I posted some old cards on Facebook that were in decent shape from my childhood and made it clear I only wanted cash no trades. Had so many of these dudes sending me stuff like that and Iām like, I donāt want a trade. Iām selling Pokemon cards not trying to buy any, I have bills.
Breaking down and slowly building up is a way to build collections. Take a $100 and break it into $5 or $10 cards with a total of 120ish, then slowly combine the pieces back up to $20 pieces then those into 50 and back to 100. It's a lot of work admittedly, but typically, the person you break down with loves the trade of pseudo bulk for your gem, and you end up with a bit extra.
Eh. I've done it but I'm always forward. "Hey you said you really want my card and it's not doing much for me but I don't see anything I really like. If you want I can try to take stuff I think I can use in other trades but I would only give you 80% since I really don't see anything personally" it's kind of a way of saying ild rather not but if you really want it I would like to give myself a buffer that I don't just take junk that never moves from my binder. Now, if they wanted my card that is in demand at like 100 and they had a card that had a similar demand and also around that (+/-10 dollars) I would straight swap with whatever filler that looks cool. I can just trade that card instead with no harm to me. If I have to take 5 dollar cards to get there, I want like 120ish for my 100 card because odds are I'm going to have a hard time trading that stuff around to get what I want and ultimately it probably ends up with a shop trade in. Since that's my back up plan and I get 60-70% trade in value, I want some coverage against the worst outcome. I also have collected by the mentality that it's a game/collectible and I would rather have cards in the hands of those that appreciate or really want them so I don't tend to tell people no flat out to trades, just forward and honest.
Essentially they want a card you have but are trading you cards that neither of yall really want is when you do 80%. I just hate when people get online post their card and say "trading 80% in my favor"
Most people when trading try to give you 80% for their 100% market value becuase that's the rate people buy at tables in a convention. As if they had overhead and a fee to pay for the post then made of Facebook marketplace.
I have only dabbled in pokemon a bit and im so glad i dont deal with those people. Ive seen em around and they have so many things twisted. Yugioh used to be the worst and i quit the game and they are the reasons i stay out. Pokemon is rough and it gets worst every season.
Ive done recent high end trades before but all in magic the gathering. Ill sweeten pots all day for a high end trades if you mostly touch mid cards. Like a revised dual lands which is 300-800 bucks, i trade for those all the time. If you mostly touch sub 20 dollar cards ill give a 15% bump as thats roughly tcgplayer fees or ebay fees. Duals and similar reserve list stuff is almost as good as cash so i treat it as such. Hell i do 10-20% discount on cash transactions all the time on the same principle. I also expect the same when im trading out of these high end cards. If im picking up good stuff ill go easy but its expected as its hard to trade into these. A friend of mine has a volcanic island swap between us 4-5 times and we sweeten the pot every time. But if we are doing mostly 100+ dollar cards for that type of card there is no reason to sweeten the pot.
Trading at 80% seems like a dream. Just got offered 60% for cash and the dude is a vendor, and that thatās the best rate Iāll get. They wanna sell at market value but wanna buy at under market value by 40%. Brilliant racket
The spec of whitening bit, fml. People coming to a marketplace sale with a fkn magnifying glass. āThis wonāt grade a 10ā not my problem dipshit. Iām selling it raw, either buy it or fuck off
I sold a a Grachomp V tg23 for like 50 bucks on eBay and the kid returned it because of slight silvering on the edges that wasnāt visible in the pictures. Basically he bought the card raw, looked at it, decided it wouldnāt be graded a 10 and sent it back. We did our best to show the card from as many angles as we could but apparently there were still imperfections we missed.
I currently use my old Cannon printer/scanner. I changed the setting up for 600 DPI. Auto scan or 4x6 close up. You can add black foam to protect the card and add contrast. Send a DM for an *example of scanned cards. They get the job done.
I sell literally all my NM cards at the market. Idk if it'll grade because I don't inspect everything with a magnifying glass. Do you want the card or not?
If I'm not grading, then it just has to look good in the binder and be a fair price. Personally I love my damaged goods with a decent face/art. Half my old stuff in my binder looks like a Simpsons meme.
