VTM Vending TCG / Field Data
Case Study / 28 Days / Cleveland, OH
A Shell Gas Station Cleared $922 in Profit from One Pokemon Vending Machine in 28 Days.
Real transaction data from one VTM Vending Pokemon TCG vending machine deployed at a 24-hour Shell gas station in Cleveland, Ohio. Below: the setup, the numbers, and what the buying pattern tells operators looking to build a Pokemon vending route in 2026.
$2,057
Gross Revenue
$922
Gross Profit
44.8%
Blended Margin
$32.93
Profit Per Day
01 / The Location
A 24-hour Shell station in Cleveland, OH.
Convenience retail with extended hours is one of the strongest environments for unattended Pokemon TCG vending. The gas station does what every TCG operator wants: it concentrates foot traffic at non-retail hours, sells inelastic products like fuel and tobacco that pull customers inside regardless of weather, and creates a captive dwell while customers wait at the register or pump.
This particular location pulled most of its TCG sales after dark. Two-thirds of all vends in the 28-day window happened between 6 PM and 6 AM. That is the kind of demand profile a hobby shop simply cannot capture.
Why Gas Stations Work
Late-night customers, no employee touch points required, and zero competition from local card shops between 9 PM and 9 AM. The machine prints money during the hours every other TCG retailer is closed.
02 / The Setup
Ten Pokemon TCG SKUs across current sets and proven legacy product.
The machine ran a 10-SKU rotation of Pokemon TCG product anchored by the newest premium release and tailed by a small selection of proven Sword and Shield and Scarlet and Violet sets. Vend prices ranged from $17 to $39 depending on set, age, and product format. Cost-of-goods landed between $9.50 and $20 per unit. Margin discipline across the lineup held at a blended 44.8%.
The composition is intentional. Lead with the newest set to capture peak demand. Hold three to four slots for current mid-priced singles. Reserve one or two slots for older sets that still pull set-completer purchases. Restock the top mover weekly. Cycle the bottom mover monthly. Operators sourcing through the VTM Vending Pokemon booster pack catalog can build this exact planogram at wholesale pricing.
Planogram Logic
Aggressive rotation matters more than slot count. A 10-SKU machine running the right mix outperforms a 20-SKU machine sitting on aging stock. The operator's job is to know what is hot, source it in advance, and keep the top three slots loaded every week.
03 / The Numbers
75 transactions. 76 units sold. $922 in gross profit.
$73.46
Revenue per day
28 days from April 17 to May 15, 2026
$27.43
Average ticket
75 transactions, 76 units
44.8%
Blended gross margin
$2,057 revenue, $1,135 COGS
Revenue by Product
Full Performance Table
| Product | Units | Vend $ | Revenue | Profit | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascended Heroes | 21 | $39.00 | $819.00 | $399.00 | 48.7% |
| S&V Prismatic Evolutions | 11 | $28.00 | $308.00 | $115.50 | 37.5% |
| Mega Evolution Phantasmal Flames | 12 | $19.00 | $228.00 | $72.00 | 31.6% |
| Mega Evolution (base) | 10 | $17.00 | $170.00 | $75.00 | 44.1% |
| S&V Obsidian Flames | 7 | $23.00 | $161.00 | $80.50 | 50.0% |
| S&V Black Bolt | 6 | $24.00 | $144.00 | $72.00 | 50.0% |
| Sword and Shield Chilling Reign | 3 | $30.00 | $90.00 | $36.00 | 40.0% |
| S&V Stellar Crown | 3 | $22.00 | $66.00 | $37.50 | 56.8% |
| Sword and Shield Silver Tempest | 2 | $24.00 | $48.00 | $21.00 | 43.8% |
| S&V Twilight Masquerade | 1 | $23.00 | $23.00 | $13.50 | 58.7% |
| 28-Day Total | 76 | $27.43 | $2,057.00 | $922.00 | 44.8% |
When Customers Bought
37%
Overnight
12 AM to 6 AM
28%
Evening
6 PM to 12 AM
21%
Afternoon
12 PM to 6 PM
13%
Morning
6 AM to 12 PM
65% of all transactions happened between 6 PM and 6 AM. The machine works hardest when no one is staffing the store.
04 / What the Data Says
Four patterns worth pulling out of the noise.
PATTERN 01
Ascended Heroes was a monster.
One product drove $819 in revenue and $399 in profit over the 28-day window. That is 40% of total revenue and 43% of total profit from a single SKU. The newest Pokemon set carried the machine.
The pattern repeats across every TCG vending machine we monitor: the freshest set out-pulls every other product on the planogram by a wide margin. The operator job is to source it early, run it heavy, and never let it stock out.
Operator Move
Source Ascended Heroes booster packs at $15.50 wholesale. Vend at $27 for $11.50 in profit per pack at 42.6% margin. In stock and ready to ship from VTM Vending.
Buy Ascended Heroes PacksPATTERN 02
Newer sets crush older sets.
