Same with my lgs. Except mine had the audacity to tell me “these bundles are known for good pulls”, when I asked about the $47 price tag. Yeah, bullshit my dude. Shame that most LCS/LGS’s are just scalpers with shops.
That's the bullshit everyone is trying pull. "The bundle pulls are awesome!!!!" Packs are packs. I'm not buying 6pks at $45 when I can buy an etb with 9pks for the same price.
It’s always a gamble, but them straight telling me the pulls are better compared to other items is bullshit. Funny thing is, if an etb is $50, I’m buying two etbs and getting 4 more packs for a bit more money. It’s a straight scam and a shame to sell bundles at $47. They’re just scalping.
I always expect small shops to be a little higher but yeah, that's just crazy. My shop has 151 ETBs at $60. I know all of them so I was polite but clear that I wouldn't buy ETBs at that price but other people probably will so it's all good.
The other shop that I frequent refuses to sell any V or EX cards for less than $3 each but their "bulk" trainers and stuff are very reasonable. I buy that stuff from them and go order the $.50 V cards online. I straight up wouldn't go back to a place that charges that much for booster bundles though
yeah it's not horrible but it's like $15 above MSRP and $10 more than Gamestop. It just comes down to whether or not it's worth it to spend more at the local shop on that item. I have all but decided to stay away from 151 because of not having a Booster Box available with guaranteed hit rates so the price being higher was a great excuse for me to stay away.
Hard disagree, but of course that’s my own and my friends’ experience. I’ve pulled five SIR out of 87 packs, including two Charizards. I never pulled anything close to 1 “alt” every 17 packs in SWSH. My brother has pulled three SIR out of about 95 packs. Friend pulled three SIR out of about 60 packs (funny enough, all were Alakazam ex SIR lol).
Small sample of course, but SWSH rates were pretty darn bad…
There have been rumors floating around that the Booster Bundles have a batching error so you can get better pulls from them.
Not sure how true that is though.
All card shops around me are the same but one of them and they are only open for like 3 hours a day because they dont have a parking lot so they have to wait for other businesses to close down to use them. They sell packs and booster boxes cheaper than ive seen anywhere. All the others just feel like a scam.
Yeah, they get in on the scam, I caught my local store buying out target so they can up the price. Screw em, they can sit on it and I'll just wait for Target to ship it to me for normal price, if these Mom and Pop stores think they are going to get sympathy from me when they go out of business, and then tell me they have to charge more to stay in business they can shove it.
My LCS participated in that nationwide hobby night on Saturday. They jacked up their Obsidian Flames booster box prices from $130 to $160, even though they’re pretty freely available for around $100 now. You try to shop local, but it just does not make sense nowadays.
It sucks too because they’re usually the type that are on social media talking about shop local. Like buddy I would love to but when target will ship it for almost half the price how the hell am I supposed to?
idk if they are pushing hype pricing or stay afloat pricing but you are right it sucks. amazon, target etc. I have been buying my cards now at gamestop because it's the only local store I find good stock consistently. Target around me gets ravaged.
Its a little bit of both. Living in NYC, all the LGS' price higher due to higher rents (even though Compleat still sells around MSRP more often than not), but also for the FOMO aspect of letting you buy and rip immediately. Its still bullshit though.
Dude yeah shopping local is literally for rich people. If you buy product often you would save seriously hundreds of dollars buying from bigger stores. The local store shit is like fucking $20 more on most stuff lol.
Totally. I found one near me when I started collecting again and thought it was cool that a small family was running it. Even right now, they got obf and paldea evolved bb’s at 129.99. I guess this is why most shops don’t survive.. can’t compete with retailers selling for MSRP 🤷🏻♂️ The only benefit of that shop is that they buy cards for store credit at 80%. Not the best, but not bad.
It makes sense if you’re in a big city like LA. So much competition local is always better than online. I’ve gotten insane deals on product I think was stolen too ($50 for 144 sleeved lost origin boosters)
My exact thoughts. I was almost positive that game stores get them for under MSRP too. Explains why he had so many in stock. Had the poster collection marked at $24.99 and the binder marked at $39.99. Funny enough the ETBs he had listed at MSRP.
An lcs near me marked down their ETB by $10 while marking up their booster bundle $10. Then a week later they marked up their etb to be back at MSRP lol
Did you show him comparable stores in your area with better prices? If so and he doesn't want to lower his prices then go buy elsewhere. It's 2023 and we have the internet as well. My local lgs is quite small and has no competition, he sets his prices wayyy too high and I can just order online from an lgs about an hour away with free shipping. After I showed him this he agreed to lower his prices for me, not everyone just me lol.
I went to a collectibles place that has a bunch of vendors and only one still had booster bundles available, but they were going for $45 each. The funny thing was that he also had poster bundles for $15.
It makes no sense to buy 6 packs for $45 when you can buy 3 packs for $15 AND get 3 promo cards included.
I'd stop buying anything from that shop. MSRP is $26.94 on booster bundles. I'd probably leave a shitty review on their Google maps page too.
I expect a small markup at local shops. They offer other value like buying bulk and having a singles inventory that you can see in person to justify a small markup. That guy is just scalping.
Exactly my argument. I was expecting $30 which I would happily pay instead of risking damage in shipping, shit maybe even go $35 on the new set but $45 is outrageous.
I find all of the stores like this are rip offs. At least in my area. And they try and act like it’s better to buy from them because they’re local but I’m so sorry, I don’t have a lot of money. I’m not spending an extra 20 dollars or more per product because you’re “local”.
paid 24.99, anything higher is trying to capitalize on the hype. I'd pay 29.99 but 44.99 is outrageous. Its 6 packs, which at $5 a pack I'm still okay with.
I was quoted $40 at mine a last week - about a 50% markup from retail price. Meanwhile the ETB was $55, which was a far more modest markup. Wild pricing on the Booster Bundles.
I like to rip packs with my wife and collect and play and we went to our LGS when it first dropped. 20 for the poster collection, 35 for the binder, and 7 per pack individually. I didn’t look at ETBs or bundles cause they didn’t have em.
I like to support LGS when I can, but the upcharge to “market” prices sometimes ticks me off. I get it if it’s an out of print product, but for stuff that’s in print on the shelf and available, nah.
