I just wanted to see where everyone stands on opening sealed boxes for the purpose of weighing packs. I see a lot more people doing this to open the heavy packs and sell the rest. I know this goes on all the time with TCGs but I’m surprised more people don’t have an issue with it.
When you sell sealed packs that are weighed (even if you list them as such) you have no way of knowing what the next person will do with them. People just kind of turn a blind eye after they unload them and get paid. Of course people that have no passion for the hobby just want to make a quick buck. They don’t really care about the long run health of something that most of us here are quite enthusiastic about. When I used to open boxes I did it for fun. All 36 packs would be opened. I didn’t do it to harvest the damn thing. I did it because it was an experience I cared about having. Does anybody feel that way anymore? Or is it just about maximizing profits?
In the long run, this behavior just dilutes the population of unsearched packs. There is no doubt that people have been burned in the past buying loose booster packs. I can’t really even see myself buying a loose pack ever again. Some people might argue that you should just be smart and buy sealed boxes only. This kind of logic only blames the victim though. I would hope that this community would uphold the highest ethical standards, however, I know that is not the case. Scammers and resellers come and go all the time. People that are invested and passionate about this hobby are the ones who have to face the consequences of certain individuals actions.
The only reason I can see someone buying “weighed” packs is to keep one of the artworks sealed.
Anyways, I wanted to hear your opinions on this issue. Am I the only one bothered by this? Have any of you done this before? Would you do it again after reading this? Disagree? Agree?
Be honest. I’m not going to start an argument or shame anyone.
It’s scummy but I can’t really hate someone for trying to make money. Only thing we can really do is spread as much awareness as possible. Don’t buy loose packs online or from questionable card stores and you’ll be fine. If little timmy gets burned buying weighed packs hopefully he learns from it.
It really depends…For the older eras, there are a bunch of sealed pack collectors who love getting the artwork cheaper via weighed packs, buyer can recoup some of his costs for the box so its a win/win. Much of the time, opening the heavier packs for grading purposes isn’t just about a profit, could be for their own collecting needs. As for packs being re-sold by a buyer, you have zero control over what someone does after they buy a product from you. I see it as my duty to minimize risk when I buy product, I assume any and all loose packs online are weighed. Pretty much all types of collecting have scammers and people finding ways to exploit for money. While 10 people are thinking ethics, 20 people aren’t.
This is a serious issue. Thankfully Pokemon lately has mitigated the prevalence of pack weighing by inserting heavier code cards in non-holo packs to offset the weight of the holo. That being said, Sun and Moon boxes can be mapped so you only open holos or ultra rares, so non-holo packs may be making a comeback.
I personally rarely buy loose packs so I haven’t really been affected by it. I would like to counter the whole “can’t blame people for making money” argument. We can totally blame them for putting their greed over the integrity of the hobby. Weighing packs in itself is scamming, and selling weighed packs when you say they’re weighed is just a fake attempt to make yourself seem more trustworthy. You’re just passing the buck to the next person.
The only ethical way I see pack-weighing being used is if you’re going to only open holo packs and grade all the non-holo packs like some people have done with 1ED base set booster boxes.
I must say that honestly I’ve been thinking of various ways of making profit ánd having fun at the same time, one of them is searching for ungraded mint cards online and grading them at PSA. I’ve thought about buying booster boxes and selling packs as weighted but I find it ethically questionable, let alone selling those packs as if they are unweighted.
I like to compare this to MTG, for those that don’t know original Magic booster can be searched so you know exactly what card will be pulled, kind of like a Japanese Web booster. For that reason everyone in the Magic community assumes when they buy a booster that it’s been searched. Pokemon is trending in the same direction, where everyone that buys a booster has to assume it’s been weighed.
There’s nothing we can do to stop this, the good news is the prices will adjust accordingly. So to me, it’s not an issue. It’ll just turn into a point in time where people are collecting the booster instead of the cards inside. Newer gen cards are still new enough where you’re not sure if they’ve been weighed or not. So there’s probably a moral issue with it. But I think there needs to be a division when discussing this topic.
was just reading the forum rules again right now and rule 3.1 puts it in line with shill bidding and fraud… IJS… kind of interesting.
“3.1. Members of the forum who openly engage in unscrupulous activity will not be tolerated. This type of activity including but not limited to: pack weighing, shill bidding, and opening eBay/PayPal cases without merit. We do not condone this activity; it will be moderated accordingly.”
As with most things in life, it is all about the degree. There are multiple sellers who constantly shill bid, therefor their auctions are rigged or illegitimate. Pack weighing really becomes an issue when people knowingly do it and do not disclose in a listing. It is inherently flawed regardless, but the degree is always the determining factor.
In all seriousness, what about those people who sell sealed product to other businesses who sell it as genuine?
What comes to mind is selling to TnT for $1 a pack, and then they sell to other people saying unsearched.
My favorite is going into all the local stores that sell packs and when no one is looking weighing all the heavy ones to purchase. Then none of the little kids that are just starting the hobby can get anything good and get discouraged and lose the hobby all together. If we all chip in and do this there will be contrived generation gap which should help to bring prices down on 1st editions and what not. It’s gotta be a group effort though to have any kind of chance.
Was definitely a problem in the past, but Pokemon eventually found ways to combat it with the different code cards (which is why this pattern passed is strange)
That’s a bit scary to be honest… They say they are searching but you won’t know if they’re actually doing other things, and on top of that a single store cannot make a difference anyway as people looking for mapped boxes will just go elsewhere.
Well… I came back to the hobby a few months ago and I didn’t even know what pack weighing meant. When I found out, I was certainly tempted to do it at first (greed speaking). But just as you give it a second thought, you realize that it is unethical.
I mean… yeah… it would be awesome to get all the good stuff for you, but what about the rest? It’s not just the little kid who buys loose packs from time to time and whose parents can’t afford the booster box. I also think about the honest stores that don’t weight or map packs… Just because a bunch of people do it, honest stores will have a hard time selling loose packs. And not many people buy booster boxes in a local store just like that… (at least in Spain). Also for serious collectors, they would have to spend much more money on those cards in order to find them whereas those people weighting can get them much faster and cheaper… How can anyone not see the unfairness of pack weighing to all the market? Everyone should have the same opportunities to get the rares.
Maybe if you say that a pack is weighted when listing online… it’s a little bit better, specially for those who just want the artwork and can get a cheaper booster pack like that… Although then you have to trust the buyer’s responsibility of not selling as a normal booster… To me, outside a very responsible weighing just for artwork, it’s really unfair.
Btw, what does shill bidding mean? Not an English native speaker
Not an English native speaker 
