Target joins GameStop in hiking Pokémon TCG prices above MSRP

Target has quietly raised prices on several Pokémon TCG products, with the increases taking effect on June 26 and no explanation offered to customers. The move puts Target alongside GameStop in a growing trend of major retailers charging above the manufacturer's suggested retail price for popular Pokémon card products.

Polygon reporter Patricia Hernandez flagged the specific numbers: the Ascended Heroes Booster Bundle — a box of six packs with an MSRP of $26.94 — was already being sold at Target for $29.99, and has now climbed to $31.99. That puts it nearly 20 percent above what it should cost. The same pattern has hit booster bundles from several other popular sets. GameStop's increases are described as far more aggressive, but Target's quieter markups follow the same logic: buy at wholesale, sell at whatever the desperate market will bear.

The irony here is hard to miss. Target had been one of the more visible retailers actually fighting scalpers — Hernandez had previously covered the chain breaking seals on products before they leave the store and reportedly requiring ID for purchases to prevent bulk buying. Those moves were framed as protecting legitimate customers from the scalper ecosystem that strips shelves and resells at inflated prices online. Raising prices above MSRP undercuts all of that goodwill and essentially hands scalpers a blueprint: if the store itself won't sell at the official price, why would anyone expect the secondary market to?

Kotaku has reached out to Target for comment and will update if the company responds. For now, customers hunting Pokémon TCG products are stuck choosing between shelf-cleared stores, online scalpers, and now retailers doing the scalping themselves.