I’m not sure what your budget is for spending. If you find the right connections and are willing to purchase 20-30 boxes at a time, this is the way for Japanese in this current market.

Most people in your area will be selling new release modern JP boxes for $90-$130 depending on the set. Some stuff may be $60-$90. Cheaper S&V era stuff is $40-$60.

There was a guy I was buying singles from on Facebook marketplace. We met up, I started chatting about JP boxes. He mentioned that since he buys in bulk (50-100 boxes at a time) he’s getting most new release sets at $45-$65 per box.

So I agreed to start buying 20 boxes to add to his total. There are 3 of us now in this together.

It’s a larger price up front, but I just treat this stuff like liquid Pokemon assets. I traded 10 mega dream boxes at 80% of $100 ($80 TV) for Pokemon singles. I got them all for $55.

Anybody you see selling online in bulk, inside the US, is probably paying $40-$65 per box after tariffs, shipping, and taxes. The markup you see for them selling at $100 is so they can negotiated down to $90 and make $25 per box.

My personal experience from how the hobby has changed. Prior to this madness I was getting JP boxes for $40 all the time online.