I recently started collecting and could use some advice from people who’ve been in this longer. I don’t have a massive budget (maybe 100–200 USD a month for Pokemon) so every mistake hurts a bit more. Lately I had a couple experiences that really killed the vibe for me:
1) Bad PSA purchase (lesson learned the hard way)
I bought a PSA graded card for $180 and (stupidly) paid with PayPal FF. The seller said they’re “not an official business,” so they don’t accept G&S. We agreed it would be sent tracked and insured, but apparently they sent it untracked and without insurance. Three weeks later: nothing. Card gone. Seller refuses to refund.
Realistically I’d have to go to civil court which would cost like another $200+ plus bailiff stuff, and no idea if I’d even win or ever see the money.
Lesson learned: never again without buyer protection.
How do you mentally cope with a scam or loss and not let it ruin the hobby?
What’s your rule of thumb for when to dispute vs. when to just eat the loss?
2) Raw cards that are “NM”… but not really
When ordering raw cards (like $8–25 for 15–150 cards), in about 35–40% of cases I’m getting stuff that’s clearly not NM: edge/corner wear, dents, surface rub, or they arrive scuffed because of weak packaging.
What’s your condition tolerance? Do you have a “tolerance band” and accept minor damage on commons < $1, but expect true NM on holos/rares? Or do you hold the NM line on everything?
It’s kinda annoying if you have to buy some cards 2–3 times until you finally get a clean one. Or do you just accept minor flaws for binder collections?
I messaged a seller once where it was especially bad. He said “used cards aren’t perfect” and “no returns.” I don’t wanna be that buyer who complains all the time, but I also don’t wanna pay for NM and get LP/MP.
Sounds like you learned about paying F&F to untrusted people. That was a complete lie about not being able to accept G&S.
For the NM vs played cards, yes NM is not mint, but it’s also not played. If there is a ding, crease, or heavy wear, return it. I agree though, if it’s close enough to NM, just leave it be, especially if it’s for a binder collection.
Never use PayPal FF unless it’s someone you’ve known for a while or is really reputable. Near mint also has some wiggle room in the fact that a lot of cards straight from the pack will not be perfect. If you are hesitant, just get a better look at pictures of the card. TCGPlayer NM is not the same as NM lol. If you can’t see pictures and are expecting a perfect card, then don’t buy the card. I hate that you’re learning this the hard way, but I’m pretty sure everyone here has gone through the same thing lol.
It’s hurts, but you can chalk it up to growing pains. I got scammed a few times when I first started out. Hang out here, read the archives and you’ll learn fast.
I mostly buy graded, but when I go raw I expect hidden damage and account for that in my bid
My rule of thumb is to mostly spend money on eBay and other official platforms that have assured money-back guarantees.
If I’m buying something outside of said platforms, be it Marketplace, proxy services from overseas, always, ALWAYS do it through PP GnS. Anybody who refuses to do business with you unless it’s via PP FnF or Cashapp is a scammer.
Don’t get too discouraged, just use this experience as future better judgement.
As far as card condition goes, that’s entirely subjective. I realized long ago that I am very picky, and as such graduated into purchasing slabs over raw in most cases.
I buy graded cards and crack them out when I’m doing a binder set. Depending on what you’re going for PSA and CGC 7-8 set cards go for VERY cheap and you don’t have to worry about the condition being lied about.
For #1, I just stick to established marketplaces like Ebay or FanaticCollect (formerly PWCC). It may take longer for them to ship to you but they verify that the item is real, authentic, give guarantees etc which all lead to much lower chances of being scammed and higher buyer confidence.
For #2, I simply don’t trust the NM moniker on most sites, I stick to Ebay for raw cards because I can check the images. I just have to ensure that it’s not a stock image I’m looking at which I can do by checking if the image is re-used by other listings, whether the seller is selling more than 1 copy (i.e. a bulk listing) or I can also message the seller for additional images but I do get ghosted fairly often so I get too attached to any one listing. These methods aren’t fool-proof but it’s better than nothing.
I attribute the same grace to it that I do for most things, “Just because some people are bad, it doesnt mean everyone is”
Live and learn. I only use untrusted payments for the amount im willing to lose. Usually around $100.
Depends what i want from the card and what the seller claims. If i want clean cards, crack from graded. If I just like the card, as long as its within 1 step of the description, probably fine. I never expect NM on raw cards unless it clearly looks clean, definitely never with high value raw because if it was truly clean they probably would have graded themself.
Thanks so much everyone for all the replies and advice, really appreciate it Lots of good points here that I’ll definitely try to implement going forward.
Still gotta kinda digest that scam situation though… hurts a bit. But yeah, lesson learned the hard way. I’ll be sticking to G&S and official platforms from now on.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply, it actually helps a lot to read that others went through similar stuff and came out fine in the long run.
PS: How do you guys go about buying bulk “NM”? For example, from a newer set like 151? I already bought the whole 1–151 set (excluding full arts) twice and had really bad luck with card condition both times. It would be too much to ask for individual photos on a big “low value” order, but it still adds up overall.
Id never wager on NM bulk being as described. Checking singles with photos 1 by 1 is more fufilling when curating a NM collection imo. (Also the journey is more fun ^-^ )
ouch, yeah this is relatable as heck. You aren’t the first person this happens to and sadly not the last.
