I agree with this 100%. You also need to have a semblance of people skills and likability as well. Especially if you sell alot in person. Alot of people I’ve met who purely are in it for the money are giant douches. AKA the people who sell “mint” unlimited holo jungle Kangaskhans for $50 lol
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I think that applies to almost anything in life.
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The big money investors with their big money strategies are often just buying WotC boxes, which are like some of the simplest and least strategic options I can think of. 
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Amen!
The amount of time it would take to make an investment portfolio, assuming no knowledge of the hobby, isn’t worth it. If you can drop $50k on WOTC boxes you are likely in a position where you value your time and can make money elsewhere.
Pokemon COLLECTORS who may buy pieces here and there with the intention of resale down the road, don’t mind browsing forums/learning about the hobby/scrolling through eBay etc. If you have zero interest in Pokemon, all that stuff is wasted time and countless hours.
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@garyvee
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I would guess you’re much more likely to find on this site people who are in it purely as a hobby. I would consider myself in that boat. Considering I have no intention of ever selling any of my cards, any notion of “investing” to me personally is an excuse for me to feel more practically justified about spending a bunch of money on cardboard (vs. things that people spend a lot of money on that lose value, like cars).
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I think you kinda answered your own question. If you’re just in it for the money, you trade equities, which is what most people do (obviously). Way way way way more opportunity, liquidity, price information, etc.
I’m sure some people feel better about buying cards because they tend to appreciate in value, but they probably got started simply because they enjoy it or have some kind of nostalgia. If you just want to make money there are a lot better ways to do it than Pokemon cards lol.
Funny enough, he still broke even on most and even made some good returns on some products(I think the BW products he got on clearance for $7 and think he said they’re like $50 now)
That might be true but if he knew the hobby better and invested the same amount in older minter rarer he would be a zillionaire right now
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Oh for sure, trying to make quick flips absolutely screwed up the potential returns he could have easily had with wotc product with his capital
I’m just here for the memes
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I was told chicks dig the shiny cards as much as they dig the long ball
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Rudy did well on what he loved. He floundered like a trout in an oil slick when it came to Pokémon.
What does that tell you?
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invest in magic
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I actually got into the re-sale aspect of Pokemon long before I started seriously collecting. I started-out selling Pokemon Cards on eBay in 2009; and didn’t start seriously collecting Pokemon Cards until 2016. It’s night-and-day between how I ran my eBay Business when I was purely running a “business” without devoting the time and effort into actually learning the hobby and market through genuine interest compared to how I run my eBay Business today with the knowledge that I’ve built through genuine interest.
Back when I first started-out, all I saw were the dollar-signs. If I could purchase something for $100.00 and flip for $125.00 ($25.00 Profit), I was ecstatic! Today, I have a very different view and typically price my items higher than the “average” price-point on eBay. I’m no longer concerned about the “quick flip” on everything that I purchase; but, instead realize that certain items demand that premium and while they may sit within my eBay Store for an extended period of time, someone will eventually scoop-up and purchase. It’s the knowledge I’ve learned through being engaged and having a genuine interest in the collecting aspect that has really helped me succeed selling on eBay. It’s impossible to purely “invest” within Pokemon without having that genuine interest and engagement within the hobby.
There are so many other (easier) avenues to take if you’re purely looking to make a quick buck! For Example, I’ve recently gotten into selling on Amazon via FBA. I’m still very new to this whole process; however, I can find and purchase items for re-sale without actually knowing ANYTHING about that item aside price-point and Amazon Ranking. I’m able to scan random barcodes (literally anything) with my phone and immediately know whether or not said item would be a good re-sale purchase. You can’t do that with Pokemon Cards - there’s so much more that you need to know and understand to be successful within selling Pokemon.
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Actually, it tells me do t go to Rudy for Pokémon advice lol.
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I 100% agree without the knowledge of this niche market an investor like Rudy or the one making this thread cant make a sinformed decision about their purchases and will most likely lead to failure.
However… any of you saying this is a subpar investment and there are so many better places to park your money… CMON… REALLY… Just check the data numbers don’t lie.
I think EVERY SINGLE WOTC BOX (with the exception of maybe a couple unlimited ones possibly) have more than 100% growth in value within the last couple years. (This is what most people who are new and looking to just invest would go for on average.) Very few stocks on the entire stock exchange can say that and 0 mutual funds which most 401k and IRAs are invested in. And even with the hot real estate market it is no where close to DOUBLE in value in a couple years lol.
So Im not going to weigh in on if someone who is not a collector or enthusiast should invest or will do well but for anyone saying there is better places to park your money… its just not true as of late. Not even close!
When people say “collectibles aren’t a good investment”, I think they mean, “collectibles aren’t an easy investment”.
The average person doesn’t know what Wotc means. Also Wotc boxes aren’t the majority. Most cards aren’t “investments”, energies, commons, etc. Where most stocks don’t require much knowledge and will provide some sort of return.
I do agree that knowledge in collectibles pays dividends. There are certain items that outperform stocks, ironically most aren’t sealed product. But volume trading trumps most investments.
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Just because you can look at sealed WOTC prices 3-4 years after a spike and say “look at the returns” doesn’t mean that you would have magically had the knowledge back in 2016 to buy them. The point is that unless you have significant knowledge, you can’t make the type of decisions that will lead to important returns. We aren’t talking about flipping here, we’re talking about investing.
I’ve been back the hobby for probably about six years and I’ve been very involved the entire time. You can look back at my E4 posts from 2014 if you want. I’ve been seeing all the market trends, learning about them, and learning more about cards all the time. I feel like I am just barely getting to the point where I can begin to do solid market analyses and make informed decisions based off of that. It’s worked, the cards I own or have purchased recently have gone up a fair amount. But it’s still absolutely nothing compared to what people make off the stock market and it’s significantly less than what I would have made if I just parked all my disposable income since 2014 in stocks. It’s not even really investing at all, it’s just making an informed decision on when to buy so I don’t have to pay a bunch more money for a card I want in my collection. As I said in my financially smart vs. investing thread, there are very few people who can actually claim to be legitimate Pokemon investors.
You can say “just buy sealed WOTC” and hey chances are you’ll have a fairly consistent return, but you could literally choose any vintage card/product and it will probably (over 20-30 years through dips and spikes) do the same.
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