Over the last couple of years, scads and scads of new collectors and investors have entered the Pokemon card sphere, resulting in dramatic market shifts and an uprising of new content creators. In this specific post, we're going to present a Pokemon card market guide to follow if you're new to this realm.
Prior to the 2020 boom, the hobby was much more insulated. Yes, it was expanding, but the explosion that occurred during the pandemic absolutely caused some growing pains for the Pokemon collecting world.
Why? Well, when you have a large influx of people joining any particular arena, you are also obviously going to have a diverse range of attitudes and personalities. Some of those personalities are great. Others? Let's just say Pokemon could have done better off without them.
But for those of you who are still attempting to find your footing in what remains an increasing market, here are a few keys on how you should operate in order to enjoy the most satisfactory experience possible.
Pokemon Card Market Guide
Pokemon Card Market Guide Tip 1: Don't badmouth people
This is something you see time and time again in the Pokemon card hobby (and really in life in general). Someone new joins the fray, gets some early attention, thinks they're a hot shot and starts badmouthing fellow collectors, businesses, content creators and the like.
While you may get an endorphin rush from ripping someone for one reason or another and seeing the flood of comments supporting your take, trust me when I tell you: it's not a good idea.
You may think you are gaining trust, and you may be under the impression that you are a man or woman of the people. But what you are really doing is driving a wedge between yourself and serious individuals in this hobby and making it so that no one with any real clout is going to want anything to do with you.
Think about it: would you trust someone who makes it their mission to badmouth anyone they disagree with?
Yes, I completely understand that some people do wrong things. Some people engage in questionable (if not slimy) behavior. But when you make a YouTube channel or Instagram page or whatever (insert social media platform of choice here) entirely dedicated to “exposing” these parties, you're actually making yourself look bad in the process.
I would never want to associate with a person who spends so much of their time publicly disparaging others, even if they have a legitimate reason for doing so.
And let's be honest here: most of the time, people engage in this type of behavior due to envy and because they want attention (which usually comes in the form of views and/or subscribers and followers); not because they genuinely care about the community.
Don't be the guy or girl who follows that path.
Pokemon Card Market Guide Tip 2: Keep your word
I find it very disturbing that this is something that actually needs to be mentioned, but the more experience I get, the more I realize that integrity is a quality that the vast majority of people do not have.
A large part of integrity is keeping your word. If you say you are going to do something, do it. Don't try to find an excuse to back out. Unless you have a very admissible reason as to why you have to pivot, just stick to what you said.
There are multiple reasons for this, but let's stick to one for now: keep your word for your own sake.
Imagine this scenario. You are working on a deal with Mike, and you give him your word that you will complete the transaction with him. He spends his time putting together a substantial package of cards for you. He counts how many cards you will be receiving, checks for condition, everything. After several days (if not weeks, depending on how big the deal is) of getting everything in order, Mike sends you a spreadsheet of what he has. You then decide to back out of the deal because you found a better deal elsewhere, or simply because you changed your mind.
Either way, you broke your word.
Now let's say you go to do a deal with John. You are in the early stages of the deal, and John is about to do the same thing Mike did for you. However, John actually knows Mike, and he happens to mention to Mike that he is working on a deal with you. Mike recognizes your name and immediately tells John, “Oh that person? They backed out on a deal with me. They don't keep their word.” Suddenly, John doesn't want to work with you any longer.
Believe me: people talk, and you never know who someone might know. Your reputation is everything.
Keep your word. If you promise someone something, follow through on it.
Pokemon Card Market Guide Tip 3: Don't overextend yourself
One big mistake some newer people make is that they enter the hobby with such gusto that they don't have any sort of discipline. So, what they end up doing is buying everything they see, and they end up going into debt because of it.
I'm not going to tell you what payment method you should be using when buying items. That's entirely your business. But I will tell you this: do not go into debt over Pokemon cards.
Story time: a couple of years ago, a customer sent me a message about some booster packs I had for sale. I don't remember exactly how much I was selling them for, but they were all well into the hundreds of dollars. In his message, he happened to mention that he was about $25,000 in credit card debt due to Pokemon cards alone. I instantly told him that it would not be a good idea for him to buy any expensive booster packs.
You should always put yourself on some sort of budget and have some sort of restraint when it comes to buying Pokemon cards (or any non-essential goods really). If you come in guns blazing and click “buy it now” on everything that looks appetizing to you, you'll find yourself in dire financial straits before you know it and you won't be able to buy anything Pokemon related at all.
Enjoy collecting, but have some discipline.
Pokemon Card Market Guide Tip 4: Do your research
I can't stress this enough: knowledge is king.
I don't care how much capital you have. I don't care who you know. I don't care how much you think you know. If you don't do the necessary research, you are going to have a difficult time in the Pokemon card collecting world.
You may think the whole process is easy, but in reality, you really need to know what you're doing, especially if you are starting a business and/or you are thinking of investing in Pokemon cards long term.
You need to understand market dynamics. You need to understand trends. You need to understand which cards have good fundamentals and which ones don't.
The only way to grasp any of these things is to simply do your research.
Knowledge and experience will take you further in this hobby than anything else. Yes, money certainly matters, but knowledge is the crown jewel you should be aiming to acquire before you really delve into anything serious.
Pokemon Card Market Guide Tip 5: Talk to accomplished people
One of the main ingredients in becoming wise is being able to identify people who have wisdom themselves. In the business world, that means finding individuals who have gotten to the top of your field (or are at least very accomplished in it) and seeing how they did it.
There are tons of people in the Pokemon card hobby who have achieved incredible feats. Some of these collectors have been in the game for multiple decades, so it's safe to say they know a thing or two.
And if you can't have a personal conversation with them? Digest their content. Watch their YouTube videos. Read anything they might write. For example, Scott Pratte is one of the preeminent collectors and investors in Pokemon. He has a YouTube channel called “smpratte” on which he unleashes a wealth of information that all new entries should absorb.
Don't be one of those people who thinks they know everything and aren't willing to listen to anyone else. The more information you soak up, the better off you will be.
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