$4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart/Target?! (UPDATE: $4.18)

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Frost

Ice/Fairy Stan Account
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

Some shops mark up Pokémon cards because they know they're in high demand.

Every store overcharged for Pokemon cards back in the Base Set/Pokemon fad days. It was crazy... single booster packs were considered a bargain if you could get them in a store for $8. Thankfully my mom found out that you could buy them straight from WOTC for like $2 and that was how I always ordered packs after that.
 

Yakkov

Shiny Hunter, Event Collector, and Breeder
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

At our league, three packs cost $10. Its a great deal :3
 

Ophie

Aspiring Trainer
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

Frost said:
Every store overcharged for Pokemon cards back in the Base Set/Pokemon fad days. It was crazy... single booster packs were considered a bargain if you could get them in a store for $8. Thankfully my mom found out that you could buy them straight from WOTC for like $2 and that was how I always ordered packs after that.

To this day, I haven't found one hobby shop in the San Fernando Valley part of Los Angeles that charges less than the department stores do for packs, decks, or tins. In fact, my favorite one to go to when I was younger has since closed its doors, as it always charged more than the Toys R Us next door.
 

signofzeta

Aspiring Trainer
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

Odd. Pokemon players say buying booster boxes is the best thing to do, but Magic players say buying booster boxes is the WORST thing to do.

Has anybody heard of buying singles?

What buying a booster box does is, yes you get chances of getting that full art whatever pokemon card it is, at the expense of pieces of crap, ahem commons, that you spent a ton of bucks on.

The fact is, nobody is going to buy 36 separate packs. If I want 1 pack only, I'd rather get 1 pack, rather than waste my cash on a box.

You also know that, buying an entire box is the dumbest idea I could ever make, if I only want 12 packs from the same set right? Also buying packs, boxes, just to get this one card is also a pretty dumb idea right?

The point is, if you buy a booster pack or a booster box, it is assumed that you don't care what you are getting. Buying a booster box for 1 card is a bad investment. How much does a booster box cost? Much less than any of the full art cards?

3 things magic players buy their booster boxes for:

1. Draft or Sealed deck

2. They are hobby store owners, and they are going to sell their packs individually anyway, and open each pack up to sell as singles.

3. To post a video on Youtube, so some sorry dude doesn't have to spend so much cash to experience what it feels like to open a booster box, only to get junk cards that they cannot sell for profit, and that sorry dude happens to be me. I mean, why waste my own money if I can watch someone else open a booster box for me?

Now me, I buy booster packs, individual packs. There is never a time when I had 36 packs from one single set. Never ever, and I intend NOT to have 36 packs from 1 set. Another fact of the matter is, I buy packs individually is that I don't care what cards I pull from each pack, and that a super secret rare just happens to be a bonus for me. Thirdly, I trust the hobby store where I buy my packs from. 3 of 4 rares are holos from Noble Victories really tells me something, that they don't box map. Remember that 12 individual packs still cost cheaper than a booster box. You may say, oh a booster has 36 packs, but the fact of the matter is, I don't want 36 packs.
 

Megaphone

Ship it! ™
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

signofzeta said:
Odd. Pokemon players say buying booster boxes is the best thing to do, but Magic players say buying booster boxes is the WORST thing to do.

Has anybody heard of buying singles?

What buying a booster box does is, yes you get chances of getting that full art whatever pokemon card it is, at the expense of pieces of crap, ahem commons, that you spent a ton of bucks on.

The fact is, nobody is going to buy 36 separate packs. If I want 1 pack only, I'd rather get 1 pack, rather than waste my cash on a box.

You also know that, buying an entire box is the dumbest idea I could ever make, if I only want 12 packs from the same set right? Also buying packs, boxes, just to get this one card is also a pretty dumb idea right?

The point is, if you buy a booster pack or a booster box, it is assumed that you don't care what you are getting. Buying a booster box for 1 card is a bad investment. How much does a booster box cost? Much less than any of the full art cards?