The newest releases on the machine (Ascended Heroes, both Mega Evolution sets, and Prismatic Evolutions) drove $1,525 of the $2,057 in revenue, or 74% of the take. The four older SwSh and legacy S&V sets combined for just $252. The lesson for any operator: rotate aggressively. Old stock pays the rent on shelf space and does not earn its keep on the top line.
PATTERN 03
Pricing has room to move.
Phantasmal Flames vended at $19 against a $13 cost, producing just 31.6% margin. That is the weakest margin in the entire lineup. Prismatic Evolutions at $28 against $17.50 cost (37.5% margin) is also priced below the 50% margin floor that Obsidian Flames and Black Bolt both clear. Lifting Phantasmal Flames to $22 and Prismatic to $30 would have added roughly $58 to the 28-day profit number with no expected impact on velocity.
PATTERN 04
This is a nocturnal machine.
65% of all sales occurred between 6 PM and 6 AM, and 37% happened between midnight and 6 AM. The buying customer here is not the after-school crowd. It is the gas station's overnight regulars: shift workers, drivers, late-night convenience shoppers. The machine is generating revenue during hours when card shops, hobby stores, and big-box retailers are closed. That is the entire pitch for unattended TCG retail.
05 / Takeaways
If you are running a Pokemon vending route, here is the playbook.
- Lead the planogram with the hottest current set. Three-quarters of revenue at this location came from sets released in the last 12 months, and Ascended Heroes alone drove 40% of revenue. Source Ascended Heroes booster packs at $15.50 and vend at $27 for 42.6% margin in stock. Rotate to the next hot set the moment it lands.
- Hold a 50% gross margin floor on single packs. Anything priced below that floor is a candidate for a price test. The data here showed two SKUs sitting under 40% with no apparent velocity penalty if lifted. Use the Pokemon vending profit calculator to model the impact of a price move before pushing it to the field.
- Cull slow movers in week two. One SKU at this machine sold once in 28 days. Pull it after the first two weeks and reuse the slot for current product. Slot economics outweigh SKU count every time.
- Prioritize 24-hour placements when scouting locations. Two-thirds of vends happened after 6 PM. Gas stations, c-stores, hotels, laundromats, and airports are the highest-yield environments for unattended TCG vending precisely because their hours do not overlap with hobby retail.
- Restock during off-peak windows. Demand peaks between 6 PM and 6 AM at this kind of location. Plan restock visits for midday to minimize lost sales during peak hours, and use the dwell to audit the planogram while you are on site.
06 / The Hardware
The four machines we ship to gas station, c-store, and hotel operators.
The Cleveland Shell location ran a single touchscreen Pokemon vending machine. Four chassis options fit different footprints, slot counts, and traffic volumes. All four are touchscreen, age-gate capable, and ship with the planogram framework that produced these numbers.
Mini Wall
Smallest footprint in the lineup. Built for tight retail counter caps, bar back-counters, and lower-volume placements where every inch of wall space is contested.
Shop Mini Wall
Slim Wall
The most popular VTM Vending chassis for c-store and gas station deployments. Touchscreen interface, balanced capacity, and the same form factor running in the Cleveland Shell case study above.
Shop Slim Wall
Mega Wall 2.0
Highest capacity wall-mount in the lineup. Built for high-traffic locations that can support 15+ SKUs and frequent restocks. The top revenue producer per slot across our deployed fleet.
Shop Mega Wall 2.0
Slim Tower 2.0
Free-standing tower for floor placement. Built for hotel lobbies, lounges, laundromats, and locations where wall mounting is not an option. Touchscreen interface, footprint optimized for foot traffic.
Shop Slim Tower 2.007 / Frequently Asked
Operator questions on Pokemon TCG vending profitability.
How much can a Pokemon vending machine make per month?
This case study tracked one machine at a 24-hour Shell gas station in Cleveland, Ohio over a 28-day window. It generated $2,057 in gross revenue and $922 in gross profit, which projects to roughly $988 in monthly gross profit at this kind of location. Monthly take varies with location traffic, planogram mix, restock cadence, and whether the operator is stocking the newest Pokemon TCG releases. Model your own numbers with the Pokemon vending machine profit calculator.
Why do gas stations outperform card shops for Pokemon vending?
The machine in this case study did 65% of its sales between 6 PM and 6 AM, and 37% of vends happened between midnight and 6 AM. Card shops are closed during those hours. Gas stations, c-stores, hotels, and laundromats capture the late-night, shift-worker, and convenience-shopper traffic that brick-and-mortar TCG retail simply cannot reach. The vending machine becomes the only Pokemon retailer open in a several-mile radius for half of every day.
What is the gross margin on Pokemon booster pack vending?
This machine ran a blended 44.8% gross margin across 10 SKUs. Top performers cleared 50% to 59%. The weakest SKUs sat near 31%. A 50% floor on single-pack vend pricing is realistic for most current Pokemon TCG sets sourced through wholesale, and operators sourcing through the VTM Vending Pokemon booster pack catalog get the wholesale cost basis used in this case study.
