Thoughtful and knowledgeable Pokemon discussion is not what the people demand. The people demand hype. That’s why people like tca smpratte and gemmints are not in the millions of subscriber club (which just to be clear, I respect lol never join the hype beasts)
5 Likes
Just don’t tell my boss
Like most things, right place and right time are huge factors to who is able to become a success in the realm of pokemon related jobs. Maybe you hit the right time in applying your skills and can make a career out of it, chances arent good but maybe.
1 Like
True! Some of the best pokemon content on Youtube was made by people that have 3-figure subscriber counts. These are people that have put in their 10.000+ hours and been at it for decades.
2 Likes
I was thinking about starting a blog and this is the one reason i havent yet.
1 Like
Content creation is not for everyone. I’d wager the average casual on e4 possesses more knowledge than even some of the larger poketubers/ig people (and certainly whatnot beasts 
) But you need knowledge and a plethora of other skills to make social media work.
If it was just Pokemon knowledge we’d all be rich and famous on fat bread stack street by now
2 Likes
I transitioned from a bank job doing PE fund reconciliation to a job within Pokemon cards a few years ago. I worked as a consignment director for an auction house startup for a couple years. They never asked about education level.
I got the job by knowing the person starting the business. The skills I had to have were knowing the majority of available knowledge about the Pokemon TCG and knowing who to ask when there were gaps in my knowledge.
The way I learned was just from collecting and being a part of irl events since 2005. I wanted master sets, so I sought out all the information there was on every card released, because I needed them to finish my sets.
Just like everywhere else, people in Pokemon want to work with who they know and like, so I’d recommend getting out there and being active and building relationships. Though my brother is also a chef, so I know how hard it is to get the extra time.
17 Likes
Thank you for this. This was pretty much exactly the response i was looking for. I guess ill start by making friends at collect a con and seeing what happens
5 Likes
Ik That content creation isnt for everyone, but i know that i want to share what i know with people, but they dont care about what I work with (Vending-Legacy Variants, Errors, reprints, callbacks, etc.) If anyone wants an audience they would just talk about the chase cards from the newest sets and how much they are worth. For most people here, we have the knowledge and resources to do stuff like knowledgeable content creation, but what most people want is just know how much money each card is worth.
So basically, if ya wanna become a poketuber, ig just talk about how much cards are worth, and record you buying them or pulling them from packs
This is about building a career, alot of what you mention here is required for most satisfying careers… ofcourse youll have to frontload the work and develop new skills. Sure you’ll probably be working a normal full time job to support it for the first year, but thats the kind of commitment needed sometimes to get to a better position right? Better “career” than filling binders and sorting bulk.
Is the success rate not low for brick and mortar stores as well? Isnt the content creation side also less commitment and risk than a full storefront? Additionally, I don’t see any other channels like @chok because I genuinely don’t think there are any (or very very few) short form information packed pages actually doing it. Mainly because it is hard work and takes actual thought (like we both mentioned above).
I don’t think this is something anyone should do without a full time job supporting the early stages. It may never pay off, but this approach to a career in pokemon is probably the most satisfying. If you fail, try again.
2 Likes
It’s a big market and it never ceases to amaze me. Despite the contents of packs being worth less and less each day, the amount of higher end box breaks keeps ramping up.
I took it as people dumping stuff (still sorta think that’s the case) but the buyers keep buying. I personally do not know how long people will keep buying packs that cost the same as the sets chase card, but people seem happy and eager to do so. It just seems like a shaky foundation that a lot of these new Pokemon businesses are being built on
2 Likes
I’m not saying you can’t do it, I was just pointing out the risks and heavy costs that often go unspoken. It is very hard to turn a hobby into a career, especially if your goal is to make money via influencing.
1 Like
Mmm, disagree. I have nothing but respect for tca, smpratte, and gemmint but their delivery is mega boomer. Their content is perfect and very in depth, but the editing and style is from 2004 (again not a knock!). Just making a distinction, there are a few channels with in depth analysis (again like WolfeGlick and Jrose11 who have million plus view videos) because they combine the depth that the above 3 have with updated and polished presentation.
3 Likes
Agreed, its about the last thing on my to do list.
2 Likes
I said I respect their method too. But it’s just not what the YouTube algorithm rewards with the monstrous channel sizes you see on other accounts. For every one person who wants to learn about tcg history there are 100 who are looking to see what lugia v costs today
1 Like
I think theres something to be said about how the word “want” is used. Do people actually “want” to watch someone open packs or is it just in their general area of interest, takes no brain power, and its every third video on youtube so “why not”? This generation of ipad kids is crushing us
2 Likes
I do not know how this type of consuming behavior is sustained. Be it YouTube or whatnot
I doubt they are iPad kids because they’re happily paying 150% market minimum constantly
I can’t be the only one who smiled at the Mario Party reference
3 Likes
I can second what’s been said here. In the past few months I’ve started working at a auction house in the UK. The way I got the job was partly because I regularly brought through them and visited the auction house so they knew me and partly because I had a connection with one of the staff through a family friend. When I went for my interview it was more of a informal chat but they were most interested in my experience in the hobby and my knowledge of the cards and the market and willingness to learn other tcgs where I have less knowledge such as MTG and Yu-Gi-Oh. I don’t think they asked me once about my degree etc. If you have invested alot of time learning the hobby and the market and can demonstrate this as well as being able to engage and work with customers and colleagues then I think these are the most important things. Also you have to essentially be making money for your department, if it is a growth area for the business then you might have some slack to begin with but the harsh truth is that it is a business so it they are paying you more than you make then probably won’t be keeping you on forever.
I think working in Pokémon full time is alot of people’s dreams (mine included) but it’s definitely not as easy as it seems and a lot of hard work is needed. This isn’t to deter anyone from pursuing it as a career but just to be aware it’s not a cakewalk. Also there are plenty of people that do it as a part time gig alongside full time jobs, selling online or at shows which is another option if you want to make some extra money and learn more about running a business but without diving in the deep end.
7 Likes
You know I see a lot of folks that have had a pretty successful time in Pokémon for the following reasons
• they got in at the right time when it wasn’t flooded with amateurs all trying to be YouTubers (I say this respectfully)
• they amassed a large amount of inventory during the time it wasn’t popular
. they have capital. Plain and simple.
This is harsh, but not everyone is made for TV. I’ve been in the film industry for so many years. I see people that have no business talking to folks about the market. I will never diminish you for trying. I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to be a “starving artist” like my friends who all are servers, and decided to stay in the corporate world. I respect them either way. They have a dream and they intend to go through with it. My life choice suits me, it pays well, and I can “buy” what I want whenever I want.
I see successful people like @Alec and @smpratte and @swolepoke just to name a few. They’ve put in the work, but have been in the game for far longer than I’ve been. I came back to Pokemon in 2019. Too late in my opinion to jump right before the big boom that happened in 2020, UNLESS I dropped a lot of money. I realize that I can enjoy the hobby as a fan. And make money through investments in other ways.
Anyone can be successful, anyone can be the next Rev or Leonhart, but in a world oversaturated with YouTubers, in a world where everyone is flipping commons and holos, how will you stand out when everyone is doing the same thing? Just being real.
10 Likes