3 things magic players buy their booster boxes for:

1. Draft or Sealed deck

2. They are hobby store owners, and they are going to sell their packs individually anyway, and open each pack up to sell as singles.

3. To post a video on Youtube, so some sorry dude doesn't have to spend so much cash to experience what it feels like to open a booster box, only to get junk cards that they cannot sell for profit, and that sorry dude happens to be me. I mean, why waste my own money if I can watch someone else open a booster box for me?

Now me, I buy booster packs, individual packs. There is never a time when I had 36 packs from one single set. Never ever, and I intend NOT to have 36 packs from 1 set. Another fact of the matter is, I buy packs individually is that I don't care what cards I pull from each pack, and that a super secret rare just happens to be a bonus for me. Thirdly, I trust the hobby store where I buy my packs from. 3 of 4 rares are holos from Noble Victories really tells me something, that they don't box map. Remember that 12 individual packs still cost cheaper than a booster box. You may say, oh a booster has 36 packs, but the fact of the matter is, I don't want 36 packs.

What? I think you almost missed every post in this thread.

People made these points:
  • If you want booster packs, you may want to buy boxes or from local leagues if possible
Maybe a set was just recently released and most stores don't have the exact cards you are looking for. Maybe you want the Pokemon TCGO codes to expand your online collection? Maybe you just want to try your luck and not buy 1-2 booster packs at a time.

  • It is more efficient to purchase the specific cards you need then to try your luck with packs / boxes
And it's true! If you're looking to run The Truth with Mewtwo EX, Lugia Legend, and 19 Pokemon Catchers, it'd save your more money and time in the long run to buy the individual cards. I realize this is an exaggeration, but the point makes itself.

That's about it. It honestly seems like you took two glances at all of the posts, picked up a couple of words, and made a passive-aggressive post with insulting tones out of anger. Take a bit more time to read next time!
 

signofzeta

Aspiring Trainer
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

Some people do not prefer to buy 36 booster all from one set. Like I said, would I spend $48 on 12 boosters or $85 on a whole box, if I want 12 boosters from 1 set?

Also some people don't have hundreds of dollars to shell out on boxes, so they get individual packs instead. That way, you don't have a crap load from one set and virtually none from another set.

Ok, let's say you want to build a deck using cards spanning 3 sets. So basically 12 boosters per set. If you buy them individually, it would cost $144 before taxes, and if you boxes, it would cost $255. I wonder which one is cheaper. Oh that's right. The individual packs are cheaper, because buying a box guarantees you get a lot of repeat commons, which you aren't guaranteed to find a person willing to trade for those exact cards.

The part I am mad about is suggesting to people that throwing a higher amount of money on 1 thing is better than paying little by little, even if buying the bulk item is cheaper. I buy individual packs. What happens here is I can control how many of each pack I want. I can buy 10 Noble victories, 10 Emerging Powers, and I would still have enough cash to buy Next Destinies if it comes out.

Maybe the OP doesn't want to buy a crapload of cards from the same set, nor does the OP have enough cash to afford an entire box. If you are low on cash, buying single packs is better than buying a box. Buying a box denies you from buying any other pack froma different set, unless you can find a way to sell those packs away, but then again, you are going to open up all the packs anyway in hopes of getting a super secret rare.

Let me give you an analogy. You can buy a bag of chips for 50 cents or 3 bags for $1.00 There is seriously no point in buying 3 bags if only 1 bag is going to get eaten. My Dad thinks like that. Buy so much because it is cheaper, and all the cereal he buys goes to waste because we never eat it. Same goes with the booster boxes. You have 36 packs, and most of its contents ends up as garbage, unless you can make use of every single common card, or if you are buying a booster box with the intention to sell the packs individually, open it up to sell as singles, or draft.
 

Blakexd9

poek is pret good
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

I have never gotten a booster box. I usually buy single packs at my local card shop. If I don't buy them there I buy them at Wal-Mart.

