Pokemon Center Singapore Products Up To 30% More Expensive Than Japan

Today NintendoSoup has the full scoop on the pricing of products at Pokemon Center Singapore, the first permanent Pokemon Center opening outside Japan in Singapore on April 17.

We are 7 days to the official opening and 1 day to the soft opening of Pokemon Center Singapore, and yet there is not a single word on how much products cost at Pokemon Center Singapore. The reason is because they are afraid of the backlash after people start comparing the prices to Japan.

NintendoSoup has received a list of prices of various Pokemon Center merchandise offered at Pokemon Center Singapore. The difference between the Japanese retail price inclusive 8% sales tax and Singapore retail price inclusive 7% sales tax hovers between 15% to 30%, with the majority of products lying around 20% to 25%.

For instance, the Pilot Pikachu plush retails for SGD28 (USD20.89), while the same plush in Japan costs 1728 yen (USD15.56). That means for the same plush, customers are paying 26% more on top of the retail price at Pokemon Center Singapore. In some cases, the markup could be more than 30%, but this usually applies to smaller items such as pens and clear files.

It is unclear why there is a huge discrepancy between the retail prices at Pokemon Center Singapore and Pokemon Center locations in Japan. The Pokemon Company owns and operates Pokemon Center Singapore, and plushies are very cheap to manufacture at a large volume. Shipping by sea from China, Vietnam, and the Philippines (The Pokemon Company has factories in these countries) to Japan and Singapore are about the same.

The cost of rental isn’t also an issue – The Pokemon Company pays a lot of money to upkeep and maintain Pokemon Center Tokyo DX, Pokemon Center Mega Tokyo, and Pokemon Center Kyoto, all of which are situated on prime land.

And if you compare the prices at Pokemon Center Singapore to Amazon Japan, Amazon Japan’s prices inclusive of economy shipping still manage to beat Pokemon Center Singapore as long as you purchase at least two to three items.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

Thanks to the various sources who helped to contribute to this report.

UPDATE (April 10, 2019 PST): Since some of you want more prices here they are (name of product, price at Pokemon Center Singapore, price at Pokemon Center location in Japan):

Pokemon fit plush: SGD19 (USD14.05) / 1188 yen (USD10.71) – 24% increase

Ride on Lapras plush: SGD49 (USD36.25) / 3024 yen (USD27.27) – 25% increase

Ride on Lapras mascot: SGD24 (USD17.75) / 1620 yen (USD14.61) – 18% increase

Lifesize Fluffy Pikachu plush: SGD69 (USD51.05) / 4860 yen (USD43.84) – 15% increase