Hiya E4, wish I could say “long time lurker, first time poster” but I’ve always been a casual collector. I always knew about you guys, but you were always batting beyond what I was ever willing to pay for any individual cardboard. 
However, I think I ended up in the price range you deal with anyways, and could really use some help / advice from the experts.
I’m in my mid-30s. I bought Pokémon cards throughout my childhood and teens, and again in my late 20s. I never bought them expecting any sort of financial return, I just liked them! I actually figured Pokémon’s popularity would eventually fade and I’d get to finish some of my favorite sets one day. I’ve realized that (1) that isn’t happening and (2) since that isn’t happening, I’m kind of over them, and might as well sell them since they are worth something.
Prior to this weekend, I never sat down and figured out the price of these cards prior to this weekend because (1) I figured I’d be either underwhelmed or overwhelmed my the value, and (2) it’d end up a lot of work. Thanks to AI, I realized I could hand off the boring and tedious work of price lookups, and I’m mostly done entering a collection of 4000-5000 unique cards into an Excel spreadsheet.
Based on TCGplayer average market value, I have a collection nominally approaching 30k. Yes, there is a lot of bulk – only 343 of 3700 cards entered so far are worth more than $20, but those 343 cards are worth ~$22,000.
(I don’t want to mention specific cards to avoid looking like I’m actively advertising, but Unseen Forces, Delta Species, Cosmic Eclipse are the three heavy hitter individual sets.)
I’ll probably start to approach but fall short when I start inputting my JP cards on top of this; I have more than a few Japanese chase cards that I’ve seen sell for fabulous valuations online.
I asked the AI to introduce a running approximation of how much more upside I’d get if I graded the more obviously high value cards. It’s giving me an upper end estimate of an additional $23,000. I looked through that and (1) it seems to be assuming every card I grade would get a 9, and (2) there are a number of anomalous eBay sales driving that estimate way too high, but I’d assume there’s at least another $10,000 in value to be unlocked if I were to go down that road? I have at least 50 cards where a PSA 10 would net me $1500–$3000 (if not more).
The problem is I don’t have a great understanding of what kind of grades I could expect. I’m not a big fan of grading, it seems like a hassle, but I wanted to be able to use the figure as a negotiation point to sell the collection as is for 30k (give or take a few thousand in either direction). However, I get the sense I need to get these cards graded to be able to ‘get a seat at the table’ for the price range I unwittingly ended up in – whether it’s at a card shop, card show, consignments service, or otherwise.
My question is a pretty simple one – where do I go from here? Or, more specifically;
- I did try reaching out to card shops here and there in the past, but they never answered my emails and given my experience and advice I have received, I’m not keen to eagerly follow up with any of them. I’m not desperate to sell.
- It’s been suggested I go to card shows and look for a buyer, but the idea of carrying around heavy binders in crowded expos seems like I’m asking to get robbed. Nonetheless, it does seem like an avenue worth considering and I’m not averse to it. (Should I grade my cards before going to a card show?)
- Do I have the sort of collection where I’m a plausible client for a consignment service? Or is that sort of thing only practical for someone who has a collection of high value singles, vs bulk from packs with some heavy hitters? (Should I grade my cards before going to a consignment service?)
- For the sake of being able to do some math about grading, I need to know what sort of grades I can expect. If my typical approach was open packs using my filthy hands instead of wearing cotton gloves, but did stick them in muh Ultra Pro binder pages more or less immediately, can I plug in PSA 8 pricing in ballpark calculators to help decide what to do next, or am I being too optimistic?
- Anything else I’m missing and should be asking?
Finally, I am located in Ontario, Canada. That might make a difference for some bits of advice.