This is absolutely ridiculous. If you buy one pack it isn't much of a big deal, but if you buy multiple packs, it adds up.
 

signofzeta

Aspiring Trainer
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

Blakexd9 said:
I have never gotten a booster box. I usually buy single packs at my local card shop. If I don't buy them there I buy them at Wal-Mart.

This is absolutely ridiculous. If you buy one pack it isn't much of a big deal, but if you buy multiple packs, it adds up.

If the intention is to buy a few packs from each set, then buying packs individually is much better than buying booster boxes.

Buying booster boxes means that you are willing to invest in 36 packs all at once. This negates you from choosing which packs you want in a longer time period.

The reason for me buying single packs is I can choose which packs I want. I don't even own 36 packs of any particular pokemon set, the max I think I bought was 12. Yeah, the price adds up, but I have 36 packs spanning across multiple sets, rather than 36 packs from 1 set.

Man, if I bought booster box of Noble Victories rather than individual packs, I wouldn't have enough cash to buy Photon Shockwave and Innistrad packs.

Before I continue further, how many of you have really low income? Out of those people, how many of you buy booster boxes rather than individual packs? Out of that group, how many of you open all your packs in that box? Ok out of that group, how many of you have cards that you will never use? Ok from that group, how many of you have cards in a trade binder that never seems to get traded away because no one wants them? Out of those cards, how many are 5th copies of one particular card?
 

Megaphone

Ship it! ™
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

Why are you arguing into nothingness? Nobody here is is really disagreeing with your points, and nobody here is following the examples you're making in your points. You are quite literally having an argument with nobody.

Who are you directing your posts to? What point are you trying to argue against? (And has that point already been talked about and shelved since everybody already understands it?)
 

Ophie

Aspiring Trainer
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

I think the biggest difference here is how the cards are distributed in the packs.

The Pokémon TCG is generous with rare cards and are thus plentiful. If you open up a certain amount of packs, you're bound to find something you can use. A box of packs contains enough that you can pick out what you want, sell to some store what you don't, and buy individual cards for anything you're missing. With Magic, rare cards are distributed somewhat randomly around packs, and there are categories above that where you're hard-pressed to find one even if you run a store. The other thing is that common and uncommon cards are almost always required to play a viable deck in Pokémon, whereas in Yu-Gi-Oh! and, to a lesser extent, in Magic, the powerful rare cards don't need common card support at all. Buying packs in bulk in Pokémon means that whatever card you need, you're practically guaranteed to find the common cards you need to support your deck with.

At least, that's my explanation.

By the way, I am from a low-income household. I pretty much only go to pre-releases for cards, as I no longer play in tournaments. (Well, not until I can get my family's income level up.) Package delivery in my neighborhood is also a gamble due to a high theft rate and negligent couriers (which also eliminates selling back cards). Buying individual packs from brick-and-mortar stores is the best way for me to go.
 

Vulpix-core

heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

I wouldn't be complaining. I know a collector's store that sells booster packs for around 10 dollars. 4 is not too bad...
 

PokePhD

PokéBeach Verified Seller
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

Yeah, I never buy packs unless I have a gift card for that particular store.

It's always best to buy packs online. Often times you can get packs for $2.50 a pop or less and shipping usually isn't too bad.

Edit: I once got three Base set packs at a dollar store when I was a kid. Pulled a Venusuar and a Charizard! I was STOKED!
 

xGallade

Galladite
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

My booster boxes just came in the mail today! (B&W Base Set and Emerging Powers)

I'm psyched!

This isn't really the place for a post like this (details in PM) ~Glace
 

King Arceus

Aspiring Trainer
Elite Member
Advanced Member
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

I'm a collector, not just a player so I do buy by the box, not individual packs. My normal routine is judge 1-2 PRs, play in 1 or 2 PRs, buy 1 box of the set then trade for things I don't need. I know one person that does tons of online trading so I can easily get rid of rares I don't need. I usually end up with more than that also for a set since there is often 1 or 2 Premier Events that take place which I judge.
 