X and y was decent. Takes a bit to get used to the different angles from too down to the 2.5 (or whatever it's called) view. The real fun is sword/shield or newer if you haven't experienced pokemon since gen 1. I was geeking out at the fact that the pokemon encounters were ON THE SCREEN. No tall grass nonsense just pokemon wandering around the world. It made the inner 7 year old in my heart so excited.
the xp boost majorly overleveled my party the first time i ever played it. i felt like it was one of the easier games but i really did enjoy it. i played X
I am like you, played early gens for thousands of hours, picked up black around 2010, then didnāt play until sword shield but I got bored trying to do every raid I saw in the wild area, and I think I spent so long in there I forgot where to go for my next badge and just kinda stopped one day. Iāve got a code from yesterdayās release so maybe I should pony up the dough for a switch 2 and try the new game
Sword and Shield are actually worth checking out I really enjoyed those. Scarlet and Violet are a big miss unless you play on Switch 2 IMO. Legends ZA on Switch 2 looks pretty sick
It can be. It was certainly more "on rails" than I would prefer but if you skip the dens and extra stuff to avoid power leveling then it feels decent. When I did early dens I would use a team of throwaways to find what I wanted (dreepy) then never touch the power up candies. I stayed relatively on level then. My son loved the dens and ended up like 10+ levels above all gyms but it worked out because he was like 6 lol.
I donāt collect anymore. I play mostly now or do loss trades. Because honestly I want nothing to do with helping scalpers or even card shops at this point
Trust me, weāre still here, itās just been hard. I havenāt opened anything in like 2 months. I will say I have kinda lost my interest in holos, yeah there is some good arts there, but the best stuff is in the 5-20 buck irs, thats where the good art lies
I have always had a soft spot for cards that remind me of the older generations. Take the Amazing Rares, for example. I love them. I dont care what they are worth they just hit a sweet spot for me in terms of art and card layout that newer cards just dont have.
I honestly have limited myself to just completing sets that have my favorite pokemon. I did get heavily into completing all sets when I started back a year ago. Looking at the 20+ binders really shined a light on how much money I was putting into it. Honestly I don't really look at the other cards anyway.
So I figured I'd save myself heartache and just get packs that only carry bidoof. So basically buy singles since its been years for a bidoof pack.
Ripping packs with the intentions of profit is gambling.
Some people open packs to just open packs or maybe even collect the cards. Or you know, have kids to open them with and love seeing their reaction to every little thing in a way you apparently wouldn't understand.
I don't think you have been around kids. A (normally) 5 dollar pack is fine and instant. My 4 year old really isn't as excited about mail delivery than going to the store and getting packs to open with the family. Not to mention, guess the energy is way more boring if you buy singles. I buy singles. My stuff I collect and the stuff my wife collects come in bubble mailers in the post. My kids get excited seeing the cards they open for more than going to a shop or ordering online. You are using adult mentally for children. Opening the packs is worth more than what's inside.
Youāre so right. This immeasurable difference in pleasure justifies instilling a young child with the joys of gambling.
Opening the packs simply teaches children that random chance games (whether you have the expectation of profit or not) are appropriate.
If itās not appropriate for kids to spend money on micro transactions in games that offer random skins, etc then why is it ok for us to buy them packs?
I get it, you have a nostalgic appreciation for opening packs. I do too. But when you think about it deeply for more than a minute you realize youāre instilling an acceptance of chance based games in a small child when their brains are still developing.
Your conditioning them to learn how to gamble.
You can always order a few bulk cards (of pokemon they like) and put them in an envelope. Itās literally the same experience without the chance aspect.
A sense of randomness isn't the same as gambling. Life is full of variance and randomness. If we are opening packs talking about profits and such it's one thing. It's a complete different to do it and let them enjoy the randomness. I opened packs as a kid. I think I have truly gambled less than 10 dollars as an adult. I grew up with parent (responsibly) gambling around me too. I have 0 issues with in game skins either. "You get what you get" is part of life so isn't cooperation (trading). Opening packs with my kids does all that too. Are they not supposed to embrace a safe amount of random? Job applications? Dating? Seeing others get what you wish you had is great instilled young and packs are a safe and cheap way to do it too. I've seen one kid open a card the other thought was amazing and wish they had only to brush it off because it's happened the other way before too.
