Hello, Pokemon fans. I am a new collector and seller. Ive only been doing this for some months. I recently boughts 150 Cards all from the 1st Gen. Around 30 holo unlimited and almost 100 1st editions common and rares are in NM (very few ex+ and nm+ mint condition). Question is, is it worth selling them like they are? First of all im living in germany which is a huge problem with grading. I can grade them here by gsg but it takes 6 months and its not really appreciated in price value,like when you send them to psa. Psa and beckett on the other hand takes like what, 12 months or 24 right now? Which is insane. So what do you guys do when you have cards of this great quality. Is it worth selling them like this? If the prices sink the next years and im sending them in, im screwed. If not i think the value is 3 or 4 times better. What would you do ?
Btw i think most are cards would get 8 or 9.A few maybe a 7 and 10.
Welcome to collecting Pokemon cards. No one can predict the future, though everyone has their own opinions. It seems like you understand the risk/reward trade-offs of grading cards in 2021. My advice would be:
Do more research on the cards/sets you have
Evaluate the risk/reward of selling now vs grading, then make a decision. It’s your business, no one else can decide for you
What do you mean by 1st gen? Do you mean actual 1st gen like the original 151 Pokemon in Kanto? Cause Pokemon cards are more valued by set than generation
From the sounds of things, you are trying to flip these cards.
You are unlikely to make any money doing so right now this way.
Hold onto them until grading becomes more accessible.
The cards are likely to dip in price in the coming months so you should look at these as a 5+ year investment.
Also, unless you have experience looking at graded cards and seeing what it would actually grade, do not assume the grade at all. You are obviously going to have a bias to higher grades and nothing sucks more than expecting a 9 and getting a 5 cause of a micro crease.
Hey mate. Thanks for your opinion. Your right i shouldnt assume it but if i own some graded cards and i tell you, the cards i have my hands on are in a really great condition, seems like i cant add any photo in here but they are pretty perfect. Yea i want to flip em and you think grading is the way right? Also rare and common cards? And why wouldnt i make money right now?
If you are looking to get more money for your cards and you are confident they will grade well then I would wait. On the other hand who knows how long you will have to wait and who knows how much you will have to pay for grading. If you have mint cards and you take very nice photos you might be able to get around PSA 8 or PSA 9 prices if people are speculating it has a chance at a 10 or 9. Personally I wouldn’t grade non-holo 1st Edition cards unless they are Rares or from 1st Edition Base and are Mint condition. Flipping them now can create an opportunity for you to buy more cards, but if you can afford to wait for grading I would go with that route. I also hate selling raw cards because I do not want to deal with picky buyers trying to return a card or swapping it out.
Great post, well they are 1st edit and mostly base set and they are in mint condition, thats the thing.
About the future who knows, i guess i will sell everything less than nm+ in commons and rares and everythin less than nm for holos and will grade the rest at psa. Could maximize the profit dont you think? I dont think grading time at psa will reduce more likely the opposite since people still only want psa.
About returnings: i sell at ebay and dont return cards, like you said, i dont wanna deal with picky buyers
Are you fine with tying up the capital you paid for these cards for a long time? If so then taking it slow, grading them eventually and then selling at some point in the future is probably the way to get the most for them. If you can’t tie up that capital for a year or more then yes selling them ungraded will be what you need to do, altho you almost surely won’t make as much money.
Really about your personal situation and what you can afford to do.
Consider the market, you are competing with many people selling the same thing and better.
First, are they English? You said you live in Germany so if the cards are English, it would cost you more than people living in USA to ship anything.
Second, you said you are fairly new. I am going to assume you bought at market prices from at latest 2 months ago. Look at prices of Base Set Unlimited in the last 6 months… Where do you expect them to go in the next month? If up then you’re seriously mistaken unless we are being locked down again tomorrow.
Third, if you sell on Ebay, you need to cover Ebay Fees which come out to just under 15% and shipping is part of the fee too! So lets say you bought a card for $100, you NEED to sell it at 120+ AND shipping costs to break even.
Fourth, Grading is super expensive right now, more so for overseas because a majority of grading costs is the insurance for shipping. If you send your cards for PSA grading right now, it would cost you far more than you could sell them, right now.
Hold them. Wait for grading to go back to normal. In 5 years you’ll make your money, not right now. Or sell them at a lose right now but make sure you have a plan on what you’re gonna invest that money into.
Where can i see price development for a long period of time, like the said 6 or 12 months?
