Discussion The Morality of Weighing Booster Packs

[DmightyB]

I am gonna share a true story of Pokémon TCG sadness :
I live in Malta, a small island that has like 20 shops that sell pokemon boosters around, with the booster box bare on the counter to take a booster from there. I've been a Pokémon TCG collector/fan for nearly 16 years, I've bought hundreds of packs, found my share of happiness in these gems, and have lost alot (especially with baby pokemon in EX series but that trauma is over XD
Nowadays, I restarted collecting, not so difficult to obtain the good stuff, trading buying a blister pack or going on a spree to get the chance to see what I get
But never have I seen in my life have seen such a shame to Pokémon TCG player come up, until this :
I've come across a certain young 13 year old boy who has bought all his boosters by weighing all the sotres in malta, so this kid goes in stores and they let him weigh every single pack ... he even asked to open boxes to weigh the packs .... while reducing the opportunities of others in ever having the fun of opening a pack and finding something memorable of the Ultra Rares / while the kid (admitting) is basically buying the packs for profit only and is collecting only to make more money (he publicly confessed to me about it and he's proud of it!) I asked then:

Me: When you open the pack s and find such ultra rares, do you generously trade some of such EX's, full arts ?
Him: Of course not! I make the most I can off them!
Me: Isn't that a bit low even for you? (like robin hood, take from the rich and give to the poor )
Him : ... (More like robbing hood, I'll keep the riches and do no such thing)
Me: I mean consider all this time you do this, you must really have no joy opening a pack and just getting what you get, right? Why go through weighin a pack in a store?
Him: (offended deeply with a huge ) ...... that's your opinion...
Me: Yes, but be thankfully you're finding such rares, why be so greedy as not to help others?
Him: Whatever (brushed my question off) hmm, I asked some other guy , he gave me a frown when I told him I do this, but he said nothing so it's okay.
Me: that doesn't mean you're doing right! well I see you're not really playing Pokémon TCG for the joy of being able to form a deck or a collection with what you can buy as singles or booster or box wise because it doesn't seem like you are ?
Him: No, I just do it for the money , I don't collect them because it's fun, I'll just buy a car with the profits I make off them one day (with a smirk)
Me: Okay ( in my mind, maybe if it's a circus car or the bond bug because this is just crazy)

THE END (in the end, I had to trade some VS seekers for a Primal Groudon EX from Ancient Origins, and I was gonna add Mega Rayqauza EX (dragon) and he blows it all by saying his cards are worth more personally due to mine being my cards!

I am personally amazed to this generation's greed in always finding the best in things, whenever I go the card game hub on my island, the poke bunch are a handful and the few there are are nearly the same, buy the cards for profit, big ol money banks in paper just forming on its own, why do shops not go against such manners of cheating out the chances of finding or not finding?
The booster pack was invented so you could have 3 options:
Either you find something to your advantage (collect or sell)
Or find nothing to your advantage, and try to trade to get what you need (trades or selling too)

But if this person, like many others around the world get to just buy packs, knowing they've got the good stuff...
What is the point of a booster pack now? What's the point of buying something useless while the person weighing gets everything , then has all of the endgame?
I just wish that something would change with this infernal practice, and that it could be countered, once and for all.

So what's your opinion on weighing packs? please comment below.

 

[Robin Aisaga]

It's a shady business for sure. You may be relieved to hear that Pokémon might already be countering this.

http://www.pokebeach.com/forums/threads/speculation-pack-weighing-being-countered.127899/

What I think is even more of a shame than little kids weighing packs in store, are online webshops that do the same but on a whole other scale. I simply don't trust webshops anymore that sell both singles and TCG products. They are not unlikely to open up a booster box that weighs more to ensure receiving a decent amount of Ultra Rares to sell them at a good profit. So I think It's fair to say is that they are stealing the chances from those people who like to collect from packs.

But It's not really my problem because I always buy singles XD

 

[DmightyB]

It's a shady business for sure. You may be relieved to hear that Pokémon might already be countering this.

http://www.pokebeach.com/forums/threads/speculation-pack-weighing-being-countered.127899/

What I think is even more of a shame than little kids weighing packs in store, are online webshops that do the same but on a whole other scale. I simply don't trust webshops anymore that sell both singles and TCG products. They are not unlikely to open up a booster box that weighs more to ensure receiving a decent amount of Ultra Rares to sell them at a good profit. So I think It's fair to say is that they are stealing the chances from those people who like to collect from packs.

