This thread is *not* about crystal ball information (market changes, etc). Everything else is on the table. Something that took you awhile to learn for whatever reason, and that you wish that you knew earlier.
I’ll start with a blind-spot I just learned about. You don’t know what you don’t know…
I’ve been back in the hobby for about a year now. For some reason I got it stuck in my head that the “Best Offer” prices on PSA’s website and PokemonPrice.com was just showing the default price, regardless of whether an actual best offer was accepted or not.
As such, I ignored all of those prices, which vastly (Gastly) skewed my perception of the market.
Even though I’ve seen people post Ebay links into the Discord quite a few times, only today did I notice that Cro-Bot says this:
Find real sold price:
Click “See original listing”
View source
ctrl+F “taxExclusivePrice”
I had briefly heard there was a say to see the actual price, but something clicked when I saw this. It got me curious about the prices on PSA’s website…and then my mind was blown.
I had gas-lit myself for an entire year.
So, what information did you learn and think, “Woah, I wish I knew that earlier!” ?
To never sell vintage sealed product (both for Pokemon and MTG). Seriously. I’d be a multi-millionaire if I knew this a decade ago. It’s something that I only really realized this year.
Pokémon telephone cards have some of the most interesting artwork in the entire franchise. I only started collecting them last year and there are still multiple new cards I discover every week - I can only imagine how many must have been lost to time.
This might not be what you’re looking for, but I wish I knew how awesome generation 2 and beyond were. I played a ton of Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow, but didn’t really give Gold/Silver a try and stopped watching after the Orange Islands. Only now do I appreciate the later generations.
A handheld air puffer is excellent for removing dust and hair particles from the surface of cards before you sleeve them. Especially great if you have pets that love to sit in your lap while you sort cards. A big issue with microfiber cloths is that if you live in a dry area, they can pick up static. While the cloth itself is fine and I use them myself, particles can get caught on the fiber, so you end up scratching particles against a fine surface, risking damage or scratches (this applies doubly to trophy cases).
Label printers will pay for themselves in convenience after you enjoy no longer having to cut out and tape every label onto an envelope. Plus with a 4x6 you can print out plenty of forms and other business items without needing a full size printer on your desk.
Buy bubble padded envelopes that fit graded cards perfectly snug, and you won’t have to bubble wrap cards anymore. Or buy straight bubble envelopes.
Drying cabinet will save you stress over keeping track of silica packets.
Color coding your sleeves may seem cool but you’ll regret it if you ever grade the cards. Better to default to penny sleeves.
Zippered binders will beat out a strap.
You can fit card savers inside perfect fit PSA cases for additional protection.
Don’t store cards in 20+ deck boxes unless you’re confident you can remember every card in every deck box.
If someone thinks you’re overpaying for an item you’re excited about, you can ignore them.
Adding onto @qwachansey 's note about label printers. You can get 4x6 labels for free from UPS. All you need to do is sign up for an account with them.
It’s better that my cards are sitting on a shelf doing nothing at PSA than sitting on a shelf doing nothing at my house (I’m a graded card collector so ungraded cards do not advance my collection goals)
A good scanner (Epson V37 or V600) is worth whatever you’ll pay for it
Never buy matte deck sleeves, they kill the holo shine on your cards
Your E4 collection thread is a fantastic catalogue of your journey. Post in it often.
You can’t time the market with any consistency. If a rare card you want for your collection is available, pay what it takes.
I wish I was more aware of the rarity of some old Japanese promos and exclusive cards when I visited in summer 2019! Before, I was almost exclusively a set collector, so in Japan I bought a ton of Neo-era, ex-era, and HGSS-era c/uc/r and holos for my binders.
But I noticed so many cards like Grand Party, Red/Green Starter holos, VS/Web cards in stores that I essentially ignored because they didn’t fit my collection goals at the time. Alas!
To add to both of these great points (and I’m falling asleep, so hopefully this makes sense):
In an auction setting, work out what your limit is and bid exactly that amount - bidding any lower and you’re only reducing your chances of winning.
There’s nothing worse than walking away from an auction you’ve lost and thinking you should have bid higher, however if you’ve already bid your maximum amount and lost then so be it - you weren’t prepared to pay higher than that to begin with.
This is me speaking from an experience I had last year where a card which I’d had on my E4 buylist for a long time with a $200 offer appeared on eBay and for whatever reason I only bid $100 thinking yeah I’ll probably win that - lo and behold it ended up selling for $115. Would I have won it with a $200 bid? No idea, but at least I wouldn’t have felt like a total idiot for not bidding the amount I was actually prepared to pay.
Can we add on that unless youre a cardshop you really dont want bigger than 2-row card storage boxes. Sure, the 5-row card boxes are nice, they hold a lot of cards but so can 2-row boxes if you have several and they are a heck of a lot easier to move around, sort through, or even store away nicely.
Seriously. Pokemon card eBay auctions are such a crapshoot. I’ve had cards sell via auction for 1/10th FMV and other cards sell for 10x FMV. Unless you’re in a rush to sell, BINs are much better.
Won a huge L1-4 lot with a bunch of unlimited, I’ll have it in hand soon, I’ll pm you when it arrives
