The Light Question of the Day celebrates the wonder of community and exposes the humanity in the hobby. Questions are many times open ended and up to interpretation. Feel free to post your thoughts in as much or as little detail as you’d like. Questions are purely meant for encouragement purposes and not offense.
Helpful Considerations may or may not help some people focus their answer, these are blurred to not bother those who have their own ideas.
Today’s Question: QotD: Can you share a story how you timed the market correctly?*
Helpful Considerations: Dumb luck? Saw it coming? Perfect time to walk away? Bought in before a hype jump?
Getting while the getting is good doesnt always end in a house downpayment, but it can.
Back in 2024, I sold my beloved PSA 10 Moonbreon at its peak of 3k, which was the highest sale at the time, right before it crashed back down to $2400.
I loved the Pokémon TCG so much that I bought two boxes each of Aquapolis and Skyridge. I probably would’ve bought more if the cards themselves were actually decent in the game.
Jokes aside, that’s is pure dumb luck because I had no idea that they wouldn’t be reprinted and thus individual cards would be worth hundreds each.
I feel like everyone who has been in this hobby much longer than I have will have better stories. The longer you’ve been collecting cards you like, the more likely you’ll have stumbled into some genius market moves
In 2024, I decided to start collecting Slowpoke evolution line cards. I decided this mostly because I love Slowpoke and all the artwork – but also because Slowpoke cards weren’t very expensive so it felt like a fun goal. I started by collecting my favorites, which included things like Japan-exclusive promos, e-series and mid-era, and Tag Teams.
I really had no concept that 2025 and 2026 would be such insane years for the market. I’m continually surprised that random reverse holos I picked up less than two years ago for under $10 are now going for over $100. A lot of the Japanese-exclusive promos were $30-40 in 2024 and are now $200-300. To be honest, I’m not sure I would ever have started this collection in today’s market.
Of course, it could all go back down. The hypothetical market gains don’t mean much to me, because I’m never planning to sell my Slow collection, so it wouldn’t bother me too much if my collection lost value either.
The stamp box Pikachu I felt silly for buying a month ago at 2.6k keeps selling for 3.9k now.
I am a genius.
There are probably other better examples, but I mostly remember the " I could buy that binder and sell the cards for a nice profit - oh wait they all look like they’ve been eaten by a dog’
Welp, I sold merely three cards from my personal collection (and I still got over 15k cards left in my collection), which enabled me to combine it with all my savings money and a good mortgage to buy a house. More luck than anything tbh, but yeah..
So pretty well-timed, I’d say.
I saw that a PSA-10 EBD Lillie sold on eBay for 100k, and advertised my trio on my IG, and sold the three cards for 150k combined two weeks later. I guess it was timed slightly too early, since they did increase in price 3-4 weeks later to 225-250k, but the months after that they dropped to about 75-90k. No idea what they’re currently at tbh, and I honestly don’t care either way, since I now have my own home.
And since I replaced those three Japanese EBD PSA-10s with raw Simplified Chinese alternatives, my FA Supporter/CHR collection is still 100% complete (minus some recent releases).
The most hilarious part is that people on Discord thought I’d overpay for my EBD promos when I bought them in 2019 (which tbf, in that marked I did). I simply bought them for my own collection, though. And it turned out pretty alright, if I say so myself.
I didn’t know how to sell until about two months ago. If the market boom hadn’t made me realise that without selling I wouldn’t be able to progress with my main collection goals, I would probably have never sold anything. So yeah, sometimes not knowing a skill can actually be useful.
I got into the hobby just before Hidden Fates in 2019. I immediately focused in on the shiny pokemon cards and wanting them all. Gold Stars, Shinings, Etc. Completed the set in early 2020 just before the Covid boom.
Lets not talk about when I sold them because that was too soon…
I’m pretty similar tbh. Although I’ve sold some cards in the past, it was mostly duplicated Pikachu cards to other collectors that asked me about them specifically, or some cards to help fellow species collectors.
And of course the three earlier mentioned EBD promos for obvious reasons, and a PSA-10 1st edition red cheeks Base Set Pikachu I bought for 400 bucks and sold for 7.5k two years later.
But apart from that, I too have barely sold anything in the past eleven years I’ve been collecting. I could always manage just fine with my savings money and wages without selling anything - which I’ve mostly been too lazy for tbch, since I did always intend to sell all the duplicated cards I have.
Now in this market however, it’s hard to keep up with new releases for my collections with just my wages, since a lot of modern cards are already 1k+ on release day…
So I’ve been trying to finally get into selling this year. With emphasis on trying, since when I tried to list a card for 250 bucks, eBay states there is a 200 USD limit for new sellers. So I’ll list my more expensive cards on CardMarket instead, I guess..
It’s definitely more relaxed than I thought. Seeing all the recent scams, ebay garbage thread and horrible stories of stolen packages, I was actually quite sceptical to even try. But overall, all the buyers have been very respectful and rather nice (knock on wood). Out of about 15 sales, I had one package lost (about $150 in value) but DHL refunded me everything. I also always record the entire packaging just in case.
It’s also very insightful to experience the shopping process from the other side. I realised that pretty much all the buyers want some kind of a deal so if I see they have a good profile, I give them like $10 discount for a smooth transaction. This peace of mind is worth way more to me than the cash.
Also, all the cards I have sold so far were each intentionally under $500 just to try it out. I am still a bit scared to ship anything worth more than that, even though I already have some listed.
I completed the SV art rares over the last three years and sold the set for a very solid profit this past month. The valuation of the SV era cards reached a point where I’d rather have other cards—or the money. Knowing how many people take pristine care of their cards in 2026, made my cards feel replaceable, and something I could always get back if I wanted. Additionally, I think the sheer printing volume also helped me let go of them.
So I’ll list my more expensive cards on CardMarket instead, I guess..