A 105 Minute Sellout Leaves Fans Facing Steep Resale Prices
Chunghwa Post is reviewing its online purchase limits after its first Pokémon collaboration drew around 37,000 people to its iPhilately shopping website at one point on November 4, 2026. The online allocation sold out between 8:30 a.m. and 10:15 a.m., and listings offering the merchandise at several times its original price soon appeared on shopping platforms.
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The sharpest advertised increase involved a Pokémon stamp accessory originally priced at NT$250 and listed for NT$2,630, more than 10 times its retail price. A stamp collection set costing NT$420 appeared at NT$2,980, while a folding trolley featuring Pikachu or Eevee rose from NT$980 to an asking price of NT$3,980.
Fans who missed the presale still have a chance to buy through physical outlets when the stamps and seven merchandise products officially launch on November 20. Chunghwa Post reserved 40% of the stock for designated post offices and the Taipei 2026 World Stamp Exhibition, split equally between the two channels.
The postal operator said the online allocation would not be replenished. It also said it currently had no plan to open unlimited online preorders. Its immediate response is to review controls for future presales and impose limits at the physical sales locations.
What Buyers Encountered Online
The November 4 presale offered 60% of the total stock through iPhilately. Demand quickly stretched the website's queue, with buyers describing estimated waits that grew from a little over 10 minutes to half an hour or an hour. Some said they waited more than an hour before reaching the purchase page, only to find products already sold out.
For disappointed customers, the problem went beyond waiting. Consumers said quantities could be changed in the shopping cart and that checkout remained possible provided a single order did not exceed NT$150,000. That spending ceiling became a central concern because it allowed room for purchases far larger than an ordinary fan's order.
Descriptions of the original controls varied: some consumers said the site initially displayed quantity limits that could be changed in the cart, while another account specified that only the complete collection bundle was limited to one, with other products subject to the NT$150,000 order ceiling.
Chunghwa Post's official product sales notice stated that merchandise preorders were scheduled from 8:30 a.m. on November 4 to 11:59 p.m. on November 16. It listed the complete merchandise bundle at NT$3,200, limited to three bundles per order, with 500 bundles available. Online orders for the miniature stamp sheet were scheduled to open at 8:30 a.m. on November 17, with a limit of two sheets per order; the notice also stated a limit of two sheets per person.
Chunghwa Post said it had received complaints about bulk buying and suspected resale at inflated prices. It would collect public concerns, continue monitoring reactions and review purchase restrictions for subsequent online presales. The precise technical changes to the website have not been announced.
How Far Asking Prices Rose
Listings on Shopee and other shopping platforms appeared shortly after the online allocation sold out. Some were marked as preorders, meaning sellers were advertising goods before the official November 20 release.
Four examples show the scale of the advertised increases. All amounts are in New Taiwan dollars:
- Pokémon stamp accessory: NT$250 at retail, advertised at NT$2,630, or about 10.5 times the original price.
- Stamp collection set: NT$420 at retail, advertised at NT$2,980, or about 7.1 times the original price.
- Pikachu or Eevee folding trolley: NT$980 at retail, advertised at NT$3,980, or about 4.1 times the original price.
- Zipper pouch set: NT$280 at retail, advertised at NT$1,200, or about 4.3 times the original price.
The collection set carried an additional NT$2,560 above retail, while the trolley's advertised premium was NT$3,000. Those differences explain why fans who had spent an hour in the queue were particularly angry to see the products offered elsewhere almost immediately.
The figures are sellers' asking prices; completed transaction prices and the number of items actually resold have not been disclosed. Chunghwa Post described the complaints as involving suspected resale and bulk purchasing.
What Changes at the November 20 Launch
Designated post offices and the World Stamp Exhibition will apply limits when physical sales begin on November 20. Each person may buy one of each merchandise product or accompanying philatelic item. The Pokémon miniature stamp sheet has a separate limit of two sheets per person.
A miniature sheet is a small sheet containing postage stamps, usually presented with an illustrated border or design. The distinction matters at checkout: the two sheet allowance applies to that stamp product, while the one of each rule covers the merchandise and associated collectible items.
Chunghwa Post also plans queue arrangements and designated purchasing routes at sales locations. Staff will need to manage both the number of people waiting and their movement through the buying area, particularly where several products are being sold together.
The physical limits give each person a smaller purchasing allowance than the large online spending ceiling described by consumers. Buyers will still face limited stock, so arriving at a participating outlet will not guarantee that a particular product remains available.
