Selling and Investing Pokémon Cards: 10 Tips to Begin
If you are looking to invest, whether short or long-term, then the gurus over at runrex.com recommend that you consider investing in Pokémon cards. Including the fact that Pokémon cards are on a blistering pace when it comes to their value that shouldn’t plateau in years is just one of the reasons to invest, with more reasons covered over at guttulus.com. To help you out, this article will look to articulate 10 tips as far as selling and investing in Pokémon cards go.
Set your goals
You must set your goals when looking to invest in Pokémon cards. According to runrex.com, the first thing you need to do is set your budget so that you can know when to stop buying. This is because winning auctions can be addictive and you can easily find yourself overspending. You should also decide what your financial goals are as far as your investment is concerned as explained over at guttulus.com. Ask yourself why you are investing in Pokémon cards. Are you trying to make money fast or are you an enthusiast who wants to collect for long-term profits?
Tips on the various card-buying strategies
When looking to invest in Pokémon cards, it is important that you know and understand the various card-buying strategies, which are covered by the following 3 tips.
Know when to go for long-term investing
You must know when to adopt a long-term investment strategy if you are looking to invest in Pokémon cards. Here, as per the gurus over at runrex.com, when it comes to 1999-2000 Pokémon cards, the long-term investing would be towards mint raw cards and near mint graded cards. Lower cards of the most expensive cards or PSA 8 and above for the rest of the 1999-2000 cards are great for long-term investments.
Know when flipping is the right strategy
Flipping is when you buy a card intending to make a profit on it as soon as possible. What sets the flipper apart from the casual collector is education as revealed over at guttulus.com. This is because flippers know the sales, population reports, and which cards are coveted by monitoring the market, and if a card takes off, flippers will often look to capitalize. Therefore, if you only know the main characters and not much else about the cards, then flipping is probably not for you.
Collecting
The final strategy is collecting, which has become very popular in recent times with gem mint and lower graded complete sets becoming all the rage once again as outlined over at runrex.com. The overwhelming nostalgia and lack of willing sellers due to attachment to the cards have led to a situation where many collectors value their cards well beyond the current prices and it is shown with a limited supply of high-grade First Edition Base holograms available.
These are the three strategies to consider, and you should go for the one that suits you and your investment goals.
Know which cards to invest in
When you are looking to invest in Pokémon cards, there are certain cards that you should always keep your eye out for as articulated over at guttulus.com. They include promo cards, complete sets, sealed packs which are the safest way to invest in Pokémon cards, boxes, artist autographed cards, and error cards. These Pokémon cards are rare and their scarcity has made them skyrocket in demand and value making them worthy investments.
Know the factors affecting a card’s value
Another important tip is the importance of knowing the factors that affect the value of any given Pokémon card. As is explained over at runrex.com, these factors include the grading company with PSA-graded cards being valued higher than the others, the supply of the card or the population reports although some cards such as Pikachu or Charizard have got insane demand regardless of populations, buying raw vs graded particularly since graded cards are the safest indicator that you are getting what you want and are paying for and there is much less risk in buying graded cards, as well as the surface, corners, edges, creases, and centering. Other factors include your negotiating tactics as well as nostalgic elements.
Know the best channels to sell and buy Pokémon cards
If you are looking to invest in and sell Pokémon cards, then you must know the best channels to sell and buy cards. According to guttulus.com, they include eBay which is considered the safest online marketplace to buy and sell Pokémon cards, Facebook groups and Instagram, COMC which is a marketplace designed to help you buy individual cards as well as specializing in set collecting, Mercari which is another popular marketplace to buy and sell cards, as well as card shows and stores.
Risks involved in selling and investing in Pokémon cards
Shill Bidding (“Shilling)
From discussions over at runrex.com, “Shilling” is when a card bids for an overly high price, but the sale never gets completed. Bidders will often try and manipulate the market this way, to pump the value of their own identical or near graded cards. This is why you should check recent sales and bidding history on a sale to identify if it is legit or not.
Fake cards
When purchasing loose cards, it is crucial that you research what you are buying, and that you check the indicators (years, artwork) to ensure that you are not getting scammed. According to the subject matter experts over at guttulus.com, fake Pokémon cards are easily spotted if you pay attention, although there are some pretty impressive forgeries of Charizard and the Illustrator Pikachu.
Re-sealed packs
It is also important that you check whom you are buying packs from. Check their ratings, reviews, and make sure the seller is legitimate. This is because, as revealed over at runrex.com, packs can easily be resealed and if you don’t know how to look, you can easily be scammed. You should ask for as many pictures as it takes to see the entire pack and look at the top and bottom of the foil to see if there are any discrepancies like the foil looking different in one spot. You should also check for how crumpled up the pack is to indicate if the cards inside have been damaged.
These are just some of the things you should be aware of when looking to sell and invest in Pokémon cards, with more on this wide topic to be found over at the excellent runrex.com and guttulus.com.