Best places to buy Pokemon Booster Boxes in Canada
Best places to buy Pokemon Booster Boxes in Canada
Whether you are just getting into Pokemon or have been a collector for some time, it's no secret that stores all over the country want to take part in the franchises success by offering their sealed products. However, unlike Elite Trainer Boxes, Collection Boxes and the odd Booster pack that you can find at every checkout counter, booster boxes are a bit harder to find. Even one of the world's largest retailer Walmart doesn't carry Pokemon booster boxes (excluding their online marketplace sellers).
What is a Pokemon Booster Box?
While Pokemon cards are sold in a wide variety of formats, the Pokemon Booster Box is by far the most cost-effective way to buy packs of Pokemon cards — if you can afford the upfront cost. Booster Boxes are composed of 36 Pokemon Booster Packs that each contain 10 cards. They are the same packs you see individually being sold except you get 36 in a compact box.
Why should you buy a Booster Box instead of other products?
If we break it down, you may find individual packs selling for anywhere from $5.99 - $7.99 at your everyday stores. This adds up quickly when you buy multiple packs. Now booster boxes contain 36 packs each, which would make your cost fall into the range of $215 - $287 — when you could buy the booster box in the $140-$185 range (example of common launch prices for new sets)
Now that we've covered why the Booster Box is the best bang for your buck, let's talk about the best places to buy them in Canada.
Buy Booster Boxes Online
There's been a huge shift in spending habits since the pandemic and most have turned to online stores to acquire just about anything, Booster boxes are no exception and they get delivered right to your door. Often, you can find prices that are slightly better than in stores even after paying for shipping - some of these retailers have free shipping after you spend a certain amount too.
You can find a variety of Pokemon Booster boxes in our own store or at other online retailers that ship Canada-wide.
Local Game Store — Specialized game store
So here we aren't talking about your large big box retailer, but rather your local game store or Card Shop — depending on where you live, simply open up Google and search for "Game Store" or "Card Shop", you can even include the word Pokemon to see better results. In most cases, the ones that sell sealed Pokemon Products will have Booster Boxes or can order them for you. An example of such a store is Trinity Hobby in Ottawa Ontario which sells a variety of games, trading card games, board games and figures / miniatures.
One thing to note, beware of Shops that inflate prices because they don't havce much local competition, it would be advisable to look up the product you are planning to purchase online to get some price comparable and see if their price is within market.
Facebook Marketplace & Kijiji
If you prefer to shop around for some deals you may be inclined to look on secondhand marketplaces. This requires some knowledge of what you are looking for as there are a decent number of fakes and counterfeit items on the market. Nonetheless, you can score some good deals on Booster boxes if you find the right seller.
Avoid buying Pokemon Booster Boxes from these places!
You may have been browsing online and found some really good deals on Amazon and Walmart for these booster boxes - unfortunately these platforms have yet to implement a proper way to remove fakes and counterfeits and there are a plethora. It happens too often and the worst part is that getting your money back is a real pain. If you plan to purchase authentic boxes it would be best to navigate away from these platforms as you can't guarantee that you aren't being sold fake products. (for Pokemon)
Conclusion
While booster boxes do provide the best option to save money per pack, where you buy them is an important decision as you wouldn't want to end up with counterfeits on your hands. The safest bet is to purchase these from sites or retailers that specialize in Pokemon TCG products and can guide you to the right choice for your situation.