What this is
What The Pokémon Company International most plausibly means by saying its approach to supplying UK shops is “in line with law”: the rule against a supplier telling independent distributors which retailers they may supply.
How it’s built
- Its statement begins “Due to the nature of our trading relationships with distributors”, tying the point to independent distributors such as Asmodee.
- Under UK and EU rules, a supplier directing a distributor’s resale customers is a hardcore restriction once the distributor goes along.
- In practice, the wholesaler checks orders against stores’ past Pokémon sales.
What we assumed
- The company is not dominant.Dominance rules would only apply if it were; that is untested.
Sanity check
The statement names no law, and it would also fit a supplier that simply chooses not to allocate; a named provision or a distribution contract would settle it.
Where it comes from
Our calculation from other figures in the trainer’s notes.