Just wondering how many people have gone through this. What do you do at this point? You have a collection but don’t have any more funds to continue to build your collection. Do you regretfully sell some cards knowing you might not see them again? Do you have a side business flipping cards to fund your permanent collection? Just want some honest opinions/answers.
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I have a job
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I promised myself years ago when I got into this hobby to have no debt in it. So… I picked up a few cards, sold one to make up the difference and continued in that manner. It requires collecting certain cards that aren’t 100% nostalgic in order to part with them to facilitate me continuing to collect. It’s the only way I don’t feel guilty and tell myself to put it toward my vehicle or home or insurances etc.
Edit: anddddd now that the collection has gone from roughly 4k ‘spent but returned through sales’ to 50k in value… I am able to easily maintain collecting by parting with small amounts of it.
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same 
not really the dilemma solving answer but thanks for the answer nonetheless
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Does that mean you buy what’s selling hot. Something that you might seem undervalued with the mindset of flipping it, or do you buy something you know has value and hold it for that value to rise in the future?
I exclusively purchase items that I intend to hold long term, and only sell portions of my current collection that have given the best return on investment to cover the new costs. Essentially I only sell enough to recover costs if something pops up that interests me. It requires pretty selective opportunity taking like you said with perceived undervalued items. It’s always hard to let things go. But with that conservative model, I acquire much than I have to let go of with technically 0 budget.
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If your salary is your sole income then allocate a Pokemon budget each month based on that, and set your collecting goals accordingly. There are so many opportunities to earn money in this hobby while collecting at the same time that it’d be daft not to take advantage of it to help you expand your collection. If you keep your sights set on achievable goals then you’ll find you feel satisfied and grateful for what you collect. The moment you start feeling entitled to cards above your means is when you start feeling resentful about this whole thing. We’ve all had to adjust our collection goals as we’ve all been priced out of something.
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well right now I’m slowly selling my lv.x piece by piece to fund vivid voltage purchase and other stuff.
I completed the set in 2017 and now selling them since I don’t need it anymore.
I bought what I like during 2017-2018 then around 2019 I decide to focus on abra, kadabra, alakazam goal.
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I research and buy cards I think are undervalued for extra income. If I truly believe that they’re undervalue I will get 2-3 copies if capable. For modern, I will pre-order to re-sell as I don’t have any attachment to it.
I think the answer is that you hit the limit where you need to be disciplined enough not to burry yourself. The feeling of missing out could be real, but remind yourself that most likely it is from the hype and some greediness. Make a budget and stick with it. Sounds like you’re truly collecting so the patience will be easier than for the flippers. When I have gotten a bit carried away, I revert back to the beginning of this where I start researching rather than buying. I have found a bunch of cards I think are rad and had no idea they existed.
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This
Pokemon cards are not chemical dependence.
Do not let them run your life.
Come up for air and take a deep breath of perspective.
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If I were you, I would stop buying cards that you want for right now. Save for a month or 2 and then allocate those funds to 75% trying to make money in pokemon, and 25% collecting. If you are knowledgeable, you will be able to turn a profit on the smallest stuff and be able to fund your hobby. As you grow your capital, you will be able to fund your collecting side from purely the business side of pokemon.
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I split my cards into the following 3 categories:
- My permanent collection which I have no intention of selling regardless of how much it appreciates. (5% of all the cards I own)
- My display collection, which are cards that I display in my office and frequently rotate (usually through selling when they either appreciate significantly or I get bored of them/find a more interesting card to replace it with. (10% of all the cards I own)
- My ‘for sale’ collection, which are cards that I bought with the sole purpose of selling. (85% of all the cards I own)
As you can see from the above percentages I keep the cards that I am unwilling to part with to a minimum proportion of my entire collection, which gives me a lot of options for when I need to raise capital for further purchases.
I guess having modest preferences also helps. For example, I remember selling a PSA 10 Goldstar Rayquaza to buy all the Ooyama Pikachus I could find, even though I knew it made little sense financially. Amazing as the goldstar is, it has little visual or emotional appeal in comparison, so I had no trouble in making a poor financial decision in exchange for emotional and visual satisfaction.
What I mean by this is, if your ‘core’ collection is all the 1st edition Charizards, and your ‘for sale’ is all your Weedles, you will find yourself having limited options to finance further additions pretty soon.
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I have a job selling fruit.
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You sell back the cards to the guy you bought them from for a little more than you paid.
I’ll be waiting. 
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haha i’m sorry but my entire collection is gone from the market till i croak or i become a hobo. maybe even then ill be that crazy hobo with a case of pokemon cards.
Yeah these past few months I didnt have the funds to keep up with the market and now i just let the thought of never owning a snorlax psa 10 1st ed sink in. 
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I know this is probably the last thing you want to hear, but 9’s are a great option! I had to adjust my psa collection to include 9’s and have no regrets. Would rather have the card at the end of the day
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The honest answer is that if you’ve reached your spending limit then that’s that. You can opt to sell some of your collection if you want to reallocate it but unless you increase how much you’re willing to spend on this hobby you’re done for now.
Me personally, I sell whatever I don’t want to hold on to anymore and buy what I do want. If I reach my absolute limit then that’s that. My collection is as big as it can get with however much I’m willing to spend. You can opt to do cheaper things like binder sets. If you’ve got raw cards that you could grade and then sell, that’s another option. All depends on what you want to do with your collection.
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When I start itching for more I start looking for a good deal to make. Seems like every time I get close to running out of cards I find some more and make a profit to keep the party going. The hustle is real, but you need to know what can be let go.