How many SKUs should a Pokemon TCG vending machine carry?
This case study ran 10 SKUs. The four newest sets generated 74% of revenue. The four oldest legacy sets combined for just $252, or 12%. The data points to a clear principle: slot economics matter more than slot count. A tight 10-SKU planogram with aggressive rotation outperforms a 20-SKU planogram sitting on aging stock. Pull anything that does not move in 14 days and replace it with current product.
How often should I restock a Pokemon vending machine?
Once weekly for the top mover, monthly for the bottom mover. The hottest current release on this machine (Ascended Heroes) sold 21 units in 28 days, or roughly 5 units per week, and needed weekly attention. Older sets sold 1 to 3 units across the entire 28-day window and can ride for several weeks between visits. Build the restock route around the top three movers.
When is the best time to restock a TCG vending machine?
Restock midday. This machine peaked between 6 PM and 6 AM with 65% of all sales in that window. Daytime restocking minimizes lost vends during peak demand and gives the operator a chance to audit the planogram, check temperature, verify cash and card collection, and clean the touchscreen without competing with customer traffic.
What is the cost of goods on a Pokemon booster pack from VTM Vending?
The 10 SKUs in this case study had wholesale costs between $9.50 and $20 per pack. Ascended Heroes (the top performer) landed at $15.50 wholesale and vended at $27 for $11.50 of gross profit per pack. Cost varies by set, format, and availability. The full booster pack lineup is in the VTM Vending Pokemon booster pack collection at operator wholesale pricing.
Which VTM Vending machine is best for Pokemon TCG vending?
The Slim Wall is the most-deployed chassis across the VTM Vending Pokemon vending fleet and is the same form factor used in this Cleveland Shell case study. For tight footprints, the Mini Wall fits where the Slim Wall will not. For high-traffic locations supporting 15+ SKUs, the Mega Wall 2.0 is the top revenue producer per slot. For floor placement in hotel lobbies, laundromats, and lounges, the Slim Tower 2.0 is built for free-standing deployment. Full lineup is in the VTM Vending Pokemon vending machine collection.
08 / Keep Going
Resources for operators building a Pokemon vending route.
Calculator
Pokemon Vending Machine Profit Calculator
Plug in your own vend prices, wholesale cost, and weekly vend rate to model what a single machine or full route can produce.
Run The NumbersOperator Guide
Pokemon Card Vending as Passive Income in 2026
The full operator playbook covering location scouting, set rotation strategy, restock cadence, and the route economics behind a multi-machine deployment.
Read The GuideWholesale Catalog
Pokemon Booster Pack Wholesale
Source the same current and legacy Pokemon TCG sets stocked in this case study. Wholesale operator pricing for VTM Vending machine owners.
Shop Booster PacksFor TCG Vending Operators
Build a Pokemon vending route that runs like this one.
If you own and operate machines placed into gas stations, c-stores, hotels, laundromats, and other unattended retail, VTM Vending is the platform built for it. Same hardware, planogram framework, and operator support that produced these Cleveland numbers, plus a stocked Pokemon TCG product pipeline so your slots are never empty.
Shop Pokemon Vending Machines1,500+ machines deployed across all 50 states
5 comments
Forget the stale chips and the sugar-coated lies, Old-school vending is where the margin goes to die. Those dusty glass boxes? A relic of the past, Built for pennies and nickels that were never meant to last. Enter the Holofoil. The high-voltage play. Where pocket monsters turn the neon to gray. Sealed booster cases, factory-fresh and tight, Glow like a jackpot in the dead of the night. No crinkling of bills, no “Out of Order” signs, Just the haptic click of digital lines. Tap the glass, watch the lightning descend— Buy the pack. Break the odds. Rule the trend. The margins are thick and the maintenance is thin, While the rest of the world waits for change to kick in.
Sports card vending machines have traditionally meant expensive elevator-style machines that cost a fortune and were often overkill for simple card pack sales. Many of those systems were built for boxed items, not flat, flexible trading card packs, making them costly without actually protecting the product. Newer sports card vending machines change that equation. Our machines use 22 mm coils engineered specifically for sports card packs, allowing cards to dispense smoothly without bent corners, crushed edges, or damaged foil—at a fraction of the cost of elevator machines. The result is a purpose-built, card-safe vending solution that makes sports card vending more accessible, scalable, and profitable.
The mini wall TCG vending machine is a game changer! Affordable and low barrier to entry!
Wow your Pokémon vending machines are insanely cheap compared to other vendors. How much do the sports card vending machines make compared to the Pokemon card vending machines?
For kids, it feels exciting to walk up to a machine and not know exactly what you’ll get, and for adults, it brings back a bit of that childhood thrill. These machines also help keep prices fair and make sure the products are real. Overall, Pokémon vending machines turn a quick stop at a store or mall into a small moment of fun.