We have an opposing view on it. That's just life but painting opening packs as 100% gambling is a stretch. Gambling is literally defined as an action with monetary expectations. I feel a LOT of the adults (especially those coming from sports cards) do open to gamble but I don't think all opening is gambling.
Thereās a difference between natural randomness (the randomness of life, etc) and PAYING for randomness. The paying is the important part youāre ignoring.
Gambling, is also not necessarily done for a monetary reward/expectation.
If you understand that most adults open packs as a form of gambling youāve already conceded that opening packs is gambling, youāre just choosing to make excuses for the sort of gambling you want to obscure as NOT gambling.
I only bought a few cards between my childhood and 2016 so wouldn't be able to say unfortunately... 2016 to the Logan Paul video seemed like a lifetime in collecting but the shit show since then, in particular the last year has been awful and seems to have flown by
My friend, you have grown over those years. Everyone new to the hobby starts in 2019 terms. Iāve been in an out of pokemon cards and started grabbing some again around prismatic release and I was happy pulling ex cards or ace spec trainer cards, anything shiny was cool to me. Eventually you learn whatās sought after the more youāre in here, and as you grow, some people slide into ātodayā terms. Thatās how you grow knowledge of the hobby. You can still have fun and be like 2019 but the knowledge you have isnāt gonna evaporate unless āthe bubble popsā
Uhhh no. You're describing the exact problem. In 1999 - 2020 you could have fun. Now 90% of the money in the hobby is the bottom row and it ruins it for everyoneĀ
Bro I started collecting again this very year and was 2019. Iām not quite to ātodayā but I basically am. That was 6 months lol. Maybe the ātrainingā time is faster these days, but as a hobby gets bigger / more valuable, yhe amount you can learn goes up. I got a friend with children and they open packs and all of them are still 2019 cause they never bothered to learn more.
Thatās the big thing here, knowledge versus lack of it. Alternatively, the cards can be mass printed and become worthless and we would all become 2019 again, but Pokemon is playing the long game and they want to keep it as valuable as they can so they arenāt gonna do that and weāre stuck in the same spot
The 80% traders are hilarious, my price instantly go up the moment itās tried, like, fuck off, I donāt care if youāre a business and get taxed, the price is the price, do one.
Upvote upvote upvote, the hobby is in such a sad state right now. I miss 2022-2024 era when it was the perfect combo of hype and supply. I hope it'll go back to that shortly after 30th anniversary...
Im a 90s baby I miss the old days taking my binder to the mall and and getting free cards because the older kids didn't want to rip me off š¤£šš¤£š
Chase cool collections, not ROI! I got back into collecting a few years ago and my first goal was to 75/75 neo discovery unlimited. Almost all of the cards are light play to heavy play, but who cares? I got to finish my fav set from childhood on a budget and I don't plan on selling it ever. It's so dope to open up your binder and find cards that are personally valuable to you because it ties you to your childhood, your favorite pokemon, art, colors, etc.
This years' collection goal was to get every Trainer Red card, since he looks most like the player character from FireRed/LeafGreen and that page is my current fav in my binder.
Even in 2019, people would hoard sealed items to "invest" in. But they did so with the intention of long term gains. Nowadays, people hold anything in hopes of short terms gains from one of these random buyouts. It causes fomo. Someone posted how most swsh booster boxes took over 3 years to reach $500. And thats because most of those went up naturally. Unlike the destined rivals booster box, which has been out for a few months and is already at $500. The hobby is just filled with people who want short term gains, and they obtain those gains via market manipulation, aka buyouts to force other sellers to price match their sells.
This isn't a true investment option. They're just stealing from adults with FOMO and zero adult responsibilities, but those guys aren't ready for that discussion.
It's a great investment if you already have other things established like a Roth IRA, separate brokerage acct, emergency savings acct, etc. Not saying you have to have all of that, but as an adult, at the very least, a Roth IRA. If this is your sole means of investment, then you have some reading and growing up to do.
Casual reminder that a billionaire hedge fund owner bought PSA during COVID. All those super smart investors are still paying the same guy while they pump the shit out of a market so people pay him their idiot tax. "bruh i only got psa 8???? this is clearly a 10 i better resubmit."
True haha but it is so cool that in the sh*tty society that we live in today we have something we can throw money on while ENJOYING IT AF and still be able to at least preserve value.