Mameshiba

Aspiring Trainer
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

I see every reason to complain about this. Magic you get more cards and now they are a little cheaper than Pokemon cards. There really is no reason to push Pokemon card prices up by $.75. They aren't the cool e-Reader cards. It's not as popular as it was when it first came out. Idk Nintendo, maybe it's to make up for their bad sales report recently lol. Buying at places like Wal Mart or Target, is just more of a convenience. Getting groceries? Hm, kinda want just want a pack or two. And not every place in the world has an awesome card/comic shop (which they should ;A; ). But if you can find one, go buy at the smaller business. Most of the time, as everyone has mentioned, they are cheap and you are helping that little shop. c:

As far as buying a box goes, those are the best if you are a collector and a set like this one comes out. It has Rare EXs, more than 4 FA, and 4 secret rare shinnies. Also, if you need a lot of harder to find rares for a deck, and are unlucky (like myself), then go for it. Honestly, getting a box to me is pretty fun. Like some crazy mini Christmas. Sometimes you'll get your money back in cards (I love you too Triumphant). I've seen people buy boxes together though, which is probably the best thing. Two to four people split the cost for a box, and then all of you trade around the cards you need.
 

outofideas82

Gengar fan since Red
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

As stated, boxes are great for collectors. Another thing worth noting is many people can't make it out to their league every week so getting a box helps cover the fact that they can't trade as often. For me, the higher up I got at work the less I was able to make it out to league (to the point where I have only been able to make special events now) so I like to pick up a box for each set that comes out now.

Another thing I'd like to say, PLEASE buy from your local store whenever possible. I'm in the restaurant industry myself, but think about where you go to play every week, and if they sell the products your buying online or at a big box store. If it only costs a couple bucks more, and you have the money to spare, why not help the store that allows you to enjoy your league. The extent you go with this all depends on your income, etc (I'm not saying someone whos struggling should be spending an extra 30%+, but if your comfortable, pitch in and support your local businesses. Yea, being able to save $20-30 on a box online is great, but what good does it do for you when your local card store closes down because they don't have the sales they need to keep going?

If your store has a box at $140 and you've got a box online at $80 after shipping, why not try asking the manager/owner if there is any wiggle room on the price, and show them the price online? Chances are they may be able to meet you at $110 and you'll get the cards today rather than waiting.

Can't wait for Next Destinies. I personally plan on picking up two boxes of this set as I'm really excited for it (and have excess cash due to never doing much since I'm always stuck at work, haha)
 

Videoland

Aspiring Trainer
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

Here in sweden the standard price for packs is 49 SEK which is 6,91 USD. Some toy stores might even take 59 SEK (8,32 USD), but if you lucky you can find a comic store that might take 40 SEK (5,64 USD) :(
 

Ophie

Aspiring Trainer
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

Mameshiba said:
I see every reason to complain about this. Magic you get more cards and now they are a little cheaper than Pokemon cards. There really is no reason to push Pokemon card prices up by $.75. They aren't the cool e-Reader cards. It's not as popular as it was when it first came out. Idk Nintendo, maybe it's to make up for their bad sales report recently lol. Buying at places like Wal Mart or Target, is just more of a convenience. Getting groceries? Hm, kinda want just want a pack or two. And not every place in the world has an awesome card/comic shop (which they should ;A; ). But if you can find one, go buy at the smaller business. Most of the time, as everyone has mentioned, they are cheap and you are helping that little shop. c:

The prices have gone up for the reasons that the Pokémon TCG is ahead in the race against Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic: The Gathering and because the price of raw materials have gone up (namely paper). Nintendo can afford to charge more because demand has gone up, and its biggest rival in TCGs, Yu-Gi-Oh!, is already at that price.