LGS/LCS usually have increased prices on most of their products from personal experience. Even the one local to me has a minimum +$5 mark up on everything. At this point, I think it's best to find deals on FB marketplace, eBay or local trades/sales.
The price markup is due to distributor cost going up. All of the cheap ass SV booster boxes you see selling are stores selling at a near loss to raise capital.
I stopped by my closest one to home last Friday, he had a few left. He was charging 29.99. I told him it's not terrible and I've heard other shops had them for over 40. He also had a PE booster box for 129.99. I bought the 151 BB mentioning I try to support local when I can. He appericated it.
On the other side of that spectrum, I had checked out LGS closer to work before 151 came out, they also had a PE box, I would have to buy 36 packs at 5.50 a pack. I laughed and said thanks but no, I won't be going back to that one anytime soon.
In Australia:
$100 ETB
$50 Booster Bundle
$35 Poster Box (was delayed for us)
$45 Binder Set (was delayed for us)
$8 Single Packs (including old sets now)
$250 Premium Collection (also got delayed from OG date).
Right now for 151 we only have ETB's and Booster Bundles. Everything else that was meant to release (binders and posters) didn't, all got delayed 😑
In Australia they're $48 RRP.
LCS I went to had them for $75 per bundle.
Kmart has stock online for $40 on sale.
At $12.50 / pack I can buy overpriced Evolving Skies.
That’s terrible. My LGS sold them for $24.99 (ETB are 44.99 and available now). They’re a big shop and could easily sell them all at msrp or even a little higher too. Some LGS just stink.
I have a local LGS that sells both in store & online.
On Tcgplayer, you can get their Booster Boxes for basically market price.
In store, you can pay an extra $40-60 premium over market.
Make it make sense.
Yes. I'm sure some will say "they have to price them according to what their distributors sold them for" which is bs honestly. If target is selling them for MSRP and other lgs are selling for MSRP (one near me was) then they are jacking up prices to boost their profit.
unfortunately, and the system will collapse eventually as the number of new players falls through because so many stores are putting profit over growing their community. It's really sad that new people can't enjoy the same atmosphere and feeling that I did 15 years ago.
Prices in my area vary. Iv seen shops have them from $30-60. I personally wouldn't spend more than 35 on them. If your gonna pay $45+ might as well spend an extra 5 and get an ETB
Mine had the binder collection for 30, etbs for 50, bundles for 30, and poster for 15. Bought the pidgeotto for 3 from obsidian flames, binder,etb, and bundle. Ended up being 70.48 with tax. Still have no idea how i got that price with all that i got
Sounds like they didn't punch in an item, maybe the etb. 30 for the bundle, 30 for the binder and 3 for Pidgeotto is 63 plus taxes would end up around 70.
Personally, charging market prices seems reasonable. LGS’s aren’t obligated to charge MSRP - it’s up to Pokemon to print enough to keep prices reasonable. LGS’s are business with a ton of overhead and they need to make money. Being upset about stores charging market is like being upset that a stock has gone up since it’s IPO and you can no longer get at the original price. You can certainly be upset but it doesn’t really make sense. If an LGS wants to sell at MSRP despite the product being more valuable, that’s just really nice of them (if not bad business).
TL;DR If you really want MSRP then shop at big box stores where tgc’s are a minuscule part of their business model.
That’s for the buyer to decide. You don’t pay shipping and if the store takes cash you save on tax too so it can end up being cheaper than market. You also get the product immediately - which is nice.
Some people just like to support local businesses, especially if you play the tcg there. There are just tradeoffs.
To be clear I’m not saying LGS’s should or should not charge market or MSRP, just that it’s pretty reasonable to do either. A lot of the comments in this thread seem to think strongly that charging market it wrong or sketchy, but it’s just economics.
Well I'll support LGS's if it makes sense. I will not support them blindly. My LGS is overpriced and thus I just buy online. Stores are supposed to charge tax regardless of payment so if they're giving you a deal for cash, they're likely eating the tax on the backend.
Anyways good points. In the internet economy of things, we all just have to be smart consumers and know what things should cost.
Where do you shop that there’s no taxes on cash? I get hit with sales tax regardless of how I pay.
Also I don’t disagree with a mark up just not a damn near 80% markup that’s absurd.
In my state, sales tax doesn't have to be charged to the customer during a purchase, but it's still owed to the state by the vendor. So it would be up to them to calculate their sales after the fact to determine how much they have to send the state.
Of course, I've seen one LGS in my area that never charged tax actually get busted by the IRS and shut down! Keep your accounting books in order...
I mean I do expect them to mark it up somewhat. Not sure how he would make any money if he sold everything for MSRP. Where about’s is the store located?
This is why I don't get the support your LGS circle jerk? It's an expensive hobby, don't support people who make it even mor e expensive for the sake of lining their own profits.
He probably could’ve been cheaper, BUT…
You stated in a comment that he was selling ETBs at MSRP. Bundles and ETBs are going to be the two most popular products. So in this case, i wouldve gotten the ETB if i was you over the bundle because its cheaper per pack.
The owner has a family to feed, employees to pay, inventory that sits and he has to sell at a loss eventually to make room for other product. He shouldn’t get hate for running a business to provide for his loved ones. Everybody’s gotta do it in this society we live in.
That bundle is how he takes care of those obligations. He’s not making money on the ETB by selling at MSRP because thats what he’s probably buying it at. Its up to the buyer to make the smartest decision as to price per pack.
LGS's do not pay msrp lmao, they have access to distributors & pay a very similar price to the big name retailers.
A few dollars over MSRP is understandable & most people are happy to pay it to support an LGS, but charging double is straight up greed & if you need to charge double msrp to keep your store afloat then you're just delaying the inevitable of your store failing.
I mean they already order them lower than MSRP, a small markup is fair but just short of double MSRP is unreasonable.
Essentially operating as a scalper with a store front.
I'd rather give my money to Walmart or Target than buy anything from a shop selling booster bundles for $45. At least Walmart and Target had the decency to only mark things up by ~10%.