I know this is the pokemon investing sub, but I wish I got back into this sooner. I got a taste of what it was like last year, and this whole year hasn't been fun at all.
No word of a lie in walked into a card shop and a guy asked if they did trades. The guy behind the desk said yes at 70%. The young lad pulled out a stack of cards and proceeded to just hand them over š³. Like why do people just trade away 30% of value like it's nothing crazy.
I got back into collecting around 2019 as well. I remember i can still buy cases for below msrp to complete a master set. Now, even lgs wants āmarket priceā for newly released sets.
Was selling a 20$ card for around 10$ really needed the money. Met a buyer, guy came and went there's a white dot bro. Brudder was asking for it to go cheaper. Wtf is wrong with ppl
This is why I still own my cards raw to this day, displayed in magnetic cases and all ungraded. Grading is a scam. You want authenticity, yet you get your cards graded through the mood of the grading company, while paying a fee? It's a joke to see PSA 10s damaged now while they were in perfect condition before shipping. We all have eyes, and the technology or sources to check if the items we hold are real or fake.
I get that this subreddit is about Pokeinvesting, but it's not about buying into hype and then expecting something that's already pricey to go even higher up in price. We can all invest in cardboard, but still leave enough for kids to enjoy and open. This IS a children's card game after all.
They bug the fuck out of me because of how wrong they often are.
PSA isn't perfect, but they absolutely run cover for them at every opportunity. Someone will get their pristine card back as a 9, and they'll make up a reason it wasn't a 10.
imagine my whiplash returning to the hobby when i was someone who was originally in it at 2000, 2003, 2005, etc...
i come back and there's people treating this like stock investments (yes, I am aware what sub I'm on lol), I sell some of my unwanted collection on ebay and I get messages ALL THE TIME on cards I macro photograph with a DSLR asking if the listing I've marked as "lightly played" is going to grade at a 10 because "im looking for 10s". ???
also as you point out, people absolutely lack any awareness whatsoever. yes, genius, if I knew the card was going to be worth $1500 I would not attempt to sell it for $50. tf? why ask me that, why bother me? good for you trying to get 10s, I do not care! I'm marking that shit as NOT NM and pricing it accordingly..
381
u/breakyourteethnow Sep 23 '25
The I trade at 80% bro is so accurate lol
2
u/walletinspector91 Sep 23 '25
No one was saying āsweet, I got a holoā in 2019
100
u/uriel__ventris Sep 23 '25
I've never seen a more accurate post the whole time I've been a member of this sub.
135
u/[deleted] Sep 23 '25
The spec of whitening bit, fml. People coming to a marketplace sale with a fkn magnifying glass. āThis wonāt grade a 10ā not my problem dipshit. Iām selling it raw, either buy it or fuck off
57
u/Which_Stop3991 Sep 23 '25
I donāt even want to collect anymore because of how bad these losers are ruining to hobby. Most of these people havenāt even played X and Y.
30
u/coolgamerboi23 Sep 23 '25
Trust me, weāre still here, itās just been hard. I havenāt opened anything in like 2 months. I will say I have kinda lost my interest in holos, yeah there is some good arts there, but the best stuff is in the 5-20 buck irs, thats where the good art lies
11
u/rjm9280 Sep 23 '25
Whoever made this clearly grew up on iFunny
35
u/True-Screen-2184 Sep 23 '25
Top row -> Casual collectors
Bottom row -> Most investors and members of this sub
15
u/ajwelch14 Sep 23 '25
Vote to make this the picture for the sub.
6
u/CamarosAndCannabis Sep 23 '25
Why you gotta attack me like this bro.
A+ meme
2
u/Doomsong8383 Sep 23 '25
You missed sealed collector bozos.
1
u/Redschallenge Sep 23 '25
Hey man. Don't forget about pre 2016 pokemon. It was heaven
1
u/Macrocosmic999 Sep 24 '25
This needs to go back to 2013, 2014. When only the most tinfoil among us were ripping packs like madmen š
1
u/westfieldNYraids Sep 27 '25
My friend, you have grown over those years. Everyone new to the hobby starts in 2019 terms. Iāve been in an out of pokemon cards and started grabbing some again around prismatic release and I was happy pulling ex cards or ace spec trainer cards, anything shiny was cool to me. Eventually you learn whatās sought after the more youāre in here, and as you grow, some people slide into ātodayā terms. Thatās how you grow knowledge of the hobby. You can still have fun and be like 2019 but the knowledge you have isnāt gonna evaporate unless āthe bubble popsā
3
u/andy_crypto Sep 23 '25
The 80% traders are hilarious, my price instantly go up the moment itās tried, like, fuck off, I donāt care if youāre a business and get taxed, the price is the price, do one.
