People are paying $5,000 for 'Power Packs' of Pokemon cards at GameStop. For some, it's paying off big time

Buyers can instantly sell back any cards they want to GameStop at 90% of the card's fair market value, minus a 6% selling fee (2). (They can also choose to sell them via Ebay or other methods, likely earning more, but those will take longer for them to receive the funds.)

If you're doing the math at home, GameStop's own published odds say there's a 72% chance the card you pull is worth less than the $5,000 you paid — buyers who take the instant buyback get 90% of the card's value minus a 6% fee, meaning a card listed at $4,000 nets them about $3,360.

The pull is randomized within bands the house sets, meaning the math runs the same direction it does in Vegas. But that's not stopping some collectors from rolling the dice.

Significant rewards, despite the math

There are six tiers of digital Power Packs, ranging from $25 to $5,000. Each tier draws from a different pool of PSA-graded cards, and GameStop publishes the odds that your card will fall within certain value ranges. Higher tiers have better odds of high-value cards but don't guarantee them — at the $25 Starter level, you could end up with a card worth far less than you paid. (3).

The more you pay, the better the chances that your pack will contain a high-level card, the company says.

Prices start as low as $25 and, until recently, were capped at $2,500. But after announcing the Ebay bid, GameStop began offering a $5,000 “Neutronium” option.

The rewards are significant. Among the cards GameStop says are hidden (4) in the packs are a 1999 Charizard-Holo, valued at more than $68,000; a Mewtwo-Holo from 2006, worth nearly $61,000; and a Vaporeon 2007 Holo card, worth over $60,000.

GameStop puts odds of hitting the jackpot tail — a card worth more than $40,000 — at 0.4%.

Hit-to-miss ratio

GameStop has been actively promoting the program through its official Power Packs account and sponsored creators. On May 9, Roaring Sensei — a paid GameStop ambassador who streams Power Pack openings on YouTube, Twitch, and X — opened 60 packs from mixed tiers over several hours in a sponsored broadcast (5).