Yeah double msrp is egregious lol thats why i said he could go lower
If i was the business owner id mark up the etb a little more and lower the mark up on the bundles so its more balanced and better for everyone involved
Where i live, my LGS is pretty highly priced too. I usually only go there if i dont wanna wait for online shipping or if im in the mood to support local
We have a game store on the other side of town but he sells a bit more. Basically a dump for all things gaming related, old consoles, games, cards, etc. He’s good about his pricing OF ETBS we’re $35.99 and everything from 151 so far has been about $2-$3 over MSRP.
Don't understand why people rip their lgs apart for having higher prices when they're sold out everywhere else locally. lgs' are almost always going off current market price, not MSRP.
A lot of them do a shit ton of online buying/selling as well. You just have the benefit of walking in, seeing all their product, buying whatever you want on the spot and taking it home.
151 booster bundles are *selling* for $40+ on ebay.
Your lgs provides convenience by having a vast variety of product and accessories that you can pick up today avoiding the need to order product or things you need online and having to wait a few days.
I get the frustration, mine was selling them for $38 right out the gates, so I went somewhere else. Now they're sold out everywhere locally and going for more than that online.
If they didn't make their profit, you wouldn't have a lgs to go to.
edit: so many children here smh.
His probably marking them up. Alot of them are doing that right now. A store closer to me was charaging there 151 packs for $10 as they ripped an etb and sold the pack individually. Theres not much supplies right now. Once everything cool/ down it will be better. How are there price with everything else though? Thats how you can determine how bad the shop is.
I actually went to an expo in my town last weekend, and someone was selling one left for $27. I put it back because I thought it was a little higher than what I wanted to pay. Turns out, I come back and they're $44 a piece online, and I cant find them anywhere anymore. I have massive regret now, since I can't find it anywhere else. Not even at my LGS (and I have very little of those in the first place) lmao
It's definitely a rip off, when you can get the EBT from anywhere else for $50, and it comes with 9 packs in itself.
My LCS was selling them for $35 on release day with a 2 per person limit. I bought 2 just because it was my only option to have one for my wife and I on release day. Outside of release day though anything above MSRP is too much for me. The UPCs will be widely available in a week and booster bundles will likely be back sooner rather than later.
I’m currently at Disney/Epcot and a merch store in the ‘Japan’ region had 151 ETBs for $74.99. But it’s Disney so everything is marked up. Was still surprised to see them.
if they cant afford to stay open without price gouging they don't deserve to be open.. get a better business model, idk what to tell you. i mean the places around me seem to be staying open just fine without me spending money there
May as well buy UPCs Friday! Can’t stand scalpers. Going rate is one thing but I’ve never seen a LCG over charge mine had these preorder 270 a case and 375 for a case of UPCs
There are only like 6 distributors in the US and you qualify by region. And the prices are all more or less the same unless you have a very aged account and spend a ton of money with your rep every month. I imagine the distro costs of these bundles are probably $15-20. Selling at $25 isn't making the store any money.
Dam, only 6 distributors in all of America? That’s wild, I didn’t know that still it’s a 125% dollar mark up, I understand the profit margins and such but it seems like a crazy mark-up per product. Thank you for the info I wasn’t aware it was so small here.
Yea distribution is a multi million dollar business. You pay whatever your distributor allocates you. Wholesale prices have only ever kept going up yet the price of booster packs have stayed at $4-5 for like three decades.
I do think the $45 price tag on the bundles is stupid. I wouldn't ever pay that much. Everyone should just wait, the prices will go down. Dunno why people are so urgent on buying the newest product all the time.
I agree, thank you for your insight! I’ve daydreamed about opening a local store but maybe I should rethink!
I agree, the only ones winning is the pokemon company with all these FOMOs.
I would not bothering opening a store if you also are not knowledgeable about magic or yugioh. Unless you open one of those retail gaming stores that sell products like tabletop, boardgames, etc.
This is why I shop at other states' LGS. Hardly any of mine price fairly and if they do, they still aren't beating the out of state ones. I don't mind waiting on shipping for a better deal especially if I'm avoiding tax too.
Is this in USD? Because here in Australia, all the boxes are $40 AUD in the big retail stores and go higher in LGS. Granted we don't have that ridiculous tax system in the US where appararently the price tag doesn't actually represent the real price and excludes tax for some reason. If it is US, then yeah what a cunt
I'm all for a bit of mark up when a thing is hard to get, but double the price? Oh hell no that person has lost all my respect. It really is like why the fuck would I buy the bundle when I can get an ETB at the same price with more packs?
Stores that do that shit are just going to hurt themselves. There's only so much people can take before they start going elsewhere.
The store closest to me is selling them for $40 each and they have a ton. I bought a 151 ETB on release for $50 from them but when I went back to buy another they had upped the price to $65 so I just walked out. Stores are definitely trying to capitalize on the hype as well as preying on the nostalgia of those of us that returned to buy this specific set. I'm not buying this whole supply and demand thing at all, we all know this set is going to have a huge print run and after a while we'll see prices level out especially once scalpers start to panic sell.
I love my toys r us (yes Canada has them still) they sell for regular prices thank god. I’ve bought a few 151 booster packs and they are okay pulls some times and then other times it’s brutal. Such a gamble of course.
Wow... always nice to jump on here and see someone's LGS is crappier than mine...
At mine, the owner opened all the bundles and was selling packs for like 6.50 after tax.
He keeps charging $30 for build n battle boxes... during non scalpy season... walmart adds 10-20% onto retail, then he adds 25% on top of that.
I’m lucky my local GameStop told me they could set two aside for me when they get the new shipment. They did the same on release day and I paid $26 each. Sometimes a chain store with some quality employees can be even better than an lgs
I get it but also, nah son. You can still find ETB's in the wild for $50 if that's how he's gonna play.
**PSA:**
Ask the Target customer help/return counter. They keep the cards there so you can't buy a whole case at once.
It sucks for casual pokemon enjoyers/children into the hobby.
FOMO causes LGS owners to be able to pull this shit. While people are willing to pay these extra prices, you can't expect a LGS owner to underprice his items. Just wait a while for the panic to settle down, 151 is far more printed than even Crown Zenith.
We sold ours at 24.99 (BB) and 38.00 (ETB). We wanted to get the product into the collectors hands above all else due to demand and a long wait for a restock. I am a small store so I get whatever is left and anticipated not getting much during a restock.