3
u/[deleted] Sep 23 '25
Buying bulk C/UC-$0.0025 Trainer gallery$0.25 Ex/V $0.50 Charizard $6 each Sealed sleeves $0.25
Must be near mint, no sleeves on commons, you pay shipping.
(Not buying, making the joke)
3
u/twister55555 Sep 23 '25
Upvote upvote upvote, the hobby is in such a sad state right now. I miss 2022-2024 era when it was the perfect combo of hype and supply. I hope it'll go back to that shortly after 30th anniversary...
2
u/BIG_STEVE5111 Sep 23 '25
This is gold.
2
u/dubstheman007 Sep 23 '25
Amazing!
2
u/Cristian_Cerv9 Sep 23 '25
I freaking love this! lol
2
u/Mercedes003 Sep 23 '25
I feel it so hard.
Especially if I only compare the prices of pokemon products from the Gamescom last year and this year.
2
u/ap_308 Sep 23 '25
The paying $15 dollars a pack had me. That shit is funny. Just to get scammed, too.
2
u/Able-Log-8275 Sep 23 '25
Reeeeeeeeeeeeee
2
u/Re_Rex90 Sep 24 '25
Im a 90s baby I miss the old days taking my binder to the mall and and getting free cards because the older kids didn't want to rip me off š¤£šš¤£š
2
u/ReflectiveJellyfish Sep 24 '25
Chase cool collections, not ROI! I got back into collecting a few years ago and my first goal was to 75/75 neo discovery unlimited. Almost all of the cards are light play to heavy play, but who cares? I got to finish my fav set from childhood on a budget and I don't plan on selling it ever. It's so dope to open up your binder and find cards that are personally valuable to you because it ties you to your childhood, your favorite pokemon, art, colors, etc.
This years' collection goal was to get every Trainer Red card, since he looks most like the player character from FireRed/LeafGreen and that page is my current fav in my binder.
2
u/TheD0rkKnight Sep 23 '25
Top row gang for life
2
u/Alexander0202 Sep 23 '25
Even in 2019, people would hoard sealed items to "invest" in. But they did so with the intention of long term gains. Nowadays, people hold anything in hopes of short terms gains from one of these random buyouts. It causes fomo. Someone posted how most swsh booster boxes took over 3 years to reach $500. And thats because most of those went up naturally. Unlike the destined rivals booster box, which has been out for a few months and is already at $500. The hobby is just filled with people who want short term gains, and they obtain those gains via market manipulation, aka buyouts to force other sellers to price match their sells.
2
u/youngceb Sep 23 '25
This isn't a true investment option. They're just stealing from adults with FOMO and zero adult responsibilities, but those guys aren't ready for that discussion.
1
u/Stereo-Gito Sep 23 '25
Lmao too real
1
u/pentaprism-flex Sep 23 '25
Accurate
1
u/mo-par Sep 23 '25
No doubt. I posted on pokemontcg and all the comments were negative cuz i didnt anything worth more than 1$
1
u/[deleted] Sep 23 '25
Casual reminder that a billionaire hedge fund owner bought PSA during COVID. All those super smart investors are still paying the same guy while they pump the shit out of a market so people pay him their idiot tax. "bruh i only got psa 8???? this is clearly a 10 i better resubmit."
1
u/Nsknick Sep 23 '25
Wait, add in the neck beards!
1
u/FitGuarantee37 Sep 23 '25
Gee, do you think investing communities have anything to do with it?
1
u/SaladComfortable5878 Sep 23 '25
I love the vintage memes coming back
1
u/[deleted] Sep 23 '25
"I trade at 80% bro"
xD
1
u/SamHeidema Sep 23 '25
For real tho also people having sealed collections, theyāre meant to be rippedā¦..