But It's not really my problem because I always buy singles XD

when I bought online, most of the time either because it's pretty economic or because here nobody has the card I need, but the whole guarantee of the person pack weighing is true, you can never tell :s I honestly can say that it's the ethic of it, truly from my personal opinion also you got have no morals, I bought some singles for the 2nd time now, and lol with like so little cash you buy so much more, that you actually need so why laundry money onto packs that are rigged and! so leaving boosters to the weight golums, I just hope they suffer or at least learn
( the whole breakpoint code card from that post is completely true XD ) ( technically they are now )

 

[rmb]

There's really no need to be so judgemental about something like this. It's a smart thirteen year old doing what he can to make some money on a little investment, and selling valuable singles is good for players that don't care about opening packs as much as playing the game. I only buy PTCGO codes and singles, I don't have a lot of disposable income and I want to play with strong decks more than I want to try and make a working deck from bad parts. If no one weighed packs, I'm pretty sure the cost for rare cards would go up since they would be more difficult/expensive for sellers to obtain.

I think if TPCi really wanted to stop that kind of behavior, it would be best to make competitively strong cards more common and avoid things such as Shaymin-EX being extremely rare, when any deck would run something like it.

 

[ARHaslage]

First, I needed to rename this topic to better fit the direction that this conversation needs to go. We definitely do not need to turn this conversation into a non-directional melee of inconsistent opinions. Plus, it is not a matter of weighing booster packs being any type of rule violation, because no such rule exists, but rather if it is the good thing to do or not. Keep in mind that ethics deals in right and wrong within the rules while morality deals with the good and bad. Ethics are objective while morals are subjective.

Second, I think that it is bad business to weigh booster packs. When I worked at a hobby shop, we did not allow the weighing of any products prior to purchase. This decision was made after a few times of players asking to weigh every booster pack in a box and buying none when they came to realize we had already sold the booster pack(s) that they had sought. It hurts the bottom line of small businesses. But when businesses engage in such practices as a basis of setting a sales prices, that should tell potential customers to back away from that vendor. On the other hand, customers could potentially get lucky once in a while if they take that risk. But sadly, some people sell products where they have found a way to cheat others and keep the best things for themselves. It is a harsh reality. It is also why I prefer to at least be able to visually see what I am buying, so most of my purchasing is conducted in person.

Now a note about booster pack weights... Someone out there once, and maybe still, used to calculate the average maximum weight of Yu-Gi-Oh booster packs per set so people could go to stores and weigh booster packs to chance picking up the rarest of cards. I can only imagine this to be true of all games, but considering 10 cards in a booster pack (not counting the single promotional card like a TCGO code and its wrapper) with a guaranteed foil, a load of commons and the possible variables to make up a bell curve of distributed weight, one could conceivably come up with a range of weights in which the most valuable booster packs may weigh, including the wrapper and promotional cards, if any. It is a relatively small sampling, but opening a box of 36 booster packs for a specific set, weighing and recording the cards in each could place upon someone a median level of accuracy in choosing single booster packs based upon weight.

 

[Otaku]

Saw this thread when it was a bit more recent but didn't have time to really read it and comment. Well... now I do.

One of the big things to remember is that the TCG business model is already a bit dodgy as they could just be doing trading cards or just be doing a card game, but by doing both... it isn't like rare cards are rare because they have to be printed with Unobtanium. In fact all the rarity schemes are optional, only existing to entice collectors. We could just have all cards printed on standard card stock and being equally rare; essentially all "commons" and nine such cards per pack (or is it 10? I forget if the Code Cards counts or not). In fact, we wouldn't even have to get them via a semi-randomized method at all, except getting them reliably would eliminate the fun of collecting and trading for most folks. Still I wouldn't mind a better compromise where at least the Premium Rarities were reserved for alternate versions of lower level rarities; think what they currently do with Full Arts, but expanded to include some other gimmicks. If necessary, get into a habit of reprinting or "pre-printing" cards in the higher rarities. If you want Card X right away, okay right now its an Ultra Rare but you know next set it gets released as a Normal Rare.

Okay, so with that out of the way, scaling packs are a customer/manufacturer disagreement. It is legal and I'm not sure if I'd even call it unethical; remember the specific problem is that some people are going to stores and doing this to the general supply, which the sellers are continuing to keep on the floor as if they hadn't had all the heavier packs that contain cards with foil treatments, available. Even then this is why you're supposed to learn "Buyer Beware": a store that weighs its boosters and intentionally opens the ones that ought to have premium cards to sell as singles isn't doing anything wrong to then offer the remaining boosters at a discount. Learn to ask if they allow weighing of packs or if they do it themselves. If they lie about it, then we get into actual legal issues.