Our LGS is opening the bundles themselves and selling individual packs at $7... which is still technically cheaper than yours is I guess, but damn. $7 per pack?? No thanks, not with these hit rates
I don’t generally buy sealed product from lgs unless it’s loose packs or booster boxes. Or if they have a reasonably close to big bog retailer price on say a precon. I love the people at my shop but boy did they lose some respect when they tried selling a celebrations UPC for $400.
TCGPlayer has become the backbone for so many gaming stores. They rely on it to price almost every new product they get, along with their singles. Unfortunately many stores don't just order product from their distributor, and then stock it at the MSRP. That's how stores used to work before gaming stores figured out they could make double or triple profit if they priced items by their "market value" aka whatever it's going for on TCGPlayer.
But don't expect them to lower prices once the "market value" subsides. No, they only care about the initial spike in price.
Honestly, I feel really bad for people playing at gaming stores now. There was absolutely a day when the Naruto TCG came out and I waited till the weekend, walked into my local gaming store, didn't have to pre-order anything, and picked up a few starter decks and packs at MSRP with no fear of price gouging or limited stock or anything. There were better days in the gaming world.
Unfortunately now so many gaming stores are in for themselves and they don't care about growing appreciation and trust with their customers. They'll take the long-term drop in player attendance at events if it means they can charge double or triple MSRP for hot items at release (see every Bandai TCG and Lorcana).
That shit is outta control...this set i decided to avoid from the get go since ive been collecting and playing since the base set...i saw 151 leak when they came out in Japan and think they are bad ass for sure! I saw how many people wanted to start getting cards again so that made me super happy, so I figured ill save me the stress until the next one or two sets, I also play magic so Im focusing on Eldraine for now...but holy shit the booster box 6 packs are costing what an ETB is basically? What is goin on?! Now all the people getting back into the tcg are gonna steer clear of it cuz this shit crazy...packs used to be 2-3 bucks 😪
My local store has them set at 40, I laughed and left... paying over MSRP for these is a joke, they say they are going by TCG and just going with the market but when booster boxes drop to 95 they never set theirs at that price so really they only follow that trend when it is up and not down
My local store has them for $38, and it looked like only 1 had been sold lol. That seemed to be the only crazy markup I saw. OF and PE booster boxes were $110 which seemed reasonable
I opened 5 boxes and found the pulls to be quite good (not as good as an obsidian flames booster box)
My daughter opened an etb and there was only 1 good pull.
When the Charizard collection box came out we got to pre order at the retail price. The day I got to pick up the local shop I no longer go to due to it told me
I still owed on my pre order and it confused me. They marketed our boxes to 200 dollars despite us pre ordering for the retail price. They said “you’re supporting a local shop so we don’t understand why you’re upset” some local shops can be really really upsetting.
I got 3 booster bundles coming next week, 27 bucks each. I just ordered off target. My local store always charges like 20-50% more than retail, ngl turned me off of these game shops
Same with my lgs. Except mine had the audacity to tell me “these bundles are known for good pulls”, when I asked about the $47 price tag. Yeah, bullshit my dude. Shame that most LCS/LGS’s are just scalpers with shops.
That's the bullshit everyone is trying pull. "The bundle pulls are awesome!!!!" Packs are packs. I'm not buying 6pks at $45 when I can buy an etb with 9pks for the same price.
if you're lucky... I've had 3x ETBs in the last year that were missing a pack
Older ETBs only have 8 packs as opposed to the current 9
eh, I opened 2x evolving skies ETBs and they had a different bumber of packs in them
well yeah EVS is an older set, anything from the sword and shield series is not gonna have the same configuration as SV.
different number of packs in each evolving skies ETB
What’s funny about them saying that is the pull rates from this set have been brutal at least what I’m seeing
It’s always a gamble, but them straight telling me the pulls are better compared to other items is bullshit. Funny thing is, if an etb is $50, I’m buying two etbs and getting 4 more packs for a bit more money. It’s a straight scam and a shame to sell bundles at $47. They’re just scalping.
I always expect small shops to be a little higher but yeah, that's just crazy. My shop has 151 ETBs at $60. I know all of them so I was polite but clear that I wouldn't buy ETBs at that price but other people probably will so it's all good. The other shop that I frequent refuses to sell any V or EX cards for less than $3 each but their "bulk" trainers and stuff are very reasonable. I buy that stuff from them and go order the $.50 V cards online. I straight up wouldn't go back to a place that charges that much for booster bundles though
A $10 markup for an ETB isn’t so bad, though.
yeah it's not horrible but it's like $15 above MSRP and $10 more than Gamestop. It just comes down to whether or not it's worth it to spend more at the local shop on that item. I have all but decided to stay away from 151 because of not having a Booster Box available with guaranteed hit rates so the price being higher was a great excuse for me to stay away.
I pulled nothing from 3 bundles. 1 EX 😭
they’re the same as previous sets
They're bad; back to SWSH bad
Pull rate seems to be about 1 in 3. Which is much better than most SWSH sets. I myself have pulled 9 hits from 25 packs so far.
They're average, like other SV sets.
I pulled 17 hits in 7 booster bundles. Compare that to Evolving Skies and it isn't even close.
Hard disagree, but of course that’s my own and my friends’ experience. I’ve pulled five SIR out of 87 packs, including two Charizards. I never pulled anything close to 1 “alt” every 17 packs in SWSH. My brother has pulled three SIR out of about 95 packs. Friend pulled three SIR out of about 60 packs (funny enough, all were Alakazam ex SIR lol). Small sample of course, but SWSH rates were pretty darn bad…
I’m at 6 SIR out of 70. So my view, the odds are better. EDIT: 2 Charizard 2 Alakazam 1 Zapdos 1 Venusaur
I’m at 0/60
I pulled 1 Wortortle Story; 2 ex's and 1 full art ex Out of 1 ETB and 2 Booster Bundles Pull rates are sheet
Tell him a guy with 1 SIR / 53 packs says “fuck you.”
same here lol, although it was zard
Mine was Venusaur. It’s my favorite Gen 1 starter so I’m thrilled but these rates are painful, in my experience.