I have a friend who got F&F scammed before, seen it happen to several others besides that. I ended communications with someone once when they refused to be paid G&S. So I walked away, and that made him real mad. Always insist on it.
If its outside that, really, anyone can argue their subjective standpoint to an extent. My own personal feeling on what is nm or lp etc. has shifted. Just be mindful that you might have higher standards. Though a lot of people abuse “nm” to get attention. I got too exhausted for the most part using tcgplayer for this reason. I just use it for bulk that I don’t really care that much about.
Hello and warm welcome to the forums @Poliwrat519 Very sorry that your start has not been as per your expectations. It really is a shame to be scammed.
I was made aware of this analogy in safety training but I really think it is very appropriate in this hobby. You always start with 2 water buckets. One labelled as ‘Luck’ and the other as ‘Experience’. When you begin in this journey, your Luck bucket is full but has a small leak. You Experience bucket on the other hand is empty. You aim is to fill up your Experience bucket before the Luck bucket completely runs out.
Unfortunately, not all experience has to be good. You can also fill your bucket with bad experiences but learnings none the same. But, fortunately, not all bad experiences have to be borne by you and you can also take the learning from others misfortunes.
Misfortunes as it maybe, you can really chalk it up to you gaining experience and making sure that you have learnt from it and not repeat the same mistakes again. Also, thanks for sharing, since it is a reminder to everyone else to be cautious.
Most of us hate to admit, but condition bothers us more than we care to show. It takes a while to get used to cards not being NM when they are advertised as such and you are paying money for the same. For me personally, as long as the card looks clean in the front and I have put them in my binder, I realize that the condition does not bother me. After a while I tend to also forget which cards were not NM since they all look nice and comfy in my binders. But it does take some getting used to and it might not be for everyone. I hope you can find a healthy balance between compromise and acceptance.
I wish you better and more enjoyable moments in the hobby. Looking forward to getting to know you better and see your collection progress.
yeah this. Its why I stopped being a fussy Gus over if something fits the bill for “nm” “lp” “mp” and so on. The real question I ask now is “Am I willing to pay the amount for what I see”? Sometimes you don’t see some flaws, but its almost never been egregious enough to be unsatisfied. Again, especially if it comes to bulk.
well for a new set, any damage is going to almost certainly be factory QC being poor. Frankly, they don’t give a hoot about QC on even the reverse holo cards anymore. So long as there isn’t significant wear on it from poor use/storage, or like just super mangled factory damage, I wouldn’t bother. In one case I did return on bulk because I chose a seller who had pretty high prices, and figured they maybe charged more because they actually thoughtfully sorted the bulk. It was the worst bulk I’d gotten from a new set.
All you can do is learn from it. Scammers are an unfortunate part of collecting but there are common red flags one can learn to recognize.
This forum is great resource and you can always ask if you are unsure. Once you are aware of what to look out for the risk of getting scammed is very low so don’t let this situation deter you!
Personally, I wouldn’t bother attempting small claims court over $180 but that’s up to you.
Raw card conditioning is subjective. The guidance often varies based on the platform you purchase the card from and requires both the seller and buyer to interpret said guidance in the same manner.
If the card is less than < $1 I wouldn’t even consider wasting time or energy on minor damage but again that’s just my opinion. Of course there’s principle involved but no matter how much or how little money one makes it’s probably not worth ones time.
In my experience, if the card is modern I don’t have many issues with purchasing NM copies online. If it’s vintage and listed as NM my skeptical hippo eyes activate and I tend to avoid the risk.
I recently did a combo trade/purchase for some carddass cards. I held up my end of the deal and sent over a bgs 8.5 T17. He was supposed to send over like 50 cards including some of the holos. Instead I got more cards but a bunch of the big hitters were left out and the condition was not exactly as described. Basically this guy changed the entire trade but after I sent the biggest part of the trade. His excuse? He thought I might back out of the deal and had another person offer more money for the cards he promised me. He still sent me similar value I guess, but that’s not the point. It was a greedy, shady and dirt bag seller move. I haven’t shared his information as of now but I will not be doing business with him again. He sells all over the FB groups though…
Just keep smiling and move on I suppose. Some people just suck.
My general rule of thumb is to never trust anyone when money is involved, buyers or sellers, and to document any correspondence before or after a transaction.
I’ve been burned a handful of times and making a huge stink until I was satisfied by either the seller or the platform has worked in my favor.
I was just hit with a misleading bait and switch purchase from Japan and lost about $600ish. The feeling of being scammed is just as bad if not worse than the monetary loss.
These situations are outliers. They are dark clouds but will eventually pass!
I feel like it is worth noting for every dishonest seller there are way more good ones. In the past decade I’ve only been scammed twice really including this recent event, but everyone’s experiences are different.
Everyone makes mistakes when they’re entering the hobby, it sucks but you live and you learn. I’m glad it was “only” $180 that you were scammed from, though obviously that’s still a significant chunk and doesn’t take away from the emotional toll of getting scammed. Just know that you’re not alone and many of us have made mistakes or been taken advantage of in some form in this hobby, and that the majority of people you’ll encounter are not like that at all. Welcome to the forum!
Lots of good points here that I’ll definitely try to implement going forward.