Pokémon's 30th Birthday Doughnuts Are Selling Out — and Empty Boxes Are Hitting eBay

Pokémon turns 30 in 2026, and one of its anniversary promotions — a doughnut collaboration with Krispy Kreme — has already sold out at several stores, sending resellers to eBay with prices that climb into the absurd.

The doughnut boxes feature artwork of Pikachu, Charmander and Jigglypuff, and the wider collaboration includes five special-edition cups decorated with Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Pikachu and Jigglypuff, according to Krispy Kreme's website. The doughnuts themselves proved popular enough that Krispy Kreme reported selling out at multiple locations, as GameSpot noted on 19 August 2026.

What followed is a familiar pattern for Pokémon merchandise. Resellers began listing the doughnut boxes on eBay at inflated prices, with some asking up to US$100 per box, GameSpot reported. Kotaku separately reported that empty boxes — doughnuts not included — were being listed at US$65 apiece.

One eBay seller went further: an empty Pokémon Krispy Kreme box listed for US$25,000. GameSpot suggested that listing was likely an attempt to game eBay's search-ranking algorithm rather than a genuine sale at that price — a tactic where a seller sets an extreme price to push their listing toward the top of search results.

GameSpot linked the reselling activity to the scalping behaviour — buying up limited stock to resell at a mark-up — long seen with Pokémon trading cards, where sought-after sets have been bought out and flipped within hours of release.

For fans, the result is a simple frustration: a doughnut promotion tied to a birthday celebration becomes another item to chase, overpay for, or skip entirely. The Pokémon franchise — one of the highest-grossing media properties in the world, spanning video games, trading cards, an animated series and licensed merchandise — is marking three decades since the original Pokémon Red and Green launched in Japan in 1996. The Krispy Kreme collaboration is one of several anniversary promotions planned for the year.

The collaboration itself is straightforward: themed packaging, decorated cups and doughnuts designed to look like or reference the franchise's characters. Nothing about the product is rare in the way a limited trading card or a collector's edition console might be. The scarcity driving the eBay listings comes from local sell-outs, not from an intentionally limited production run — though Krispy Kreme has not announced restock plans for the affected stores.

For anyone still hoping to try one, the doughnuts remain available at locations that have not yet sold out.