How much does a retailer (Card stores / Target, etc) pay for a booster box?

[Megaphone]

This better be the right place to post this or else I'm going to be mad.

I have a simple question that spawned out of curiosity! I've tried searching the internets as well as these forums but I have no come across an answer solid enough to satisfy me. About how much does a retailer, whether it be a card store or a large chain like Walmart or Target pay for a booster box? Are they forced to buy them in bulk (i.e, 6 booster boxes per order minimum)?

And, what vendors can they purchase booster boxes from?

Edit: Found out a tad bit more information, at least for myself locally. 'tis in a post below!

 

[Athena]

I can't speak about this situation in particular, but I can speak about big box retail acquisition in general. All of this information is pretty generalized, though, so it's not specific to pokémon card distribution and there may be some discrepancies.

Generally speaking, big box retailers to not buy things on a store basis, they buy them on a company basis. So Walmart, Target etc. don't have those kinds of minimum orders, because that wouldn't be enough to satisfy the whole chain. They buy product by the thousands to account for all of their retail locations. All of those boxes go to a centralized warehouse, where a standard amount is shipped to each store with the rest of their freight, and then replenished based on supply and demand.

Most big box retailers, when dealing with large companies, do not deal with 3rd party vendors when purchasing product (this is much different from having vendors come to the store to set/check planograms and product). The companies tend work directly together to maximize profits (since middlemen distributors minimize profit margins).

Someone who works at a store that sells cards could probably tell you the extended cost (i.e.; what the company paid for the product) of a single blister pack, and then you could multiply out to figure out how much they pay per case. I know how to do that for all the product we sell at my store (since it's an integral function of my job); unfortunately, we don't sell Pokémon cards, so I can't get any specific information.

I can't tell you much about the process for local stores, though. Except to say that they likely pay more on a per pack/box basis than the big box retailers do, because they can't get the good bulk discounts.

 

[Megaphone]

I can't speak about this situation in particular, but I can speak about big box retail acquisition in general. All of this information is pretty generalized, though, so it's not specific to pokémon card distribution and there may be some discrepancies.

Generally speaking, big box retailers to not buy things on a store basis, they buy them on a company basis. So Walmart, Target etc. don't have those kinds of minimum orders, because that wouldn't be enough to satisfy the whole chain. They buy product by the thousands to account for all of their retail locations. All of those boxes go to a centralized warehouse, where a standard amount is shipped to each store with the rest of their freight, and then replenished based on supply and demand.

Most big box retailers, when dealing with large companies, do not deal with 3rd party vendors when purchasing product (this is much different from having vendors come to the store to set/check planograms and product). The companies tend work directly together to maximize profits (since middlemen distributors minimize profit margins).

Someone who works at a store that sells cards could probably tell you the extended cost (i.e.; what the company paid for the product) of a single blister pack, and then you could multiply out to figure out how much they pay per case. I know how to do that for all the product we sell at my store (since it's an integral function of my job); unfortunately, we don't sell Pokémon cards, so I can't get any specific information.

I can't tell you much about the process for local stores, though. Except to say that they likely pay more on a per pack/box basis than the big box retailers do, because they can't get the good bulk discounts.

Thanks for the reply - though I did know all of this information after searching about quite a lot. It's extremely helpful to have it all in one place though <3.

I'll have to ask around when I go to different leagues on the weekend then! I will probably post the results here in case anybody else ever has this question.