Our estimate of how much of a Pokémon card's list price is kept by the shops and distributors on each route to the shelf

What this is

Our estimate of how much of a Pokémon card's list price is kept by the shops and distributors on each route to the shelf: about 50–62% on the US hobby route, 41–62% through Excell to the big chains, 35–50% at GameStop, 45–71% through Asmodee in Europe and about 38% in Japan. On TPC's own Pokémon Center route, nothing goes to anyone else.

How it’s built

1. Each route's cut is one minus the share of list that reaches the publisher, taken from our estimates of that share by route.
2. Japan's figure comes from our estimates of Japanese card spending at list, about ¥162.4bn, and TPC's Japanese card revenue, about ¥100.7bn: the ¥61.7bn gap is 38% of list.

What we assumed

• The publisher's share of list on each route sits in our estimated bands.No company publishes what TPCi charges any distributor or shop; the bands rest on Alliance's old price levels, Asmodee's margin and GameStop's direct buying.
• The cut is measured at list price.Anything a shop charges above list on a scarce set is extra and is not counted here.

Sanity check

A Magic retailer's blog gives an industry-standard store margin of 45–50%, at or near the store part of the hobby band. It is a gross cut: store wages and rent come out of it.

The value

• Games: excluded: Nintendo's channel

Some detail is too fine to show here; it is kept in the trainer’s notes.

Where it comes from

Our calculation from other figures in the trainer’s notes:

• EstimateThe estimated share of the list price The Pokémon Company receives through each Western sales channel, with a blended 35 to 59 cents per dollar38–59¢
• EstimateWestern channel margin stack per msrp dollar, year to February 2024-year to February 2026
• EstimateCard channel take at list by tier, TPC year to February 2026