How it’s built
- The shelf price was reported by Kotaku in November 2025 and March 2026.
- Divided by the $161.64 list price. The margin is the shelf price less an assumed cost of 50–65% of list, over the shelf price.
What we assumed
- The list price is $161.64.Kotaku quoted an older $143.64 list from before the Scarlet & Violet price rise, so the current list is used instead.
- GameStop pays 50–65% of list for the box.Its buying price is not published; shops typically pay about half of list, and a direct buyer may pay a little more.
Sanity check
The same shelf price was reported in November 2025 and again in March 2026. The margin depends entirely on the assumed cost.
Where it comes from
Our calculation from other figures in the trainer’s notes:
- ReportedUS booster display list price, SV era (Obsidian Flames, Aug 2023), 11 August 2023 release161.64
- EstimatePitch black display secondary against msrp, July 2026 to August 2026
Show the working
- Shelf $: 240
- List price $: 162
- P: 1.49
- Implied SKU gross margin at cost 0.50-0.65 of list price: 0.562 to 0.663
- 239.99/161.64 = 1.485
- 1 − 0.65 × 161.64/239.99 = 0.562
- 1 − 0.50 × 161.64/239.99 = 0.663
- Kotaku's own MSRP ($143.64) is stale (pre-SV), so the ratio uses $161.64 …