Hey all, haven’t posted before but I’ve been reading all the posts in re: buying and selling. I’m looking to figure this out.
Goal: Be able to leverage some capital to buy, open, trade, and of course sell a huge amount of new cards (cases at a time, ideally) and break-even money wise while enjoying the hobby + playing competitively.
I have significant capital + experience selling online on both ebay and self-hosted stores as well as YouTube and Facebook Ad experience. I’m hoping the capital is the advantage that I need to make this work.
I don’t really care about profiting. Ideally I have a great time enjoying the game and buying lots of cases with the goal of breaking even and building a very light collection (just enough to play the TCG and access every deck).
I’m not interested in buying sealed and holding it as that’s no fun (eventho it may be the most profitable).
Assets/Pros
-Capital
-Advertising Experience
-Ebay/Ecommerce Experience
-HD Video setups for YouTube
Cons
-Not interested in sitting on sealed boxes or old wotc cards
-Numbers don’t add up to me on simply opening boxes at bulk and selling (# of good cards less fees less case costs)
Here’s what you’d need in order to make this work:
At least $30k per set, this is the type of money you will need to get distributor pricing on boxes (which is around $78/box). Most places will buy 50-60 cases at a time.
Reputable distributor contacts with good pricing.
Something unique that sets you apart from everyone else that’s doing the exact same thing.
Time. When you’ve got $30k worth of boxes and you want to sell singles, the time to break the boxes, sort the cards, check for condition, list on eBay, etc, is significant. Think weeks.
I’m assuming you’d already have a dedicated eBay store and the experience to run it, which is very important. My concern is that you seem to be thinking that what is normally a full-time job for people, you can do as a hobby/activity on the side.
What are the number behind your capital and experience?
To be completely candid, this is something too many people are trying to attempt. To give you a quote from one of my distributors “there are too many people trying to sell this year compared to last year”.
The market is saturated at the moment. This would not be a great time to risk that type of money.
Keep in mind doing this will take a ton of constant work and time, with no guarantee of profit. The only individuals who are in the black with new sets are massive high volume businesses.
Thanks Scott, appreciate the response. I hoped that wasn’t the answer but that makes sense to me.
Capital wise I could do a couple sets at the numbers fourstartcg mentioned, but it doesn’t sound like breakeven or even close to it is easy, to your point.
I didn’t think singles made sense checking the numbers. What about packs or arbitrage examples like Rudy mentioned on YT?
Let’s say $100K capital + goal of breakeven + lowest risk. Pipe dream or is there something out there?
Right now it is not easy. However your numbers are feasible. I would say 3 years ago you would have much more opportunity than today.
If you aren’t really worried about profit, I would start small. Do a case, dabble a bit, and see what the numbers look like from a small sample size.
Basically the guys who mainly do new product, its a hustle. People romanticize the idea of doing this full time, but there is a ton a work. Whether than is analytical or psychical, it is an inherent part of the trade that is typically overlooked.
There is something to be said about buying out Ebay stores or collections.
Back in the earliest days of Yahoo Auctions and eBay I would see a seller with items I liked and I offered to take all their listings for 60% of value. Then I’d relist most and rathole the rest. I did well and ended up with storage lockers full of product as well as a great collection.
Maybe 10% of my inquiries worked out but that was plenty enough to accomplish my goal.
Buying product today from a distributor is a lot different. Pretty much you can get what you want. Back then you could order 100 or 1000 cases but you’d get only 3-5 no matter who you were.
I’m a little curious as to how many people in this hobby have the gains or just mad money to spend on an item like this, I’m guessing the number are in the 100’s not thousands. I never thought i’d see the zard sell for that much it’s pretty cool.
The short answer to your question: cross-collectors. Any high end/popular item will have numerous cross-collectors who don’t necessarily collect pokemon, but will purchase a popular or valuable piece. This is a trend that will increase with the most valuable & popular items in the hobby. It has existed privately for a few years, and is now rearing its head publicly. This also isn’t unique to pokemon, it occurs in all hobbies. It is part of overall growth.
Also, Collectible markets are very dynamic. Many in pokemon still have a very linear understanding of value or potential value. They only see what they know: peripheral ebay sales, and what their buddies talk about on social media. Sure, from the scope of guys in their early 20’s, who could maybe spend a total of 16k in a year, to them this is crazy. But they are not the target audience. I personally cannot afford a psa 9 Mickey Mantle rookie , therefor my feeling of “I would never pay that much” really doesn’t mean anything at all.
Thanks a lot, that’s a great idea. Would definitely be super fun to get a collection and go through. Would be very worth it to me to break even on that or come close. Appreciate the idea.
Dabble and start small is a good idea and makes sense to me. Probably just speculate on a new set and work to get a legit distributor. Also gonna try to buy collections/small stores.
I think there is definitely way more work than I’m even estimating but I’m comfortable subbing it all out and have exp. with other stuff like that setup so I really do romanticize the idea of just getting to do the good stuff lol
I never thought of that people of other hobbies wanting to have what we all want, for investment or collectors sake, which I think shows the health of the market it’s not just us pokemon fanatics who love the game/cartoon who want to claim the most valued card in the hobby. I’m hoping my schooling pays off and I can afford these higher end cards and not give up my other hobbies to collect them all.
Follow up question guys. For Guardians Rising, I’m going to start small and get a couple of cases. I know money loves speed - even if I have to spend a few more dollars, who do you recommend for getting the cases delivered on or before release date?
I’ve found the typical ones on Google but they all seem to be sent on release date so a few more days to get here. Thanks.
As a side note you should video all of your pack/box openings and put them on youtube. I and millions of others like watching poke packs being opened. Just don’t be an idiot (unlisted leaf) or annoying (jenna em). If you get super lucky and popular, you may can start to make money off youtube ads. I have never made a cent, but I don’t open cases or do any video editing either.
You want them on or before the release date? I believe you’d either have to buy direct from the Pokemon co or maybe find a local shop that would get them and buy from them. Not sure what other option you’re thinking of?
