First of all, I want to say thanks to a lot of you here. I’ve lurked for the last 4 or so months reading posts trying to get an idea on how to shape my collection and how to go about it.
A little about me, I’m 27 and live on the sunny east coast of Australia. I fell in love with Pokémon when it was first introduced through both the original video games and trading cards. When my friend turned up to school with a holographic Venusaur 1st edition, I knew I just had to have one. So imagine my horror when my first three packs only (yeah I know) had a Charizard.
Fast forward through the years I never fell out of love with my childhood fantasy, just didn’t have time (with sport, friends, girls and eventually booze). Now I have a family of my own and a well paying job that allows me to get back into ky hobby; collecting.
I’ve decided that I want to collect all Pokémon EX cards from BW and newer as well as all Full Art cards. Not a terribly expensive type of collection but something I want a little advice on.
Where would you all recommend I buy cards from? (Currently using eBay for singles/collections as well booster boxes)
Are there any specific tips you masters have on how I should go about this? (I’ve read a few posts/guides here listing good advice, just after some things I might not have considered, “you don’t know what you don’t know” eh?)
Do any of my fellow Aussies regularly send in to PSA?
Hey mate welcome to the forums, always great to see another aussie on here.
Personally I don;t ship to PSA simply due to expense and personal preference (I like binders and anything really rare and valuable I keep in toploaders and team bags) but have a few graded cards, Perhaps down the track I may submit a heap of cards in one go.
However there are aussies on here that do submit cards i know @milhouse is one.
In terms of your collection questions i’ve found ebay auctions to be reasonably effective. The major card websites (in my experience) have seemed to have pretty high prices for ultra rare cards. Boxes are also somewhat effective but possibly not super reliable or cost effective if you’re not worried about normal set cards. You could also get a bad box and not pull anything decent.
Another good option may be people on these forums. You can trade and also prices can be a bit lower when you cut out fees.
If you are considering using PSA (assuming you haven’t already) then now is not a great time to do it.
Exchange rate is a mess for AU → US at the moment and a 500 dollar PSA order will end up costing you like 700-750 dollars. If you keep your cards stored well then there is no loss in keeping your cards for a year and then grading them when(hopefully when) the exchange rate is nicer for us.
I usually buy a few boxes hoping to get the majority of the UR cards I need. With the remaining 300+ cards from the opening, I sell them on eBay as mixed bulk lots. Consequently it means I need to buy boxes from multuple sets to ensure no duplicates. But I usually make around $45-50 per box back from these sets. Not a lot, but a little to help buy more stuff. That pushes down the price on the UR’s (as some of them can be expensive).
I also keep all my cards in sleeves → toploaders → teambags and kept in my pelican case. =)
Thanks. Yeah observing eBay for deals is tedious. I did find an exceptional deal last night though. Will list it when the cards turn up.
Yeah, exchange sucks right now. I used to buy booster boxes from the US and the price point was excellent (considering the cheapest I can get a box in SE Qld is $150-160). I don’t see the exchange rate going to parity anytime soon either =(
As above, my cards are kept in sleeves, toploaders and teambags and housed in my pelican case for max protection.
How many do you send at a time? How much does it cost you per card? Do you deal with other collectors to send in bulk lots to be graded at the same time?
I have only ever sent on my own. I know there are some trustworthy middle men, especially on UPCCC, but I much rather do the process on my own.
My orders were usually in the range of 20-40 cards, you need to do that many to justify the postage cost imo.
I usually try and use the monthly deals they use for Members. Which cost me between 6-10 dollars each card, depending on the turn around times on the deals and whatnot.
Another Aussie! there seem to be more and more of us popping up, great to see.
As far as single cards go, we have a facebook trade/sales group called Pokemon TCG trades and sales Australia. Definitely my go to place for newer stuff, as the exchange rate + shipping from the US makes it much easier to just pick up something within the country.
As for collecting all the newer EXs, you can always go the fun path and open a heap of boxes and then fill holes, but the more realistic approach is to just buy singles in bulk.
Not many people here do PSA send offs, but there are a few. I have recently done my first send off, but only because a friend of mine gave me a deal that made it viable. Like a few others have said, if you’re interested in doing so, the best idea would be to wait until our dollar isn’t disgustingly low, and go through a trusted middleman.
+1 for the Aussies! Im from the mid north coast of NSW, welcome But yes im finding with the (generally) already high postage rates some people are giving from the US then plus our low dollar buying from overseas sucks atm.
Also picked up a Diancie box on the way home as a bonus… Pretty happy with my purchase! =D (came with 18 Holo’s and 15 reverse foils as well, not pictured)
