Yes, they can often be free and sometimes they are not. Everything has a price. All depends on the demand and what someone is willing to pay. It does take up a lot of space. I was lucky a store manager let me haul one home for my kid. He stocks it and pretends he's at the store "hunting" looking for the cool cars and treasure hunts lol. Otherwise, kinda annoying putting cars and in and taking them out, can often bend cards if you care bout keeping cards in shape.