Estimated share of a Western card's list price that reaches TPC, by sales route

What this is

Estimated share of a Western card's list price that reaches TPC, by sales route: US hobby stores via distributors 38–50¢ per dollar; US mass retail 38–59¢; Europe via Asmodee 32–44¢; TPC's own Pokémon Center 100¢. Blended, about 36–54¢ (central 44–47¢).

How it’s built

1. For each route, the share is what the store pays as a share of list price, times one minus the middleman's margin.
2. Store costs come from distributors' published price tiers and normal retail margins; Asmodee's margin from its accounts.
3. The blend weights the routes by assumed shares of volume.

What we assumed

• US distributor margins are 10–25% of their selling price.Below Asmodee's 33–36%, because US distributors do less for the publisher; none publishes its margin.
• Mass retailers pay 50–65% of list.Retail margins of 35–50% are the norm; no contract is public.
• Route weights are assumed.TPC does not say how much goes through each route.

Sanity check

No route except TPC's own shop returns more than the store's own cost, so half of list (50¢) sits in the upper half of the range. GameStop buys direct from TPC, which this split does not separate out.

Where it comes from

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

• EstimateMagic retail margin ref, Jul 2025
• EstimateHobby store Pokémon margin (single store), March 2025

Where it’s used

• ProfileExcell Brands
• ProfileMJ Holding
• ProfileCard distribution channel (distributors, hobby stores, mass retail)

Related figures

Built from this one

• EstimateA 2018 benchmark from Magic53%
• EstimateAn estimate of how much of each Western list-price dollar reaches The Pokémon Company in the year to February 2026
• 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¢