Temtem With Maxed-Out Stats Are Listed for $400 on eBay Right Now

Temtem, a creature collecting MMORPG that just launched last month, takes a hefty amount of design inspiration from Pokemon. Most Temtem you collect have semi-random stats that raise their effectiveness in battle, but it's also possible to obtain Temtem with maxed-out stats. If you don't want to go through the trouble, well, you could just spend a few hundred dollars on eBay and walk away from a beefy Temtem team.

USgamer's Joel Franey, who's been covering all things Temtem for our guides section, noticed that a number of pricey listings have gone up on eBay for Luma Temtem and Temtem with perfect stats across all 7 Single Values (SVs), or core stats. Luma are Temtem's palette-swap equivalent of shiny Pokemon, though unlike in Game Freak's series, Luma Temtem also have a stat boost in the form of 3 random maxed-out SVs. One eBay listing for a Luma Toxolotl with maxed-out HP, speed, and defense SVs is asking for $399.99.

You'll find listings for a number of other Luma and perfect-stat Temtem on that same seller's page, with prices ranging from from $100-250. The seller in question also lists lots of shiny Pokemon and rare cards for the Pokemon Trading Card Game Online, though most of these listings go for between $2-20.

USG reached out to the seller to ask about the expensive listings, but did not receive a response prior to publication. Still, a number of other eBay users are also taking to eBay to list Temtem for double or triple-digit sums—while it's not clear whether many folks will actually buy Temtem at those prices, two potential factors behind the Temtem mark-ups seem fairly likely.

First, Temtem (the game) is still new and is having a bit of a moment, so the first people to get in on selling Temtem (the creatures) are probably testing the waters and want to make the most of whatever demand exists before more sellers enter.

Second, the base odds of finding a Luma Temtem are worse than those for finding a shiny Pokemon, and getting a Temtem with maxed-out stats in all 7 SVs is a cumbersome process, requiring multiple of the same species with different perfect stats. Also since Temtem have limited fertility, you can't brute force the process by breeding them indefinitely. In other words, even without taking into account the potential for hacks or the difference in audience size, it's harder to get your hands on rare and powerful Temtem than it is to find a shiny Pokemon, or one with terrific stats. If you want a great Temtem, you have to get lucky, work hard for it, or pay a pretty penny.

Temtem is currently in early access through Steam on the PC for $34.99, though developer Crema and publishers Humble Bundle plan on bringing it to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One at a later date. For more on Temtem, check out our guides section, read Mike's early impressions, or listen to Joel discuss the game with our friends at The Eurogamer Podcast.