@DmightyB brings up someone going around and taking advantage of a very limited local supply. If the profit is there to be had, while I don't think I'd do it myself I can understand this person doing it. Fortunately one solution is how not all premium cards are equally valuable; when "good" cards are released at all rarities, scaling is mostly just about getting a small refund on your booster packs. Still if you as a customer don't like it, tell the store. If you as a store don't like it, don't allow it.

I am currently a PTCGO player so this isn't an issue that directly affects me, and last I checked it still seemed like buying sealed boxes or singles was the way to go.

 

[DmightyB]

Saw this thread when it was a bit more recent but didn't have time to really read it and comment. Well... now I do.

One of the big things to remember is that the TCG business model is already a bit dodgy as they could just be doing trading cards or just be doing a card game, but by doing both... it isn't like rare cards are rare because they have to be printed with Unobtanium. In fact all the rarity schemes are optional, only existing to entice collectors. We could just have all cards printed on standard card stock and being equally rare; essentially all "commons" and nine such cards per pack (or is it 10? I forget if the Code Cards counts or not). In fact, we wouldn't even have to get them via a semi-randomized method at all, except getting them reliably would eliminate the fun of collecting and trading for most folks. Still I wouldn't mind a better compromise where at least the Premium Rarities were reserved for alternate versions of lower level rarities; think what they currently do with Full Arts, but expanded to include some other gimmicks. If necessary, get into a habit of reprinting or "pre-printing" cards in the higher rarities. If you want Card X right away, okay right now its an Ultra Rare but you know next set it gets released as a Normal Rare.

Okay, so with that out of the way, scaling packs are a customer/manufacturer disagreement. It is legal and I'm not sure if I'd even call it unethical; remember the specific problem is that some people are going to stores and doing this to the general supply, which the sellers are continuing to keep on the floor as if they hadn't had all the heavier packs that contain cards with foil treatments, available. Even then this is why you're supposed to learn "Buyer Beware": a store that weighs its boosters and intentionally opens the ones that ought to have premium cards to sell as singles isn't doing anything wrong to then offer the remaining boosters at a discount. Learn to ask if they allow weighing of packs or if they do it themselves. If they lie about it, then we get into actual legal issues.

@DmightyB brings up someone going around and taking advantage of a very limited local supply. If the profit is there to be had, while I don't think I'd do it myself I can understand this person doing it. Fortunately one solution is how not all premium cards are equally valuable; when "good" cards are released at all rarities, scaling is mostly just about getting a small refund on your booster packs. Still if you as a customer don't like it, tell the store. If you as a store don't like it, don't allow it.

I am currently a PTCGO player so this isn't an issue that directly affects me, and last I checked it still seemed like buying sealed boxes or singles was the way to go.

I find the degree of not informing the customer the box has been rigged is cruel ,as if the pack weigher keeps taking those 5 packs, you'll never get the best rares of the set ( unless as you said the booster's at a discount for being checked ), though breakpoint has countered with the tcg online cards I personally am avoiding boosters now ( yesterday when to the tcg shop and hub, and some kid wanted me to buy boostrs to make a draft , personally wasn't even tempted as meh booster pulls are not so great anymore as they were back in the day ( imagine getting 4 seismitoads in 4 blister packs, did they know I hate seismitoad , highly likely ) ,unless its generations, as the new set fates collide is horrible, and personally have found buying singles is way cheaper and sometimes lots give you the most

 

[Otaku]

I find the degree of not informing the customer the box has been rigged is cruel ,as if the pack weigher keeps taking those 5 packs, you'll never get the best rares of the set ( unless as you said the booster's at a discount for being checked ), though breakpoint has countered with the tcg online cards I personally am avoiding boosters now ( yesterday when to the tcg shop and hub, and some kid wanted me to buy boostrs to make a draft , personally wasn't even tempted as meh booster pulls are not so great anymore as they were back in the day ( imagine getting 4 seismitoads in 4 blister packs, did they know I hate seismitoad , highly likely ) ,unless its generations, as the new set fates collide is horrible, and personally have found buying singles is way cheaper and sometimes lots give you the most

"Buyer beware" is an important expression in English. It is adapted from the Latin phrase "Caveat emptor" which translates to "Let the buyer beware." As far as some buyers and sellers are concerned, we ought to all be scaling. As far as some are concerned, none of us ought to be doing it. Of course others will fall in between the two views. After all, even without scaling, someone might just get lucky and buy all the boosters that contain premium rarity cards. Or there could be another tell: Yu-Gi-Oh in North America had a printing issue with packs and/or a packing issue with how they did the cards. Short version is it meant some could at least improve their odds of pulling a premium card.

