EU distribution is closed. Here are your real options.

The lockout, plainly

European Pokémon distribution runs through a single consolidated channel that has, for extended periods, simply not accepted new accounts. Established shops keep their allocation; new and growing shops have no official lane to join. Waiting is a strategy only if your rent is patient.

Option 1: wait-and-build

Register interest, re-apply on every window, and build purchase history with adjacent product lines the distributor will sell you. Slow, but it compounds — and pairs with any other option below.

Option 2: intra-EU secondary supply

European wholesalers resell allocated product within the EU. Advantages: no import steps. Watch: thin depth on chase sets (their allocation is rationed too) and pricing that often exceeds transatlantic landed cost.

Option 3: transatlantic wholesale

US secondary wholesalers ship EU-bound sealed product at 0% duty (HS 9504.40) with import VAT reclaimable for registered businesses — postponable at the border in NL, BE, and FR. With shipping covered by the supplier, landed cost is simply the invoice price.

RSC is in this lane: live US stock, EUR-indicative pricing pegged below TCGplayer market, free FedEx Express to the EU, full commercial invoices, applications reviewed in 24 hours. We exist in part because of this lockout — judge us on the vetting framework any supplier should pass.

Option 4: pooled buying with other shops

Several small shops in the same country sometimes combine orders so one of them clears a larger shipment and the others collect from it. It lowers the per-shop paperwork and lets shops that would each buy less than a supplier's minimum share one order that clears it. The trade-off is trust and logistics: one importer of record carries the VAT and the responsibility, and the split has to be agreed before the goods land. It works best between shops that already know each other.

How to vet any supplier before you wire money

Whichever option you take, the vetting is the same. Ask for the legal entity name, registered address and company registration; a real supplier gives these without hesitation. Ask whether every unit is factory-sealed and where it was sourced; the answer should be distribution with chain-of-custody, not a vague reference to a network. Ask for a sample commercial invoice and confirm it carries the harmonised code, values and your VAT and EORI numbers. Ask what happens if a box arrives tampered with; a serious supplier states a replacement policy in writing.

Then check the pricing logic. A supplier who pegs to a public market reference and tells you the discount band lets you verify every quote yourself. A supplier who sends a price list with no reference and no explanation is asking you to trust rather than check.

Finally, check the paper trail works for you, not only for them. You need invoices your accountant can use for input VAT, and you need provenance documents if a marketplace ever asks where your stock came from.

The customs workflow, step by step

First, make sure your business holds an EORI number; without one you cannot act as importer of record, and the shipment will stall at the border. Second, confirm your VAT registration is current, because that is what makes the import VAT reclaimable. Third, decide who clears the goods: you as importer of record, or a customs broker acting for you. Fourth, give the supplier those details before the first order so the commercial invoice carries them.

On arrival, the carrier files the entry using the commercial invoice. Trading cards are 0% duty under HS 9504.40, so the only charge is import VAT at your national rate, which you reclaim on your return or, in the Netherlands, Belgium and France, postpone so nothing is paid at the border. Keep the entry documents with the invoice; together they are your proof of origin and your input-VAT evidence.

What to stock first when supply opens up

When you finally have a supplier who will actually fill an order, the temptation is to buy everything at once. A steadier approach is to start with the product types that turn fastest in your own shop and that your customers have been asking for, size the first order at the supplier's minimum rather than a pallet, and confirm sell-through before scaling. A supplier with live stock and fast dispatch makes that possible, because a second order can follow in days rather than in the next allocation window.

English-language sealed product travels well across the EU and is what the closed channel is rationing hardest. Local-language product stays an intra-EU purchase, so most shops end up using both lanes: transatlantic for English sealed depth, intra-EU for the local-language line.

Where RSC fits, honestly

RSC is a transatlantic secondary wholesaler and this guide is on our site, so weigh that. What we can state plainly is how we score on the checklist above: a registered US entity (Lumination Ltd Co), sealed product only, sourced through distribution with chain-of-custody, pricing pegged to live TCGplayer market with partners at 70–90% of market, full commercial invoices on every shipment, FedEx Express shipping at our cost, applications reviewed within 24 hours, and a $20k+ per month partnership floor. Apply the same checklist to us as to anyone else.

Frequently asked

Keep reading

• Pokémon wholesale for Europe →
• EU/UK import tax & VAT guide →