Where the Remaining Stock Will Go
Chunghwa Post divided the merchandise allocation into three parts: 60% for online preorders, 20% for designated post offices and 20% for the World Stamp Exhibition. With the online share exhausted, the remaining physical allocation represents two fifths of the original total.
Put another way, for every 100 units in the allocation, 60 were assigned to the internet presale, 20 to post offices and 20 to the exhibition. The two physical channels together received two thirds as much stock as the online channel. These proportions help explain why a sold out website can coexist with a later opportunity to buy in person.
The exhibition will reserve quantities for sales on both November 20 and November 21, with each allocation available until sold out. Buyers therefore have two stated sales dates at the exhibition, even though the exhibition itself continues for several more days.
The purchasing information also identifies a network of 901 post offices and six Pokémon themed branches. Merchandise sales are assigned to designated post offices, so collectors seeking a particular accessory should check the outlet's sales information and product allocation before travelling.
The official product sales notice confirms that Pokémon merchandise will be sold through 901 post offices across Taiwan, the World Stamp Exhibition, the six themed branches and iPhilately.
Six Pokémon Themed Post Offices
The six themed branches are spread across northern, central and southern Taiwan. Their locations give collectors options beyond the Taipei exhibition, although the quantities assigned to individual branches have not been specified.
The official product sales notice names Taipei Beimen, Linkou, Taoyuan Chenggong Road, Taichung Minquan Road, Chiayi Wenhua Road and Xinxing as the six themed post offices, but does not provide their full street addresses.
In Taipei, the themed location is Taipei Beimen Post Office at No. 120, Section 1, Zhongxiao West Road, Zhongzheng District. New Taipei's location is Linkou Post Office at No. 8, Section 1, Wenhua 2nd Road, Linkou District. Taoyuan Chenggong Road Post Office is at No. 51, Section 1, Chenggong Road, Taoyuan District.
In central Taiwan, Taichung Minquan Road Post Office is at No. 86, Minquan Road, Central District. Chiayi Wenhua Road Post Office is at No. 134, Wenhua Road, East District. In Kaohsiung, Xinxing Post Office is at Nos. 177 and 179, Zhongzheng 3rd Road, Xinxing District.
For customers outside Taipei, the branch list offers a way to plan a local purchase instead of travelling to the exhibition. The per person restrictions will apply at designated post office sales locations as well as at the exhibition.
The Dates Collectors Need
The sales schedule spans the online presale, the official product release and the exhibition. November 20 is the key date for buyers who missed the internet allocation, while November 21 provides another scheduled opportunity at the exhibition.
- November 4, 2026, 8:30 a.m.: Online preorders open through iPhilately for 60% of the stock.
- November 4, 10:15 a.m.: The online allocation is sold out, 105 minutes after sales begin.
- November 20: The Pokémon stamps and seven merchandise products officially launch, with purchase limits at designated post offices and the exhibition.
- November 20 and 21: Reserved merchandise quantities go on sale at the World Stamp Exhibition, while stocks last.
- November 20 to 25: Taipei 2026 World Stamp Exhibition runs at Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1, Areas B and C.
The exhibition venue is at No. 5, Section 5, Xinyi Road, Taipei. Regular exhibition hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with two exceptions: doors open at 11 a.m. on November 20, and the final day ends at 3 p.m. on November 25.
Collectors should distinguish the six day exhibition schedule from the two announced merchandise allocation dates. The reserved Pokémon sales quantities are scheduled for November 20 and 21 and will be sold only while supplies last.
Why the Purchase Rules Matter
The NT$150,000 online order ceiling and the physical allowance of one item per product control different things. A spending ceiling limits the value of a transaction. A quantity limit controls how many copies of the same product a person can buy, which is the issue fans raised after the presale.
The remaining 40% allocation makes the November 20 rollout consequential for collectors. Its distribution across post offices and the exhibition creates another opportunity at retail prices, while the new limits are intended to spread that stock among more buyers.
Chunghwa Post's next test will be putting those limits into practice while managing queues. Fans who missed the presale now have specific dates, locations and purchasing allowances to work with, rather than an announced second online release.
Key Points
- The November 4 online allocation sold out in 105 minutes after the website drew around 37,000 people at one point.
- Advertised resale prices ranged from about four times retail to more than 10 times retail for the cited products.
- Chunghwa Post is reviewing online purchase restrictions after complaints about bulk buying and editable cart quantities.
- Physical sales begin November 20, with one of each merchandise item and two miniature stamp sheets allowed per person.
- Designated post offices and the World Stamp Exhibition each received 20% of the total stock.
- The exhibition has reserved sales quantities for November 20 and 21. The online allocation will not be replenished.