It has been a while since booster packs were really worth it. Possibly all the way back in the e-card era. Even though there were fewer cards per booster pack. Some of those sets, the Holo versions of the cards were separated out as a subset and replaced a common instead of your rare. So between the Holo-Rare subset, the Reverse Holo, and the regular Rare you might get three cards that were rare or better! Seems like the prices on commons/uncommons were better back then as well; generally speaking if you took the individual singles from a booster and sold/traded them for cards worth their going rates, it was unusual not to break even. Really brief window of time and maybe it was even a local fluke caused by having enough collectors in the area.

 

[bbb888]

We can learn from the smart Japanese people on how to avoid this problem. Before the Black/White gen 5 era, EVERY Japanese pack had a holo card!! Although this made holo cards easier to get in the old sets, this did NOT lower their value much (popular holos were still expensive).

Personally, I've had my share of great pulls and bad pulls from loose English packs. Nowadays, I buy ultra rares individually.

Also, tell the store owners to NOT let anyone weigh the packs. That's called "tampering with the product before purchase", which may be considered a crime in some areas. Store owners must realize this is bad for their business in the long run.

 

[Pikachu6319]

I have to say personally I do not weigh packs when I do decide to get them. In fact, ninety percent of the packs I do get are from tins and box products like the upcoming M. Mawile EX collection. I may be wrong but I suspect it's a lot harder to weigh those packs than a single booster from a booster box or peg hook. The majority of cards I buy are done so in singles and online to avoid this hassle as well as avoid the bad pulls that invariably come with the good pulls, after all like most people I have a limited budget and I prefer to spend the money to get the exact card instead of spending it on a pack and getting near useless cards, not to mention TPCGO codes, which I have in abundance but don't really use.

As much as I think this practice is morally wrong, it's not the one doing the weighing that is necessarily wrong. That falls on the businesses that allow it. I don't know exactly how weighing a pack works, but I would hope security at Wal-mart or Target would have some questions if someone takes packs over to the produce section and uses the scale there. As for card shops, they should know what it's about and not allow weighing before purchase. Not all of them do that though I would imagine.

 

[Athena]

As much as I think this practice is morally wrong, it's not the one doing the weighing that is necessarily wrong. That falls on the businesses that allow it. I don't know exactly how weighing a pack works, but I would hope security at Wal-mart or Target would have some questions if someone takes packs over to the produce section and uses the scale there.

Without getting into discussion of how to weigh packs (which is against the rules here), I think you have a strong misconception of how it works. Unless Walmart/Target/etc. decides to pay a clerk to watch the TCG section non-stop, or decides to keep all TCG product behind a counter (like is common here in the Netherlands), they're not going to catch people doing the weighing. And, frankly, those stores don't care about pack weighers. Look at this from the store's perspective. Pokémon cards are a very small subset of what they sell, and the people who weigh packs are still paying those stores for those products. Why should they bother anymore than they already are? Store security is busy enough catching the people who are actual thieves/fraudsters. And this is primarily why it's those kinds of stores that are the main target for pack weighers.

TPCi adding the variable weigh code cards is probably the best way to handle this situation for now.

 

[Otaku]

Without getting into discussion of how to weigh packs (which is against the rules here), I think you have a strong misconception of how it works. Unless Walmart/Target/etc. decides to pay a clerk to watch the TCG section non-stop, or decides to keep all TCG product behind a counter (like is common here in the Netherlands), they're not going to catch people doing the weighing. And, frankly, those stores don't care about pack weighers. Look at this from the store's perspective. Pokémon cards are a very small subset of what they sell, and the people who weigh packs are still paying those stores for those products. Why should they bother anymore than they already are? Store security is busy enough catching the people who are actual thieves/fraudsters. And this is primarily why it's those kinds of stores that are the main target for pack weighers.

TPCi adding the variable weigh code cards is probably the best way to handle this situation for now.

