And if your considering a second job literally one or two days a week gives you a surprising amount of freedom with your budget
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I started in 2015 and spent way too much money irresponsibly when I had no real bills, and then prices went up
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Regular job, leftover money always went to pokemon.
Bought at least 3 of every “nice” card if i could, when i could. Researched which cards had limited copies and bought a significant amount. This was back when 70usd was “too much” for 1 card circa 2017-2018-2019.
Not so replicable these days with these inflated prices and everything moving so quickly. Everyone and their grandma has their eyes out for pokemon so its a lot harder to find good stuff, plus everyone is hyper aware of which cards go for the big bucks.
The times have changed, and so the strategy must also change.
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Since I pretty much collect and grade my own cards (I trade for and buy raw cards), I often get multiples for two reasons: (1) security in case a card doesn’t get the grade I want and (2) I can sell the extras to fund my collection.
I also vend at some shows so have a pretty good idea of what is more “liquid” (sells quickly), so I will sometimes buy or trade for extras that I deem gradable even if I have them.
I always couch it as “I’m a collector firsrt, but I also sell cards to fund my collection.”
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I set aside a portion of my income each month for anything pokemon related. If some cool card comes up or I have a moment of weakness and spend to much I’ll sell off something not core to my collection to raise some more money. When I started out, my money came from selling vintage
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I used to fund it by working and started my Pokémon collection by selling most of my Mtg collection in back 2015 (lucky).
Now it feels like my collection is funding me. Different priorities in life and such.
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I sold a part of my collection when downsizing this past year, and that’s funded a few purchases. It was really a lot of bulk and prize pack cards I had accumulated from tournament prizing, but every little bit adds up. It amounted to a nice little chunk of spare change.
I sell a lot of cards I get from league prize packs and tournament prizing, since my wife and I play the tcg. I’ll sell or trade playables for other playables, and the illustration rares and such I don’t want as well. It’s a nice little break-even or supplemental income occasionally.
I wouldn’t say that’s where the bulk of my hobby cash comes from though- I mostly just do my job, haha. The nice thing about being an illustrator is I can sometimes trade art for cards, which a lot of people can’t say about their day job 
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Have you ever seen “Breaking Bad?”
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I’m a contract killer and as a side hustle I extort business men who pay me to keep quiet about their affairs. It’s not much but it’s honest work that pays the bills.
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Honestly I have little funds, so a lot of my items are from patience. I’ll see a psa 10 of something up for a long while, and randomly find another for 20-40% of the price because I’m in a niche for my collection, and I go for it immediately (after making sure it’s legit). I’ve been burned a few times and I’m trying to learn from it.
The other thing I learned is the importance of paying it forward. I’ll swap bulk with others so we can finished sets, without worrying too much about value, and a lot of the time, without it being my intention, they’ll help me out later even if it’s of no net positive to them; and that’s something I really appreciate, and hope I can do more of myself once I gain more of an income after university. (I want to note, if the reason you help others is for the possibility of receiving something later, you aren’t really helping at that point, you’re setting out intending to gain. Just be a good person! It’ll make you feel better at the very least I promise 
).
I also fund my hobby by editing video, audio, photos (nothing crazy), and helping promote independent creators and companies. I try to use my skills when possible to make some side money, and it helps me get a few nice things when I can 
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I’ve heard of a lot of people trading art for cards, such a great idea!
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This is interesting! I’ve always wanted to ask what would be considered more “liquid” in Pokémon cards, but most sellers hold that stuff close to their chest and will just tell you “Charizard, Pikachu, you know how it is.”
Is there a post on here that covers all the cards with limited quantities of each?
Stock trading and card flipping
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Theres various discussion throughout the years about certain cards and how they are distributed. But if you’re looking for some sort of database with that kind of information all in one nice excel sheet, then i havent seen one yet. Maybe there is, i just havent bothered to check.
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Yeah, there are a bunch of “rarest cards” or “cards with limited distribution” threads.
One thing to note for yourself moving forward about this kinda stuff: for a lot of cards given out at events, the total number of cards is often not known. Some are, but not many - i.e., the WOTC black star promo Pokemon center cards had a hard cap of about 10k. But for other promos, and similarly ‘limited’ cards, the true count will never be known.
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That isn’t far off - liquid just means it’s a popular card that’s easy to sell because it’s more in demand. So it’s not wrong to say Charizard, Pikachu, Umbreon, Gengar, etc because those are some of the most popular characters.
For illustration purposes only, say you have a rare Dewgong from the EX era that’s worth $300, and a Van Gogh Pikachu or the Celebrations Charizard that goes for around $150-$170 (both in a PSA 10). The Charizard is going to be far more “liquid” than the Dewgong, meaning it’s much easier to sell to a wider audience, than the Dewgong even though it’s worth double. Why does that matter? If you’re trying to sell both either on eBay or at Shows, you’re most likely going to be sitting on that Dewgong for a lot longer than 5X Celebrations Charizards. Think about what you have to drag/carry to shows in terms of inventory, set up and tear down as well.
Liquid doesn’t have anything to do with the actual value, though that plays a role as an in-demand card with a high selling price is the best of all worlds - it’s what will move the quickest. Holding onto cards you want to sell for long periods means you can’t spend or invest in other cards until you sell it…so while there isn’t a set list and each person may differ in what they view as “liquid,” it’s factor in selling.
Liquid also changes based on the market, for example when people were zonkers about Waifu Trainers, but it’s usually safe to say the top 10-15 most popular Pokemon will almost always stay the course and sell well. That’s about as detailed as I can get.
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I agree - Pokemon never (well almost never because there are known numbers on items like tournament trophy cards) releases print volumes or numbers on how many of a specific card are produced. There are known variables, such as the EX era having much lower print runs compared to say Base Unlimited, but again nobody really knows the true numbers.
Nope. Don’t have the time anymore and now also don’t the patience to deal with shitty buyers
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Yeah, it’s been really fun! I’ve got several pieces in my collection that have come from art trades, and it’s always an enjoyable experience.
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