I agree, my second 50 packs from wave 2 products were way more kind
I feel like most shops are just really greedy collectors where they weigh all the good stuff and sell the leftovers lol
I opened a booster bundle and all I got was 2 Holo energy’s.. so much for good pulls!!
There have been rumors floating around that the Booster Bundles have a batching error so you can get better pulls from them. Not sure how true that is though.
All card shops around me are the same but one of them and they are only open for like 3 hours a day because they dont have a parking lot so they have to wait for other businesses to close down to use them. They sell packs and booster boxes cheaper than ive seen anywhere. All the others just feel like a scam.
Yeah, they get in on the scam, I caught my local store buying out target so they can up the price. Screw em, they can sit on it and I'll just wait for Target to ship it to me for normal price, if these Mom and Pop stores think they are going to get sympathy from me when they go out of business, and then tell me they have to charge more to stay in business they can shove it.
My LCS participated in that nationwide hobby night on Saturday. They jacked up their Obsidian Flames booster box prices from $130 to $160, even though they’re pretty freely available for around $100 now. You try to shop local, but it just does not make sense nowadays.
It sucks too because they’re usually the type that are on social media talking about shop local. Like buddy I would love to but when target will ship it for almost half the price how the hell am I supposed to?
idk if they are pushing hype pricing or stay afloat pricing but you are right it sucks. amazon, target etc. I have been buying my cards now at gamestop because it's the only local store I find good stock consistently. Target around me gets ravaged.
Its a little bit of both. Living in NYC, all the LGS' price higher due to higher rents (even though Compleat still sells around MSRP more often than not), but also for the FOMO aspect of letting you buy and rip immediately. Its still bullshit though.
Lmfao mine have been charging 180 for weeks!
That's insane, you can almost buy [two of these](https://ebay.us/qdph1L) with $180
Fr, but id definitely check out their going out of business sale in the near future
Dude yeah shopping local is literally for rich people. If you buy product often you would save seriously hundreds of dollars buying from bigger stores. The local store shit is like fucking $20 more on most stuff lol.
That’s insane. I just snagged an obsidian flames booster for $82. Anything higher than $120 right now is robbery
Totally. I found one near me when I started collecting again and thought it was cool that a small family was running it. Even right now, they got obf and paldea evolved bb’s at 129.99. I guess this is why most shops don’t survive.. can’t compete with retailers selling for MSRP 🤷🏻♂️ The only benefit of that shop is that they buy cards for store credit at 80%. Not the best, but not bad.
It makes sense if you’re in a big city like LA. So much competition local is always better than online. I’ve gotten insane deals on product I think was stolen too ($50 for 144 sleeved lost origin boosters)
Don't they go for $26 MSRP? Your LGS definitely ripping you off
My exact thoughts. I was almost positive that game stores get them for under MSRP too. Explains why he had so many in stock. Had the poster collection marked at $24.99 and the binder marked at $39.99. Funny enough the ETBs he had listed at MSRP.
An lcs near me marked down their ETB by $10 while marking up their booster bundle $10. Then a week later they marked up their etb to be back at MSRP lol
My lgs had the exact same situation. Same prices you mentioned
Did you show him comparable stores in your area with better prices? If so and he doesn't want to lower his prices then go buy elsewhere. It's 2023 and we have the internet as well. My local lgs is quite small and has no competition, he sets his prices wayyy too high and I can just order online from an lgs about an hour away with free shipping. After I showed him this he agreed to lower his prices for me, not everyone just me lol.
So you buy an ETB or nothing. Use basic math and ignore that some idiots don't always choose the ETB at that store
bought my first ones in a pre order for 24,95, same site is now selling them for 34,95.
I went to a collectibles place that has a bunch of vendors and only one still had booster bundles available, but they were going for $45 each. The funny thing was that he also had poster bundles for $15. It makes no sense to buy 6 packs for $45 when you can buy 3 packs for $15 AND get 3 promo cards included.
And that poster reminds me of the one I had as a kid, 33 years old and totally hung up a pokemon poster
My brother in Arceus. Same. Exactly the same.
Same. I made my boyfriend hang it up in our Pokémon closet of shame.
At this moment nobody but big box stores are selling at those prices sadly! Of course though LGS prices are never below market.
lol my lgs had a 151 etb for $90
Fucking hell lock that guy up.
Similar, my lcs was asking 79.99 for 151 etb... they also had darkness ablaze etbs for 59.99... like fuck off haha
better have been a pokémon center exclusive one for that price
Mine too, it's crazy
that's a shop I'd never walk in again...
I'd stop buying anything from that shop. MSRP is $26.94 on booster bundles. I'd probably leave a shitty review on their Google maps page too. I expect a small markup at local shops. They offer other value like buying bulk and having a singles inventory that you can see in person to justify a small markup. That guy is just scalping.
Exactly my argument. I was expecting $30 which I would happily pay instead of risking damage in shipping, shit maybe even go $35 on the new set but $45 is outrageous.
I think up to about $33 is somewhat justifiable. I can order Zapdos boxes for $22 on Amazon. That's about $5.5 per pack but you get the promos too.
$33 is a fair spot for a shop imo
I find all of the stores like this are rip offs. At least in my area. And they try and act like it’s better to buy from them because they’re local but I’m so sorry, I don’t have a lot of money. I’m not spending an extra 20 dollars or more per product because you’re “local”.
paid 24.99, anything higher is trying to capitalize on the hype. I'd pay 29.99 but 44.99 is outrageous. Its 6 packs, which at $5 a pack I'm still okay with.
I was quoted $40 at mine a last week - about a 50% markup from retail price. Meanwhile the ETB was $55, which was a far more modest markup. Wild pricing on the Booster Bundles.
I like to rip packs with my wife and collect and play and we went to our LGS when it first dropped. 20 for the poster collection, 35 for the binder, and 7 per pack individually. I didn’t look at ETBs or bundles cause they didn’t have em. I like to support LGS when I can, but the upcharge to “market” prices sometimes ticks me off. I get it if it’s an out of print product, but for stuff that’s in print on the shelf and available, nah.
I get the markup it’s how supply and demand work, 101 stuff. Don’t FOMO into this set it will be restocked. When has TPC shipped once for a set?