I think I can contribute a bit more information; like many I've worked at a major discount retailer (Target) in my home country (meaning in the U.S.A.). Most major retailers here are actually working with another business entity when they sell things like TCG cards. Actually, most products on their shelves will have some sort of additional business deal or requirements, at least enough that the companies responsible send their own people to make sure things are shelved properly and sometimes even to do the restocking themselves. I have to be careful, because I oversimplified this relationship in a post recently, but I don't remember where. XD

So in one sense, major retailers actually do often pay someone to keep an eye on the merchandise; it might be trickier to keep track of TCG product stocked in the toy or game aisles, but at least in this region the main focus of the product seems to actually be up front near the registers... where the cashiers can keep an eye on them. Not enough to prevent anyone from doing it, but enough that if a store like Target or Wal-Mart wished to discourage it they can. The issue is whether this counts as tampering with a product, and I do not believe it does unless there are separate rules for things like TCG booster packs from the many other products where a particularly demanding shopper might weigh it (various foods spring to mind). At least when we are talking about buying individual booster packs, @bbb888 . On the other hand if the approximate odds of pulling a premium card as seen as akin to getting a winning lottery ticket, then I guess it would be an issue; I just don't think a lot of businesses in the USA at least are going to want their product identified with a form of regulated gambling.

Finally I'll point out this I think is part of why we see more booster packs being packaged in different ways. It is far less effective to scale when you've got to deal with added merchandise like coins and bonus cards. I am certain someone dedicated to the practice can still do it, but it all takes time, effort, and equipment. Sometimes the easiest way to discourage something is to make it unprofitable. The more it takes to scale, the less you're "earning" from the extra effort. After all you've already got to deal with premium cards that have low demand (and thus monetary) value in the first place; while the most valuable premium cards are worth more than the most valuable regular rare (or lower) cards, the best regular rares (especially with a few worthwhile uncommons in the same pack) are going to be better than the booster with a premium card that is mostly only desired by collectors plus filler commons and uncommons.

 

[Athena]

I don't really think keeping product up front by the registers helps all that much. I've been to several Target stores with TCG sections near the checkout where TCG product has been blatantly opened and stolen from*. If they're not catching outright thieves, then they're certainly not watching for people weighing packs. Of course, this is anecdata, so YMMV, but when I've seen issues like that at every TCG section I've been to in these stores, you can't blame me for being skeptical.

(* - The most memorable was actually right at the Target closest to my parents' house where 3 ROS ETB boxes had been opened with the packs stolen and the boxes/other contents strewn all over the counter. That's the only time I've actually pointed out the theft to the store, mostly because I really wanted to buy an ETB and I was hoping they could check their stock to see if they had anymore, but the scan only came up with the 3 that were opened.)

The system over here seems to work decently where all the product is actually kept behind counters where customers can't access it without asking. This is true for both toy stores and LGS; we don't really have "all in one" stores like Walmart/Target here. (Of course, that means actually talking to someone and asking to buy product, so I don't really make much use of it myself; I order online instead.)

 

[Otaku]

I don't really think keeping product up front by the registers helps all that much. I've been to several Target stores with TCG sections near the checkout where TCG product has been blatantly opened and stolen from*. If they're not catching outright thieves, then they're certainly not watching for people weighing packs. Of course, this is anecdata, so YMMV, but when I've seen issues like that at every TCG section I've been to in these stores, you can't blame me for being skeptical.

(* - The most memorable was actually right at the Target closest to my parents' house where 3 ROS ETB boxes had been opened with the packs stolen and the boxes/other contents strewn all over the counter. That's the only time I've actually pointed out the theft to the store, mostly because I really wanted to buy an ETB and I was hoping they could check their stock to see if they had anymore, but the scan only came up with the 3 that were opened.)

The system over here seems to work decently where all the product is actually kept behind counters where customers can't access it without asking. This is true for both toy stores and LGS; we don't really have "all in one" stores like Walmart/Target here. (Of course, that means actually talking to someone and asking to buy product, so I don't really make much use of it myself; I order online instead.)

Keeping such products behind the counter is the most effective, though as you bring up there is a question of whether or not it will be the most efficient. Depending on the store and the area, booster packs may sell best as more of an impulse buy; if little Timmy's mom, dad, aunt, uncle, whomever has to ask the store clerk to get the boosters for him or her them to purchase, some will be less inclined to bother at all. Indeed, Timmy may not notice them in the store like he does all those trinkets and candies that are near the checkout.

Now as for having the cashiers or other employees keep an eye on the product, I never claimed it was foolproof. It most definitely is not! Your examples don't prove it cannot work, just that it does not work all the time (and I know first hand it doesn't). A lot of things a store sells are easy to steal, at least without electronic countermeasures. Booster packs are usually not worth the expense to protect in such a manner, especially as destroying the packaging and smuggling out the cards deals with it anyway. The most cost effective method is to try and train employees to keep an eye on the product.

