TPCi Has Been Expanding Number of Pokemon TCG Vending Machines in U.S.

Water Pokémon Master

Water Pokémon Master

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Since June of this year, TPCi has nearly tripled the number of its Pokemon TCG vending machines in the United States.
There are now almost 120 active machines. In June, there were only 45. The number of them has fluctuated over the years, with the previous max being around 65 in April 2020, from what we can discern from records.
A limited number of these machines first began to appear in 2017 at malls near TPCi’s headquarters in Washington state. Since then, they’ve expanded to Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, and Texas.
These machines exclusively offer Pokemon TCG merchandise. They are also an effective means of controlling theft. Unfortunately, it does not appear the machines have limits on how many items a customer can buy, as we’ve seen reports of scalpers clearing them out.
Here are their current locations as...
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Ambassador said:
Always found these weird but this is a good point. I imagine this is the primary motivation for them..?


why would I want to support a gang of price gaugers? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Mine is a good one, their prices are reasonable compared to what most people are asking. The gotta make a profit, they're trapped in the same capitalist nightmare we all are

Also reprint Vending series
 
Nintenfreak said:
Mine is a good one, their prices are reasonable compared to what most people are asking. The gotta make a profit, they're trapped in the same capitalist nightmare we all are

Also reprint Vending series
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The actual vendors themselves sell the product to the shops for lower than retail. The shops make the actual prices after that. So if it's increased its 100% on the shop for wanting to scalp it up.
 
Nintenfreak said:
.. That's where retailers make their profit
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Actually an official retailer such as Walmart holds it at suggested retail. As I said, the vendors sell the products to the retailers for well below retail because they buy in large quantities. Their profit margins come from that purchase at a lower rate to what the retail price is. If it's any more than suggested retail they're marking it up purposely.
 
Ambassador said:
why would I want to support a gang of price gaugers? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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It's frustrating honestly, I try to support my locals but they keep using gamestop/ebgames as the benchmark of what counts as good price. EB games selling this booster box for $280 NZD? Well, we can sell ours at a "discount" of $239.99. Meanwhile, via other means, you can get them as low as $204.
 
Feel like it would be hella easy to just break and rob it’s goods.
Might have to install high security on it so that could possibly deter stores to install, as it can increase the volume of crime
 
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Nintenfreak said:
Okay then buy cards directly from TPCi? Like ain't a huge fan of greed personally, but I kind of want my local game store to be able to pay their rent and employees
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What I would like is more transparency on margins. Because you are right, rent and salaries play into product price; but, we just don't know by how much. It's like with my recent pre-order for the classic tcg; I eventually placed a pre-order based on dollar conversions, shipping and discounts, and landed on a palatable number. When comparing with the other 5 local options I had, the difference was anywhere from $10 NZD to $200 NZD.

So yeah, transparency would be a great thing in this industry,
 
Ambassador said:
When I see the owner of my Local Game Store clear out the entire stock of this hypothetical $3 Pokémon TCG product, and then sell it for $6 a piece, they are selling above MSRP. TPCI still only made $1, and Walmart also still only made $1, but the local game store sees fit to make $3 despite having provided nothing of value to me, the end customer.
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This is such an insanely short-sighted take, not to mention you're painting every LGS with a broad brush because you seemingly have one bad one near you. How does an LGS provide "nothing of value", they are THE PLACE people go to play the game and engage with their local communities. Your comment about MSRP is also laughable; if you want to be buying booster boxes for $160 from Walmart or the Pokemon Center website then be my guest, you certainly won't be paying that much at any reputable LGS though. What makes it even funnier is that stores like Walmart and Target price gouge significantly more than any LGS I've ever been to, at least in this area. I've seen brand new tins selling for 40 USD at Target.
 
These machines are convenient and all but I constantly see scalpers clean them out, sometimes before the merchandiser has even left. Granted they're usually only after the 50 or so Evolving Skies booster packs they put in them. If TPCI keeps printing high volumes of newer product then this issue should hopefully go away as well.
 
only mildly peeved that all the texas locations are Houston suburbs, but honestly that's not a bad side distraction next time there's a convention worth going to over there XD
 
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