I took a little break from following the pokemon market and have just looked up the prices of some of my cards on ebay and im having difficulty comprehending what I am seeing. So any help would be appreciated. How real are the sold prices on ebay? For example, am I seeing correctly that the recent price for a PSA 10 1st Edition Red Cheeks Pikachu is around 10-12k? I also am seeing unbelievable prices for some other cards I have, PSA 10 1st edition Squirtle, Charmander, Wartortle, Ivysaur to name a few. My plan was to aquire cards for the long term, but these prices are too high to not try to sell in my position. If these prices are in fact real and not some kind of market manipulation or shill bidding situation, then how would one even go about selling such high dollar cards? I mean any of these cards would nuke my ebay and paypal account as my selling limits are low. All i have sold on ebay are pokemon codes, my highest transaction is like $30.
Do people sell in person for cash, is that even a thing? How would you do that safely, meet at a bank or police station? Or are there escrow services or middle men that you would recommend? What shipping service is reputable enough to actually pay a 10K insurance claim in case of loss? I could barely get UPS to pay a $100 claim on a package years ago. I would love all this to be real, but its so extreme and cant seem to recall seeing anything like this before. And the old adage if its too good to be true, it probably is. This doesnt even cover the current situation, this is unlike anything imaginable. Any info would be helpful, thanks.
@dndcollect , Hey there! welcome back! The sale prices that are that high are indeed the truth my friend. I would recommend you read through the 1st edition tracking thread that we have going on here as there is a lot of discussion about market and what these cards mean for the hobby. As far as meeting in person, I know it has been done before. I have never done it, but maybe some other people could help answer that.
@dndcollect, as Ash recommended, that is a very good venue to do for you, and their charge is negligible considering what you have, in my opinion at least.
Yes, the prices really are this insane. When you go to ebay sold filter, there are some discrepancies, but in general, when you see auctions that are generally consistent with the prior ones, they are real. You could always ask people on here, but the starters as 10’s are about that high, red cheeks pikachu, any of the holos obviously, and any of the rares are in the multi-thousands range. You are not seeing things.
You can’t meet in person without using a platform to list and establish the meet. Yes, police stations and banks. People do local pickup on ebay and do just that. But again, you have a price limit as you said. That is why you were recommended a 3rd party service. That is your best option. A consignment venue like PWCC.
For people who meet in person, yes, why not? Think it a bit much? I’d feel pretty safe going to meet in either of those places with, say, $5k worth of cards or more. And sure, in many cases you’d be doing a bank wire/transfer anyway with that kind of amount. Doubtful I’d be taking 5k or 10k in cash if I’m selling my Charizard for example.
I always recommend going to a public place with a friend if you want to meet in person with high dollar transactions. Or you could find a well-known and trusted middleman who can help you sell your cards/valuable items. I see someone mentioned pwcc and that is also a good choice as it will have more exposure and potentially bring you more $$ if you are trying to sell. People can buy things with lots of cash but you will probably find more people do wire transfers.
And as far as the prices being real they are at the moment. Prices can jump or fall at any time but current prices are current prices. You just have to find a buyer who is willing to pay what you ask.