Some employees just won't care or won't understand that job. The biggest flaw of which I am aware is that there isn't much you can do when all cashiers are busy and/or other merchandise is blocking the view of the TCG/collectibles area. Now this is about theft, not scaling. Some stores just do not care about the latter, ergo it doesn't matter if they were good at preventing all theft or were terrible at it.

 

[The Binder Guy]

I don't really think keeping product up front by the registers helps all that much. I've been to several Target stores with TCG sections near the checkout where TCG product has been blatantly opened and stolen from*. If they're not catching outright thieves, then they're certainly not watching for people weighing packs. Of course, this is anecdata, so YMMV, but when I've seen issues like that at every TCG section I've been to in these stores, you can't blame me for being skeptical.

(* - The most memorable was actually right at the Target closest to my parents' house where 3 ROS ETB boxes had been opened with the packs stolen and the boxes/other contents strewn all over the counter. That's the only time I've actually pointed out the theft to the store, mostly because I really wanted to buy an ETB and I was hoping they could check their stock to see if they had anymore, but the scan only came up with the 3 that were opened.)

The system over here seems to work decently where all the product is actually kept behind counters where customers can't access it without asking. This is true for both toy stores and LGS; we don't really have "all in one" stores like Walmart/Target here. (Of course, that means actually talking to someone and asking to buy product, so I don't really make much use of it myself; I order online instead.)

One of the reasons why "big box" stores like Target and Walmart usually treat their TCG sections poorly is because ALL of their trading card products and similar items are stocked by a third-party distributor (to the point where the employees at some Targets aren't allowed to open shipping boxes containing new merchandise, they have to wait for a distributor representative to do so). The only thing Target has to worry about is theft and damaged product.

 

[StriatonIsMagic]

My dad and I have a firm belief in not randomly being surprised. When I collected My Little Pony blind bags, I always checked to see the cheat codes. I support the weighing of card packs to see if you can get an EX or rare card. And if not, there's always Amazon.

 

[Eamorayden]

My dad and I have a firm belief in not randomly being surprised. When I collected My Little Pony blind bags, I always checked to see the cheat codes. I support the weighing of card packs to see if you can get an EX or rare card. And if not, there's always Amazon.

If you don't want to be surprised then play something else. Don't ruin it for others by "not wanting to be surprised".

 

[Otaku]

If you don't want to be surprised then play something else. Don't ruin it for others by "not wanting to be surprised".

Why?

Why is your preference superior to their preference, and why can they not coexist? Why are you allowed to ruin it for people like @StriatonIsMagic?

You might have a point, but with so little explanation your argument seems equally applicable to the opposite stance; just swap a few words around.

 

[StriatonIsMagic]

If you don't want to be surprised then play something else. Don't ruin it for others by "not wanting to be surprised".

I didn't say that I didn't want others to be surprised. I just prefer to know what I'm getting, especially considering the fact of getting an EX or something in a random pack is low.

 

[Shadow31]

I didn't say that I didn't want others to be surprised. I just prefer to know what I'm getting, especially considering the fact of getting an EX or something in a random pack is low.

The problem with scaling packs is that it directly DOES prevent other people from getting the surprise of an Ultra Rare. Sure, you ensure you get one; but now the next person who comes in automatically loses his or her chance at that one. That, to a degree, is part of the game and something said next person needs to be aware of. However, there's a difference between blind luck (which is what the booster pack system is designed for) and having no chance at winning because someone actively hunted out the good packs.

Let's take this to the extreme; every time a shipment comes in, someone comes in, scales every pack, and buys all of the EX-laden packs. Now, the average person whose following the spirit of the system cannot and will not ever get an EX of any kind, no matter how much money they spend, because every time a shipment comes in the EXs are already taken.
This certainly is an extreme example that probably doesn't occur in reality, but it gets the point across I believe; every pack taken through scaling unfairly decreases the odds of someone else getting a good pull, or even decent pull depending on how common it is. By removing the randomness of the system to benefit you, you remove the randomness of the system to harm someone else an equal amount.

If there was a way to "weigh" something like the PTCGO packs, that would be different. Influencing an RNG online to improve your pulls would not notably affect the RNG of another customer, and so the only person affected is you. However, whenever dealing with a system that has limited stock present, a system to influence the "RNG" of that limited stock influences the other people using the system in an equal amount.