raising awareness, we hope to demonstrate to Kmart Australia that there is a significant demand for a secure, fair, and bot-free shopping environment.

We look forward to seeing Kmart take proactive steps to support the local Aussie TCG community.

Sincerely,

The Australian Pokémon TCG Collector Community

Hey everyone,

We’re building Valuna, a verified TCG marketplace designed for Australian collectors.

The idea came from a problem a lot of collectors know too well: buying cards online can feel risky. Wrong condition, questionable listings, missing cards, long dispute processes, and the general feeling that you’re relying on blind trust.

Valuna is being built to make buying, selling, collecting and grading TCG cards safer and more transparent in Australia.

The core difference is that marketplace sales are designed to pass through our physical verification hub in Newcastle, NSW before they reach the buyer.

That means:

If the card does not match the listing, the buyer is refunded.

If the card never reaches our verification hub, the buyer is refunded.

Private buyer details stay protected.

Transactions are built around verification rather than trust alone.

Alongside the marketplace, we’re also working on:

Marketplace buying and selling

Auction house features

Collection tracking

In-depth card reports

Pre-grading reports

Sealed products and accessories

A physical verification hub in Newcastle, NSW

The goal is to create a safer collecting space for the Australian TCG community, especially for people who are tired of scams, uncertainty and long resolution processes when buying cards online.

Closed beta access opens on 31 May 2026 for early members, and we’re planning a giveaway once the first** **500 founding member spots are filled.

You can join the closed beta here: www.valuna.app

We’d genuinely love feedback from Australian collectors:

Would you use a verification-first marketplace?

What would make you trust a platform like this?

What features would matter most to you as a buyer or seller?

What are the biggest issues you’ve had buying cards online in Australia?

Appreciate any thoughts, criticism or suggestions.

Valuna is independent and not affiliated with Pokémon, Nintendo, Creatures, Game Freak or The Pokémon Company.