The cards are german unfortunately, but still worth alot and worth flipping (right now at least) since the holos are all nm, half nm+ and at least 10 are mint, the 1st edit common and rares are all mint, so i have something that seperates me from others. The question for me is if they are worth grading, the nm+ and mints at least, are of centered cards worth grading? Since Psa have the new OC stamp.
3 and really important for me:
What do you mean grading cost are expensive right now? Do you mean the general cost or shipping insurance? In germany it cost 23€ per card or sth with middleman, fees and stuff included. I think that price was always like that. Personally i would not pay for insurance for cards worth a few thousand bucks, becouse like you said it cost alot.
4.how do you guys come up with the 5 year mark? I know you guys are very experienced and i trust you, i just would like to know how you come up with 5?
5.since i am flipping cards, i need to get at least some money back, to invest in other cards, so my conclusion would be to always sell nm, or off centered cards while sending the others to psa (at the right time). But if you say the prices are so low as not worth selling, i wouldnt. But as a ebay seller (and looking day and night for the last weeks) i dont really see a big difference in prices for unlimited cards, but correct me if i am mistaken.
There are some tools you can find online. Personally, I do it the old fashion way of just looking on Ebay sold listings over time. Ebay will show you upto 60 days.
Actually that is alot better for you than you think. French and German cards have taken a more Japanese route of stable and slow. Also you are regionally where the cards are likely to sell.
That was then. Today is not 23Euro, it’s closer to $200 per card right now domestically. PSA is too backlogged, they are only accepting the more expensive tiers right now. Also look up upcharges from grading. Card was worth $100 at submission, goes to $800 by grading, get charged not at $100 but $800. Honestly, no sympathy from me as that literally was my 1st question when I rang up PSA/CGC/BGS about pricing. Peoples heads in the clouds if they expect a $1000+ card to be graded, shipped and insured for under $30. That’s just not happening.
5 year tends to be an investors general standard. It’s not a hard rule but rather a general idea that it’s not something you plan to even sell within 1-3 years minimum. Alot of people plan to hold cards for 10, 20, 30+ years. I’m on 22 years for holding onto 1st Ed. Booster Boxes and plan to hold another 30+ and see if my kid will carry my torch by then as well.
Consider another market/occupation soon. Flipping is getting harder and harder in Pokemon. Flipping was great when there was a ton of blind demand. Now people are becoming far more knowledged. There’s TONS to make still but you first have to know what to even collect. I always tell people don’t come into this market with $$ in your eyes because they will blind you from the gains. Sports cards are WAY WAY more money than Pokemon, I would NEVER enter sports cards cause I don’t know shit about it and likely never will.
Thanks for that answer mate. Well i see how hard flipping is now, it’s crazy people sell a poor broken base holo for 50euro becouse media tells them they are worth millions but still i usually triple the money i invest, IF i can find cheap cards which is very hard right now.But i do still earn good money. I do consider to chabge to yugioh but the pokemon market is so crazy big. .
About the upcharges, i think they are included. The company which ships the cards to psa is a huge company which sends thousands of cards. And i dont see any extra charges. And you can choose yourself if you want to insure the whole package for e.g. 50euro - 1000$ secured or if you spend more. They also still accept normal grading, dont ask me mate i dont know how thats possible.
2 year investment… Okay but the thought makes me crazy alrdy
5 year investment… I dont think i could take that but maybe
22 years… Damn you people have some insane patience, respect for that. I wanted to invest in yugiob booster (lob) and opened them after 1 day
Yeah, alot of the market is blind still. I suspect it will remain blind for a very very long time.
Upcharges are real. Every Third Party submitter has said they have to charge you any upcharge they get from your cards. It’s also very random with people having the same submission, same card, same grade, 1 gets upcharged but the other did not. It’s all very wonky ATM. Remember, if a deal is too good to be true, it very likely is. You are not ever EVER going to see 23 euro submission outside of dirt cheap energy level cards.
If those kinds of numbers scare you, strongly consider jf you really want to get into investment. 5 years is considered a short investment in general, not just pokemon or any collectable. The only flippers making serious money are those who knew what was going to be hot, gambled then won and scalpers. Your current approach is a doomed one, you’ll always end up in the red from shipping/ebay fees.
I got a 50 year plan for my 1999 collection. It started 22 years ago, 28 more years isn’t gonna be that long.
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and you think grading is the way right? Also rare and common cards? And why wouldnt i make money right now?
but still i usually triple the money i invest, IF i can find cheap cards which is very hard right now.But i do still earn good money. I do consider to chabge to yugioh but the pokemon market is so crazy big. .
