Are GameStop Power Packs worth it?
By Britton Jewell · Last updated
Our take: not as a way to make money or get cards cheaper. GameStop publishes the odds, and about 3 in 4 packs give you a card worth less than the pack price. Sell it back and you get about 85% of the card's value. They're worth it only if you'd pay for the rip itself, the way you'd pay for a movie ticket.
Who wrote this: Britton Jewell, a collectibles reseller who runs BuyHoldCollect. We have no affiliate deal with GameStop or PSA. The odds, buyback rate and rules come from GameStop's own Power Packs FAQ, pack pages and official rules (checked ). More about us.
How Power Packs work
Power Packs is a GameStop and PSA site that opened to everyone on April 15, 2026. You pick a category and a level, pay, and open a digital pack that reveals one real PSA-graded card. The card goes into PSA's vault in Delaware. From there you can ship it home, keep it in the vault, or sell it. It's U.S. only, 18 and older.
- Pokémon packs run from $25 (Starter) to $10,000 (Riptonium), with levels at $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000, $2,500 and $5,000 in between.
- There are also Pokémon Rewind and Pokémon On Fire packs ($25 to $5,000), One Piece ($50 to $2,500), and football, baseball and basketball ($25 to $1,000).
- Higher levels give you "a chance at getting higher-value cards but do not guarantee it," per GameStop.
The odds GameStop publishes
Each pack page shows the chance of pulling a card in each value range, and GameStop says the odds update every 5 minutes. Here's the $25 Pokémon Starter pack on October 21, 2026:
| Card value | Chance |
|---|---|
| $17 to $20 | 44.9% |
| $20 to $25 | 29.9% |
| $25 to $50 | 23% |
| $50 to $100 | 1.6% |
| $100 to $200 | 0.5% |
| $200 to $400 | 0.1% |
So 74.8% of the time you get a card worth less than the $25 you paid. About 1 in 4 times you get one worth $25 to $50, and about 1 in 45 you get more than $50.
Every Pokémon level we checked, from $25 to $10,000, had the same shape. The $100 Gold pack, for example: 45.2% for $70 to $85, 30.2% for $85 to $100, 23.1% for $100 to $200, and 1.5% for more than $200. The most likely outcome at every level is a card worth about 60% to 85% of the pack price.
GameStop says it updates cards and values so that "on average over a large sample size, the estimated value of cards purchased for each pack is substantially equivalent to the price of that pack." So on average you get about what you paid in card value. The average is pulled up by the rare big hits, and most packs come in below it.
What the instant buyback pays
The instant buyback pays "90% of the card's fair market value, less a 6% Selling Fee," which comes to about 85%. The values come from Card Ladder, a card sales database. The money goes into a Power Packs wallet, which you can withdraw to your bank or spend on more packs.
On the $25 Starter pack, the most likely card ($17 to $20) sells back for about $14 to $17. Across a lot of packs, if GameStop's average holds, selling every card back returns about $21 per $25 pack.
You can also sell through PSA instead. A card in the PSA vault can be listed on eBay or sold to PSA's partners through PSA Offers. eBay takes 13.25% of a trading card sale plus $0.40 per order, so you'd keep about 86.75% before shipping, a little more than the buyback but slower. For what grading does to a card's price, see is it worth grading?
Shipping a card home or taking it out of the vault can cost extra; PSA lists those fees on its vault page.
The physical Power Packs in stores
GameStop also sells physical Power Packs in its stores and online. The Power Pack 2026 Gold Series 4, released October 10, 2026, is $129.99 ($123.49 with GameStop Pro). It has one PSA-graded card, guaranteed grade 8 or higher, plus two Pokémon booster packs, and GameStop doesn't say which ones. The listing doesn't show odds.
What it does show is a "Guaranteed Minimum Trade Value" of $35 for the graded card through October 24, 2026. That's the floor if you trade the card back in: about a quarter of the price, plus whatever the two booster packs are worth. Earlier physical packs had their own guarantees for a few weeks after release.
Is it gambling?
That's a legal question that depends on your state, and we're not lawyers. What we can tell you is how GameStop has set it up. Every pack page says "No purchase necessary to enter or win," and GameStop's official rules let you enter a free drawing for each pack level by mailing in a 3x5 card. People have asked the same question about physical card packs for decades. What's newer here is how fast a result turns into money: open a pack, sell the card back in seconds, and the money is ready for the next pack.
If you buy packs, or your kids buy physical ones, it helps to set a spending limit before you start. For why Pokémon products sell out and resell high, see why is everything sold out?
Are Power Packs legit?
Yes. It's run by GameStop and PSA, and the cards are real PSA-graded cards stored in PSA's vault. You can have any card shipped to you. "Legit" just doesn't mean "good value": the odds above are what you're paying for.
Who it's for
- Worth it: you enjoy opening packs and would spend the money on the experience anyway.
- Not worth it: you want a specific card. Buying that card directly on eBay or from a card shop costs its price once, with no odds.
- Not worth it: you're hoping to make money. About 3 in 4 packs lose value, and selling a card back takes about 15% off its value.
Quick answers
Are GameStop Power Packs worth it?
In our view, not as a way to make money or get cards cheaper. GameStop's published odds show about 3 in 4 packs give a card worth less than the pack price, and the instant buyback pays about 85% of a card's value. They're worth it only if you'd pay for the rip itself, the way you'd pay for any other entertainment.
How do GameStop Power Packs work?
You pick a category, like Pokémon, and a level from $25 to $10,000, then open a digital pack that reveals one real PSA-graded card. The card is stored in PSA's vault until you ship it home, keep it there or sell it, including back to Power Packs through the instant buyback.
What are the odds on GameStop Power Packs?
GameStop shows them on each pack and updates them every 5 minutes. For the $25 Pokémon Starter pack on October 21, 2026, there was a 74.8% chance of a card worth $17 to $25, 23% for $25 to $50, and 2.2% for more than $50. Every Pokémon level from $25 to $10,000 had about the same shape.
How much does the Power Packs buyback pay?
90% of the card's estimated value, less a 6% selling fee, which works out to about 85%. The money goes to a wallet you can withdraw or spend on more packs. Values come from Card Ladder's sales data.
Are GameStop Power Packs legit?
Yes. Power Packs is run by GameStop and PSA, and every pack reveals a real PSA-graded card stored in PSA's vault in Delaware. It's open to U.S. residents 18 and older.
New to terms like graded or chase? See our collector and reseller glossary.
Related: Is GameStop Pro worth it? · Why is everything sold out? · Is it worth grading? · Free preorder tracker
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Odds and prices change; GameStop updates the odds every 5 minutes. This page is general information, not legal or financial advice. The verdict above is our opinion, based on the numbers on this page.