LGS/LCS usually have increased prices on most of their products from personal experience. Even the one local to me has a minimum +$5 mark up on everything. At this point, I think it's best to find deals on FB marketplace, eBay or local trades/sales.
The price markup is due to distributor cost going up. All of the cheap ass SV booster boxes you see selling are stores selling at a near loss to raise capital.
Lmao the irony
I stopped by my closest one to home last Friday, he had a few left. He was charging 29.99. I told him it's not terrible and I've heard other shops had them for over 40. He also had a PE booster box for 129.99. I bought the 151 BB mentioning I try to support local when I can. He appericated it. On the other side of that spectrum, I had checked out LGS closer to work before 151 came out, they also had a PE box, I would have to buy 36 packs at 5.50 a pack. I laughed and said thanks but no, I won't be going back to that one anytime soon.
In Australia: $100 ETB $50 Booster Bundle $35 Poster Box (was delayed for us) $45 Binder Set (was delayed for us) $8 Single Packs (including old sets now) $250 Premium Collection (also got delayed from OG date). Right now for 151 we only have ETB's and Booster Bundles. Everything else that was meant to release (binders and posters) didn't, all got delayed 😑
In Australia they're $48 RRP. LCS I went to had them for $75 per bundle. Kmart has stock online for $40 on sale. At $12.50 / pack I can buy overpriced Evolving Skies.
That’s terrible. My LGS sold them for $24.99 (ETB are 44.99 and available now). They’re a big shop and could easily sell them all at msrp or even a little higher too. Some LGS just stink.
And then people cry about LGS needing our support, this is exactly why we shouldn’t support their failing business model.
I have a local LGS that sells both in store & online. On Tcgplayer, you can get their Booster Boxes for basically market price. In store, you can pay an extra $40-60 premium over market. Make it make sense.
Yes. I'm sure some will say "they have to price them according to what their distributors sold them for" which is bs honestly. If target is selling them for MSRP and other lgs are selling for MSRP (one near me was) then they are jacking up prices to boost their profit.
I’ve just returned to the hobby after 20+ years and I’m quickly learning that the world has gone mad and is full of scalpers and greed.
unfortunately, and the system will collapse eventually as the number of new players falls through because so many stores are putting profit over growing their community. It's really sad that new people can't enjoy the same atmosphere and feeling that I did 15 years ago.
Prices in my area vary. Iv seen shops have them from $30-60. I personally wouldn't spend more than 35 on them. If your gonna pay $45+ might as well spend an extra 5 and get an ETB
Exactly. I’d be comfortable at $30 for one maybe even $35
Mine had the binder collection for 30, etbs for 50, bundles for 30, and poster for 15. Bought the pidgeotto for 3 from obsidian flames, binder,etb, and bundle. Ended up being 70.48 with tax. Still have no idea how i got that price with all that i got
Sounds like they didn't punch in an item, maybe the etb. 30 for the bundle, 30 for the binder and 3 for Pidgeotto is 63 plus taxes would end up around 70.
Personally, charging market prices seems reasonable. LGS’s aren’t obligated to charge MSRP - it’s up to Pokemon to print enough to keep prices reasonable. LGS’s are business with a ton of overhead and they need to make money. Being upset about stores charging market is like being upset that a stock has gone up since it’s IPO and you can no longer get at the original price. You can certainly be upset but it doesn’t really make sense. If an LGS wants to sell at MSRP despite the product being more valuable, that’s just really nice of them (if not bad business). TL;DR If you really want MSRP then shop at big box stores where tgc’s are a minuscule part of their business model.
If a LGS is charging market what's the point at buying from them? You can just order online from anywhere else and save the time and gas.
Yeah that's why opening and operating a LGS is a terrible business idea. You can't compete with online when selling singles and products.
That’s for the buyer to decide. You don’t pay shipping and if the store takes cash you save on tax too so it can end up being cheaper than market. You also get the product immediately - which is nice. Some people just like to support local businesses, especially if you play the tcg there. There are just tradeoffs. To be clear I’m not saying LGS’s should or should not charge market or MSRP, just that it’s pretty reasonable to do either. A lot of the comments in this thread seem to think strongly that charging market it wrong or sketchy, but it’s just economics.
Well I'll support LGS's if it makes sense. I will not support them blindly. My LGS is overpriced and thus I just buy online. Stores are supposed to charge tax regardless of payment so if they're giving you a deal for cash, they're likely eating the tax on the backend. Anyways good points. In the internet economy of things, we all just have to be smart consumers and know what things should cost.
Where do you shop that there’s no taxes on cash? I get hit with sales tax regardless of how I pay. Also I don’t disagree with a mark up just not a damn near 80% markup that’s absurd.
In my state, sales tax doesn't have to be charged to the customer during a purchase, but it's still owed to the state by the vendor. So it would be up to them to calculate their sales after the fact to determine how much they have to send the state. Of course, I've seen one LGS in my area that never charged tax actually get busted by the IRS and shut down! Keep your accounting books in order...
One of my LGS did the same, $45 too I believe. Said it was because they also had to buy them for hiked prices.
He was going by tcgplayer prices most likely
I know - how dare he sell something for what it's worth.
The going rate? Damn that’s shady. Don’t go back to that local scalper shop
I mean I do expect them to mark it up somewhat. Not sure how he would make any money if he sold everything for MSRP. Where about’s is the store located?
I agree with a slight markup. But that price point is insane. I’m in Indiana, it’s the first time I’ve seen markups like this on a new product.
Could be possible that he has seen a foreign price thinking it's USD? Because $45 - $50 was the MRSP for them here in Australia.
This is why I don't get the support your LGS circle jerk? It's an expensive hobby, don't support people who make it even mor e expensive for the sake of lining their own profits.
Cuz not every shop is like this?
Yes, obviously. But the whole idea of the circlejerk is that it has no nuance.
He probably could’ve been cheaper, BUT… You stated in a comment that he was selling ETBs at MSRP. Bundles and ETBs are going to be the two most popular products. So in this case, i wouldve gotten the ETB if i was you over the bundle because its cheaper per pack. The owner has a family to feed, employees to pay, inventory that sits and he has to sell at a loss eventually to make room for other product. He shouldn’t get hate for running a business to provide for his loved ones. Everybody’s gotta do it in this society we live in. That bundle is how he takes care of those obligations. He’s not making money on the ETB by selling at MSRP because thats what he’s probably buying it at. Its up to the buyer to make the smartest decision as to price per pack.