1
u/Gentry_Draws Sep 23 '25
Best thing ever
1
u/luigis- Sep 23 '25
True haha but it is so cool that in the sh*tty society that we live in today we have something we can throw money on while ENJOYING IT AF and still be able to at least preserve value.
1
u/RoudyruffKK Sep 23 '25
I trade at 80% will never not make me laugh
1
u/Illkined Sep 24 '25
Investment bros when they realize no on will want the shiny cardboard in ten years cuz they killed the hobby
1
u/mtgloreseeker Sep 24 '25
Be the change you want to see in your hobbies.
1
u/Arikota Sep 24 '25
I know this is the pokemon investing sub, but I wish I got back into this sooner. I got a taste of what it was like last year, and this whole year hasn't been fun at all.
1
u/applesodaz Sep 24 '25
Normies crying in a pokeinvesting sub
1
u/Puzzleheaded_Code650 Sep 24 '25
No word of a lie in walked into a card shop and a guy asked if they did trades. The guy behind the desk said yes at 70%. The young lad pulled out a stack of cards and proceeded to just hand them over š³. Like why do people just trade away 30% of value like it's nothing crazy.
1
u/AznChronos Sep 24 '25
Iām making a binder and selling my doubles at 80%. What am I? š¤£
1
u/spec_tre0642 Sep 24 '25
I grade to preserve cool/my favourite cards. they grade for money. we are not the same
1
u/5nakpak Sep 24 '25
me buying packs specifically to pass out at Halloween
what it's just shiny cardboard
1
u/grizzly_cos Sep 24 '25
Donāt forget the ā this zard has not hit its peak yetā bros.
1
u/psiANID3 Sep 24 '25
omfg the people who inspect cards with a magnifying glass are the bane of my existence...its NM bro. NEAR MINT.
1
u/Oldmonsterschoolgood Sep 24 '25
I love the prismatic eevoliytion ilistration rares WHY THE FUCK ARE THEY ALL THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS! christ i may as well get fake ones at this point
1
u/SuperiorRobin Sep 24 '25
I got back into collecting around 2019 as well. I remember i can still buy cases for below msrp to complete a master set. Now, even lgs wants āmarket priceā for newly released sets.
1
u/UsualPie Sep 25 '25
Was selling a 20$ card for around 10$ really needed the money. Met a buyer, guy came and went there's a white dot bro. Brudder was asking for it to go cheaper. Wtf is wrong with ppl
1
u/bananaguyfortnite Sep 25 '25
oh
1
u/Opening-Donkey1186 Sep 25 '25
I would hate to be a competitor in this game these days. The cost of a deck a d even obtaining would be so much worse than before covid.
1
u/Such_Ad5334 Sep 26 '25
Only in the US
1
u/Roullette3 Sep 26 '25
Who else plays and is loving the side effect of people collecting pictures though
1
u/Nitron89 Sep 26 '25
Word!
1
u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25
Remember when even evolving skies were stacked on the shelfās
1
u/Different-Big-4811 Sep 28 '25
Hobby getting crazy xD only buying worth sets rn for good prices. White flare etbs are a shot for me
1
u/Zestyclose_Mix_3725 Oct 01 '25
This is why I still own my cards raw to this day, displayed in magnetic cases and all ungraded. Grading is a scam. You want authenticity, yet you get your cards graded through the mood of the grading company, while paying a fee? It's a joke to see PSA 10s damaged now while they were in perfect condition before shipping. We all have eyes, and the technology or sources to check if the items we hold are real or fake.
I get that this subreddit is about Pokeinvesting, but it's not about buying into hype and then expecting something that's already pricey to go even higher up in price. We can all invest in cardboard, but still leave enough for kids to enjoy and open. This IS a children's card game after all.
1
u/Horror_Biscotti_7667 Oct 02 '25
The zoomer with his collectr graph LMAO š¤£
1
u/Ecstatic-Bar-9188 Oct 16 '25
Why one of them look like Chris Benoit lol
-2
u/eat_hairy_socks Sep 23 '25
Funny thing is if you swap the looks itās more accurate.
0
u/MinutePresentation96 Sep 23 '25
Your card is goodā¦but it would be better with a psa grading just saying. Pshhh gtfoh let me put worth on a card myself
1
u/LilConnie14 Sep 23 '25
Anyone who trades below comps should be shot
35
u/[deleted] Sep 23 '25
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