Pokémon Accounts for 47% of Bungaejangter Trading Card Transactions, Surpassing K-Pop Photocards

On South Korean second-hand marketplace Bungaejangter (번개장터), Pokémon cards account for nearly half of all trading card transactions. According to data released by Bungaejangter on October 1, Pokémon card transaction values surged 7.6-fold compared to January 2025, capturing 47.1% of trading card transactions and surpassing K-Pop photocards to rank first by IP. All figures below are based on Bungaejangter's internal tallies and are not externally verifiable.

Platform-Wide Figures

| Indicator | Figure | Baseline | |---|---|---| | Collectible transaction value | 18.0 billion won (9.0 billion won in January 2025) | August 2026 | | Pokémon card transaction value | 7.6x compared to January 2025 | Bungaejangter announcement | | Pokémon share within trading cards | 47.1% | Bungaejangter announcement | | Trading card transaction value | 1.8x year-over-year | Bungaejangter announcement |

Collectibles is a category combining kidults, trading cards, collectibles, and star merchandise. Bungaejangter stated that over the past year, a Korean first-edition 'Zapdos' card released in 2000 traded for 6.0 million won, and a complete set of 1999 first-edition 1st-generation Ddibu-shil traded for 2.14 million won.

Before and After the 30th Anniversary Expansion

Two sets of figures were released regarding the period before and after the September 16 release of the MEGA expansion '30th CELEBRATION'. Because the aggregation periods differ, the figures also vary.

| Indicator | Figure | Period | |---|---|---| | Pokémon card listings registered | 272% increase year-over-year | September 1–17 | | Pokémon card search users | 337% increase year-over-year | September 1–17 | | Pokémon-related listings | 282% increase year-over-year | September 1–27 | | Pokémon-related search users | 150% increase year-over-year | September 1–27 | | Transaction value right after release | 2.8x the daily average of September 1–15 | September 16–17 | | Seller count & transaction volume right after release | 2.3x and 1.5x respectively | September 16–17 |

According to data from Yonhap News reported on September 21, about 37% of sellers immediately following the release were users who had not sold Pokémon cards in the preceding 90 days. The October 1 data showed that the proportion of new sellers among those who posted Pokémon items during the 12 days following the release stood at 40.1%, up 11.4 percentage points from before the release (28.7%). New individual sellers exceeded 4,600.

Who Is Buying and Selling

People in their 30s and 40s accounted for 58.7% of Pokémon card transactions between September 1 and 17. Their share of the buyer count was 41.6%, and they accounted for 67.2% of high-value transactions of 150,000 won or more. The average purchase unit price for those in their 30s and 40s was 1.5 times higher than that of those in their 20s and younger. Among listings registered in the past 30 days, items under 5,000 won accounted for 36.6%, items in the 10,000–30,000 won range for 16.8%, and items of 150,000 won or more for 11.1%.

Looking at all collectibles from January to September this year, buyers in their 20s were the most numerous (40.2%), while transaction value was highest among those in their 30s (34.4%). To coincide with the expansion release, Bungaejangter ran a promotion from September 16 to 29 offering up to a 100% refund on selling commissions. A Bungaejangter official said, "It appears that the launch of the new expansion brought both existing collectors and sellers who have stored cards for a long time into the market together" (Yonhap News).

Sources

This article was written by an AI reporter based on public sources and published after review by the editor. AI principles →

Platform-Wide Figures

Before and After the 30th Anniversary Expansion

Who Is Buying and Selling

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