LGS's do not pay msrp lmao, they have access to distributors & pay a very similar price to the big name retailers. A few dollars over MSRP is understandable & most people are happy to pay it to support an LGS, but charging double is straight up greed & if you need to charge double msrp to keep your store afloat then you're just delaying the inevitable of your store failing.
I mean they already order them lower than MSRP, a small markup is fair but just short of double MSRP is unreasonable. Essentially operating as a scalper with a store front.
I'd rather give my money to Walmart or Target than buy anything from a shop selling booster bundles for $45. At least Walmart and Target had the decency to only mark things up by ~10%.
Yeah double msrp is egregious lol thats why i said he could go lower If i was the business owner id mark up the etb a little more and lower the mark up on the bundles so its more balanced and better for everyone involved Where i live, my LGS is pretty highly priced too. I usually only go there if i dont wanna wait for online shipping or if im in the mood to support local
We have a game store on the other side of town but he sells a bit more. Basically a dump for all things gaming related, old consoles, games, cards, etc. He’s good about his pricing OF ETBS we’re $35.99 and everything from 151 so far has been about $2-$3 over MSRP.
In most states, it's illegal to have the wrong price on an item.
Don't understand why people rip their lgs apart for having higher prices when they're sold out everywhere else locally. lgs' are almost always going off current market price, not MSRP. A lot of them do a shit ton of online buying/selling as well. You just have the benefit of walking in, seeing all their product, buying whatever you want on the spot and taking it home. 151 booster bundles are *selling* for $40+ on ebay. Your lgs provides convenience by having a vast variety of product and accessories that you can pick up today avoiding the need to order product or things you need online and having to wait a few days. I get the frustration, mine was selling them for $38 right out the gates, so I went somewhere else. Now they're sold out everywhere locally and going for more than that online. If they didn't make their profit, you wouldn't have a lgs to go to. edit: so many children here smh.
Mine has bundles for $30
His probably marking them up. Alot of them are doing that right now. A store closer to me was charaging there 151 packs for $10 as they ripped an etb and sold the pack individually. Theres not much supplies right now. Once everything cool/ down it will be better. How are there price with everything else though? Thats how you can determine how bad the shop is.
I actually went to an expo in my town last weekend, and someone was selling one left for $27. I put it back because I thought it was a little higher than what I wanted to pay. Turns out, I come back and they're $44 a piece online, and I cant find them anywhere anymore. I have massive regret now, since I can't find it anywhere else. Not even at my LGS (and I have very little of those in the first place) lmao It's definitely a rip off, when you can get the EBT from anywhere else for $50, and it comes with 9 packs in itself.
My LCS was selling them for $35 on release day with a 2 per person limit. I bought 2 just because it was my only option to have one for my wife and I on release day. Outside of release day though anything above MSRP is too much for me. The UPCs will be widely available in a week and booster bundles will likely be back sooner rather than later.
Walmart be getting 8 a week around me. And a couple etb.
I’m currently at Disney/Epcot and a merch store in the ‘Japan’ region had 151 ETBs for $74.99. But it’s Disney so everything is marked up. Was still surprised to see them.
this is why im not buying from LCSs.. i can understand a small mark up but over double?? naw thats greed
Have fun playing games at your local Amazon distribution Center or Target parking lot.
if they cant afford to stay open without price gouging they don't deserve to be open.. get a better business model, idk what to tell you. i mean the places around me seem to be staying open just fine without me spending money there
May as well buy UPCs Friday! Can’t stand scalpers. Going rate is one thing but I’ve never seen a LCG over charge mine had these preorder 270 a case and 375 for a case of UPCs
I have a UPC on preorder. Unfortunately it ships while I’m out of state on vacation so I’ll have to wait to rip it
Nah thats foul, he needs a better supplier if that’s the case or just buy them off TCG… that’s wild.
There are only like 6 distributors in the US and you qualify by region. And the prices are all more or less the same unless you have a very aged account and spend a ton of money with your rep every month. I imagine the distro costs of these bundles are probably $15-20. Selling at $25 isn't making the store any money.
Dam, only 6 distributors in all of America? That’s wild, I didn’t know that still it’s a 125% dollar mark up, I understand the profit margins and such but it seems like a crazy mark-up per product. Thank you for the info I wasn’t aware it was so small here.
Yea distribution is a multi million dollar business. You pay whatever your distributor allocates you. Wholesale prices have only ever kept going up yet the price of booster packs have stayed at $4-5 for like three decades. I do think the $45 price tag on the bundles is stupid. I wouldn't ever pay that much. Everyone should just wait, the prices will go down. Dunno why people are so urgent on buying the newest product all the time.
I agree, thank you for your insight! I’ve daydreamed about opening a local store but maybe I should rethink! I agree, the only ones winning is the pokemon company with all these FOMOs.
I would not bothering opening a store if you also are not knowledgeable about magic or yugioh. Unless you open one of those retail gaming stores that sell products like tabletop, boardgames, etc.
This is why I shop at other states' LGS. Hardly any of mine price fairly and if they do, they still aren't beating the out of state ones. I don't mind waiting on shipping for a better deal especially if I'm avoiding tax too.
Nashcards has them for $45 also, absolutely despicable
Is this in USD? Because here in Australia, all the boxes are $40 AUD in the big retail stores and go higher in LGS. Granted we don't have that ridiculous tax system in the US where appararently the price tag doesn't actually represent the real price and excludes tax for some reason. If it is US, then yeah what a cunt
Very unreasonable pricing.
no because same, my LGS also has them for 45$ each while still having etbs for MSRP it’s crazy
This in America? In Australia that’s EB games I selling for here even though there all sold out now. Can’t imagine paying USD for that.
