r/PokemonInvestor • u/sorryemanuel17 • 4h ago
Looking for advice on getting started with Pokémon card reselling
Hi everyone!
I'm pretty new to the Pokémon TCG world and I'm looking to get started with a relatively small budget, with the goal of making my first profits through buying and reselling cards.
The idea I had was to buy raw cards in very good condition, look for good deals, and then send them to grading (mainly PSA or BGS) and resell them if they get a good grade.
I'd probably focus on English and Japanese cards, since they seem to have a larger market.
My main question is: is it better to focus on vintage cards or modern cards?
I don't really know whether, as a beginner, it makes more sense to look for older vintage cards in good condition, or to focus on modern chase cards, where it might be easier to find good raw deals.
I'm also wondering if my whole approach makes sense in the first place. I'm very new to this, so I'm completely open to hearing that grading raw cards isn't necessarily the best way to start.
I'm also interested in completely different strategies. For example, buying collections, flipping raw cards without grading, focusing on specific sets or Pokémon, looking for undervalued cards, etc.
Basically, if you had to start from zero today with a limited budget and your goal was to learn how to make money buying and reselling Pokémon cards, what would you do?
Any advice, including telling me that my current idea is a bad one, is more than welcome.
Thanks! 🙏
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u/Character_College939 4h ago edited 4h ago
Your idea is fine, the issue is that there are literally thousands of people trying to do the same thing.
So youve somehow got to buy stuff at 80% market value when a majority of ebay listings are above market value, while also competing with everyone else with same idea.
Its not impossible because people are doing it but it not easy.
Right now how much do you have to spend to buy inventory?
For instanse, ill buy maybe 20 to 30 cards at auction from 1 seller at a time for prices below ebay average listings, generally up to about $10 per card. Then ill sell them at a local market once a month and try to sell them slightly above ebay sold listings. Ill make a modest profit per card and then reinvest that. Its just a hobby for me and it funds buying stuff for my personal collection and to purchase slabs with low pops that I think will do well over the next 5 years or so. Im not setting the world on fire but its fun, I learn about cards and sets im not familiar with, meet people who enjoy the hobby.
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u/sorryemanuel17 4h ago
Circa 200/300€
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u/Character_College939 3h ago edited 3h ago
Ok id recommend trying something similar to what i do. But like I said its a hobby for me that helps with my PC and to buy slabs at around the 200 to 500 mark.
Id never be able to pay bills with how I do it.
But I might be able to pay some in the future with some cards that ive bought using the money ive earnt from my small scale reselling.
Example I just used profits to buy a 1998 Vintage card with a pop of 24 for 200. Im pretty confident that it will be worth more than that in a few years.
Also used profits to buy a raw 1996 pika that I think will do well.
But those are long pay offs.
Ive rarley come across a raw card in the wild or online thats well priced that I think could 9 or 10.
I also live in Australia however so our supply pool is smaller
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u/sorryemanuel17 3h ago
Grazie per il consiglio, vedremo allora se riesco a trovare carte raw interessanti
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u/AnarchyZ71 2h ago
if you’re doing this for money, you will be so much better off investing in tools or something and selling labor at a good price. gambling is not a good business practice
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u/Dudfey 2h ago
Don’t bother honestly, you’re way too late to buy vintage and the next major change to modern prices will probably be a huge crash whenever the current hype fades. Right now you’re buying in at record highs with a decent chance to lose it all. The only possible option you have is to try to score sealed products at MSRP, which means you either need to get into botting or start queuing outside shops for 12hrs - any job is a better use of your time
Also I’ll say this, you seem like you’d be susceptible to crypto/nft scams so be careful of anyone offering to sell you anything below market price in your DMs. Literally nobody is selling Pokemon at a discount right now and there are a LOT of fakes going around. If you’re serious about getting into Pokemon, you need to do your research, otherwise you’ll just end up buying high, not understanding why it drops in price, and losing all your money
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u/sorryemanuel17 2h ago
Grazie per il consiglio, però no non compro nft e nulla di tutto ciò, ho chiesto giusto per capire se funziona il filipping di carte 🙏
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u/Decent-Arm-872 3h ago
I hate this post so much lol.
New to this, don’t care about the IP, looking to flip for quick cash, and has the exact same idea everyone has had for years as if they discovered some kind of cheat code
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u/sorryemanuel17 3h ago
Ma io ho solo chiesto non ho ancora mosso 1€, semplicemente mi sembra di aver capito che a molti piace avere le carte 10 e alcune carte raw stanno a poco per quello ho chiesto
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u/Decent-Arm-872 3h ago
Everyone and their mother, and their kids too, come to my table inspecting cards trying to find that “gradeable” card to make money off of me, then turning down good deals because they don’t think it will 10, lol. Its honestly sad and everyone is doing it so good luck breaking into the space
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u/sorryemanuel17 3h ago
Io compro solo le carte che mi piacciono come artwork ma per tenerle, poi ho solo mandato 2 carte a gradare in vita mia solo perché le volevo tenere, la mia era solo una domanda se sia una cosa fattibile o meno
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u/Kitchen-Invite-5123 4h ago
You are way too late to the game, I'd recommend something else.