If a company is struggling with sales, the last thing it's going to do is raise prices. When there's an increase in price, demand goes down, especially if the competitors' prices aren't going up with it (see Netflix for an example--until they reversed the fee increase, people canceled their subscriptions and went to Redbox, and ironically, Blockbuster instead). When you see something go up in price, it means the company that makes that product or runs that service is confident.

outofideas82 said:
Another thing I'd like to say, PLEASE buy from your local store whenever possible. I'm in the restaurant industry myself, but think about where you go to play every week, and if they sell the products your buying online or at a big box store. If it only costs a couple bucks more, and you have the money to spare, why not help the store that allows you to enjoy your league. The extent you go with this all depends on your income, etc (I'm not saying someone whos struggling should be spending an extra 30%+, but if your comfortable, pitch in and support your local businesses. Yea, being able to save $20-30 on a box online is great, but what good does it do for you when your local card store closes down because they don't have the sales they need to keep going?

If your store has a box at $140 and you've got a box online at $80 after shipping, why not try asking the manager/owner if there is any wiggle room on the price, and show them the price online? Chances are they may be able to meet you at $110 and you'll get the cards today rather than waiting.

There is, however, a difference between setting the prices to remain stable as a business and outright price-gouging because their customers are too loyal or don't know any better. That early-day $45 deck, for instance, was price-gouging, as I saw other small businesses sell it for $20 or less later on. Small businesses get that underdog type of sympathy, but that means particularly savvy and/or cunning small business owners can charge whatever they want from such people. It creates a local monopoly because that business doesn't have to be competitive, and any monopoly that isn't government-run (and some that are) is BAD for the consumer. For instance, when I was in Santa Cruz, I saw small businesses at their ugliest: One grocery store charged, say, 2 to 3 times the price per pound for apples as other grocery stores (including other locally run ones). The reason they could get away with it was that they projected this image in their appearance, layout, and advertising of them being this "good earth" type of place. People believed it, and they've since had this group of customers who don't buy groceries anywhere else. This became a popular thing to do, and so many other small businesses around that area have dramatically inflated prices because they, too, have their own loyal group of customers.

I'm not speaking against buying from small businesses--but that you, the customer, have to be as smart as the business owners, because they aren't necessarily morally better than the people running huge corporations. If you're going to shop among small and/or local businesses, you should do price comparisons too (and don't be afraid to say that if they ask what you're doing--they know they need to be competitive too, and their competitors' prices are valuable information), and buy from the place that has the lowest prices. However, once you find such a place, don't stop comparing prices, because small businesses are more likely to increase or decrease prices with demand: If you see that the price in the store you've found has gone up, check to see if some other store's prices have gone down accordingly.

Just going to one particular store is the worst thing to do for your wallet, because that makes you a loyal customer, and you create a situation like that grocery store I mentioned up there. If enough people do it, then that store has created a monopoly and can thus charge whatever they feel like rather than what their competitors are charging. This is not like, say, restaurants, where every small business has a slightly different product. (Not that those $17 garden salads in Santa Cruz didn't annoy me.) A pack or box of Pokémon cards is the same everywhere you go.
 

signofzeta

Aspiring Trainer
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

For me, it's either drive 5 miles to the nearest card shop that sells pokemon cards, or buy from Wally.
 

Glace

Top 8, Worlds 2013
Advanced Member
Member
RE: $4.17 Per Booster Pack at Wal-Mart?!

Mameshiba said:
As far as buying a box goes, those are the best if you are a collector and a set like this one comes out. It has Rare EXs, more than 4 FA, and 4 secret rare shinnies. Also, if you need a lot of harder to find rares for a deck, and are unlucky (like myself), then go for it. Honestly, getting a box to me is pretty fun. Like some crazy mini Christmas. Sometimes you'll get your money back in cards (I love you too Triumphant). I've seen people buy boxes together though, which is probably the best thing. Two to four people split the cost for a box, and then all of you trade around the cards you need.

Actually, the pull rates for ND are 2 EXs, 1 FA EX, and a 50/50 chance of getting a SR.



Reminder: this thread is to discussion the high price of Pokémon Packs, not where you get your Pokémon packs (recommendations however are fine).
 
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