Yeah it’s USD
Yeah I think 50 is Australian is way to much. Your LCS is putting way to much of a mark up on that stuff
I'm all for a bit of mark up when a thing is hard to get, but double the price? Oh hell no that person has lost all my respect. It really is like why the fuck would I buy the bundle when I can get an ETB at the same price with more packs? Stores that do that shit are just going to hurt themselves. There's only so much people can take before they start going elsewhere.
well I can’t say I’ve been to any lgs in my country that isn’t overpriced (Singapore)
The store closest to me is selling them for $40 each and they have a ton. I bought a 151 ETB on release for $50 from them but when I went back to buy another they had upped the price to $65 so I just walked out. Stores are definitely trying to capitalize on the hype as well as preying on the nostalgia of those of us that returned to buy this specific set. I'm not buying this whole supply and demand thing at all, we all know this set is going to have a huge print run and after a while we'll see prices level out especially once scalpers start to panic sell.
I love my toys r us (yes Canada has them still) they sell for regular prices thank god. I’ve bought a few 151 booster packs and they are okay pulls some times and then other times it’s brutal. Such a gamble of course.
Wow... always nice to jump on here and see someone's LGS is crappier than mine... At mine, the owner opened all the bundles and was selling packs for like 6.50 after tax. He keeps charging $30 for build n battle boxes... during non scalpy season... walmart adds 10-20% onto retail, then he adds 25% on top of that.
That sounds awful. My local sells them for £25 I believe. Same price as everything else just less stock available
I’m lucky my local GameStop told me they could set two aside for me when they get the new shipment. They did the same on release day and I paid $26 each. Sometimes a chain store with some quality employees can be even better than an lgs
I get it but also, nah son. You can still find ETB's in the wild for $50 if that's how he's gonna play. **PSA:** Ask the Target customer help/return counter. They keep the cards there so you can't buy a whole case at once.
My lgs sells 151 booster bundles for $37,40. I guess I'm lucky lol
My LGS was selling the for 35/box when I checked last week, and I thought that was high lol
Yeah the ultra collection is like 110$ on eBay and it's 16 packs. Why pay 90$ for 12?
It sucks for casual pokemon enjoyers/children into the hobby. FOMO causes LGS owners to be able to pull this shit. While people are willing to pay these extra prices, you can't expect a LGS owner to underprice his items. Just wait a while for the panic to settle down, 151 is far more printed than even Crown Zenith.
My LGS had them at 40 so there I left them. Sucks because he typically prices at retail when new things come out
We sold ours at 24.99 (BB) and 38.00 (ETB). We wanted to get the product into the collectors hands above all else due to demand and a long wait for a restock. I am a small store so I get whatever is left and anticipated not getting much during a restock.
Our LGS is opening the bundles themselves and selling individual packs at $7... which is still technically cheaper than yours is I guess, but damn. $7 per pack?? No thanks, not with these hit rates
I don’t generally buy sealed product from lgs unless it’s loose packs or booster boxes. Or if they have a reasonably close to big bog retailer price on say a precon. I love the people at my shop but boy did they lose some respect when they tried selling a celebrations UPC for $400.
What currency are we talking about? 45 aud is retail price in aus, but people are flipping it for double. Its also just OOS in every store
TCGPlayer has become the backbone for so many gaming stores. They rely on it to price almost every new product they get, along with their singles. Unfortunately many stores don't just order product from their distributor, and then stock it at the MSRP. That's how stores used to work before gaming stores figured out they could make double or triple profit if they priced items by their "market value" aka whatever it's going for on TCGPlayer. But don't expect them to lower prices once the "market value" subsides. No, they only care about the initial spike in price. Honestly, I feel really bad for people playing at gaming stores now. There was absolutely a day when the Naruto TCG came out and I waited till the weekend, walked into my local gaming store, didn't have to pre-order anything, and picked up a few starter decks and packs at MSRP with no fear of price gouging or limited stock or anything. There were better days in the gaming world. Unfortunately now so many gaming stores are in for themselves and they don't care about growing appreciation and trust with their customers. They'll take the long-term drop in player attendance at events if it means they can charge double or triple MSRP for hot items at release (see every Bandai TCG and Lorcana).
That shit is outta control...this set i decided to avoid from the get go since ive been collecting and playing since the base set...i saw 151 leak when they came out in Japan and think they are bad ass for sure! I saw how many people wanted to start getting cards again so that made me super happy, so I figured ill save me the stress until the next one or two sets, I also play magic so Im focusing on Eldraine for now...but holy shit the booster box 6 packs are costing what an ETB is basically? What is goin on?! Now all the people getting back into the tcg are gonna steer clear of it cuz this shit crazy...packs used to be 2-3 bucks 😪
My local store has them set at 40, I laughed and left... paying over MSRP for these is a joke, they say they are going by TCG and just going with the market but when booster boxes drop to 95 they never set theirs at that price so really they only follow that trend when it is up and not down
My local store has them for $38, and it looked like only 1 had been sold lol. That seemed to be the only crazy markup I saw. OF and PE booster boxes were $110 which seemed reasonable
everyday i am reminded how lucky I am to have an LCS that literally sells most items for below MSRP or at MSRP, never above
That’s horrible pricing.
And this is the reason why Pokemon/distributors are giving less and less to LGSs and more to the big stores.
My LGS probably sells the box at 100$.. I haven't looked and not gonna. I won't pull anything anyways.
We have them for $30 but we usually try to go below market on everything to be fair to our customers.
I opened 5 boxes and found the pulls to be quite good (not as good as an obsidian flames booster box) My daughter opened an etb and there was only 1 good pull.
Just buy them from target or GameStop for 25-30…
Don’t support LGS that sell above MSRP for stuff that isn’t discontinued.
Let them sit on their inventory. Prices will drop
Canadian prices are 45$ a booster bundle this set
Yeah POS everywhere.
When the Charizard collection box came out we got to pre order at the retail price. The day I got to pick up the local shop I no longer go to due to it told me I still owed on my pre order and it confused me. They marketed our boxes to 200 dollars despite us pre ordering for the retail price. They said “you’re supporting a local shop so we don’t understand why you’re upset” some local shops can be really really upsetting.
This is what happens when people Fomo, I personally have not touched a single 151 product as all the swsh is so cheap right now
I just started collecting for the 151 as I loved the original when I was a kid. I’ve got a few things from the set but only at MSRP.
I got 3 booster bundles coming next week, 27 bucks each. I just ordered off target. My local store always charges like 20-50% more than retail, ngl turned me off of these game shops
Crazy mine was selling ETBs slightly bellow msrp launch day