Haters. Lol
Middle men services donāt want any hassle all they want is to bid, get paid and ship the item. Why do Noppin have a blacklist for people with a few negative feedback? If someone contact you on ebay and sound like a picky kind of guy would you sell him a card which might have a speck of whitening which you know he will complain about or will just tell him his better off not purchasing it.
I purchased a Unikarp about 2 years ago through YJ with treasure japan. If you asked me at the time I wouldve said they were the best middle man service around. I had used them quite a few times and I had nothing to complain about.
I only purchased it after a solid week of having them ask the seller in regards to the condition as I was paying 110k which was above average price at the time. The seller said it was Nr mint with some whitening and I said im fine with that but I also paid a bit extra for a payment on delivery service so TJ could check the card before posting it to me. It arrived to me with creases more whitening than shown in the pictures given and TJ said nothing when they paid for it on arrival. When I said why it is in this condition they said thatās what you purchased and ignoring the emails we had prior in regards to the condition.
I got a full refund through paypal and they ended up selling the unikarp on ebay to Stuart for $400 iirc. It graded a PSA 5. I had a similar incident with noppin aswell which is the reason I dont use either of them and instead been using SMJ which are better than both of them imo.
The sun faded pika ended for going price (200k iirc) at the time on YJ and im pretty sure Mike sold it for a decent amount as well.
What I said originally was my opinion I dont need evidence to back it up as its my personal opinion nothing more nothing less. Im not forcing it upon any one if I was fair enough then I would actually have to back it up which would make sense.
You are right Ali, you can definitely state your opinion. You should not feel discouraged about sharing it. However, someone can also detest that opinion, and is best done through some sort of factual evidence that can be deduced outside of pure opinion/feeling. Exactly how you described the situation with your experience with that unikarp, which I definitely remember. That situation is cut and dry.
There is so much information to take from that unikarp experience. Primarily in regards to why you paid more because of perceived condition. Similar to what I was referencing with noppin and other examples of why the illustrator was not a big hit. I guarantee if it had a quality photo of the front and back, new unused goods, it would sell above 10k. Probably because I would buy it myself if that ridiculously ideal situation were to occur.
The sun faded pika sold for much less than one in mint condition. You know first hand what the current rate is for a pika trophy. 200k is a fraction of what a mint one would earn in this current market.
My goal in responding has been an attempt to help people look objectively at all auctions, regardless of their magnitude or allure. Focusing on actual sale prices, quantifiable examples, patterns or numbers that go beyond what we feel. Also, you have to consider the absurd amount of experience I have had with this exact card. There is so much information I have, so little time, donāt wanna tl;dr every post.
Ultimately, donāt feel bad about sharing an opinion. I was not just responding to yours alone. There were claims made by other members, which will warrant a discussion.
Well we will have to wait and see when the next few illustrator hit YJ (which will probably be this year at this rate) and see what they go for to see what the new trend for these will be.
The pika trophy set which was sold separately a few months after the sun faded one ended and the No 1 went for 220k and that was in mint condition. This was when your No2 ended at 250k iirc. Even if that faded one hit the market again im pretty certain it will fetch a few thousand extra easily.
I donāt have much time for specifics but, having been through many situations like this over the years with all types of collectibles, Iād have to say Scottās viewpoint is much more in line with reality.
The actual FACTS in the Illustratorās case point to a rather obvious conclusionā¦which is what Scott was trying to state.
Sure, the market has changed. Those prices are a fraction of what your pika sold for, and what pikas will sell for if available. Either way, mint sells for more. That is undeniable. Which is why you returned your magikarp, you paid for mint, not crease mint. Sun faded pika is not getting mint pika prices. Poorly listed illustrator doesnāt sell for better listed illustrator prices.
As for the Illustratorās value, yes, we will see what the future holds. For now, we have plenty of factual sales that happened within a year that provide the most accurate value. Which for high end items like this, value is always difficult to ascertain. There is typically a low-high range with any card, and will naturally be wider for a rarer item.
However, when auctions do occur, we should treat them with the same logic as we do with any other auction. As other member mentioned, there are always factors in selling a card: timing, presentation, condition, description, how many times it is re-listed. These should all be considered before suggesting that the price is in direct result to a blog with a 16 year old article, which ultimately does not effect the actual availability of the card.
Well the fact is that there are 39 copies of the Illustrator and because of this HUGE number, it should be selling below 500 bucks. Letās talk it down a bit more so we can all buy one. But last time I speculated, there are more than 39 collectors in the world who would want a copy. Work out the supply and demand angle then, please. 
This particular auction would have ended much higher if Noppin didnāt place My bids in pending state for 24 hours because of the significant amount (they want to make sure that deposits are legit for bigger amounts). I was prepared to bid up to $8k for this card last night.
Never ever are there 39 collectors in the world who would actually pay $10k or even more for an Illustrator. Thatās just unreal to be honestā¦
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How much youād be willing to pay for one? 
.
People in real life pay on average over 10k.
If you truly want to average the actual sale prices of the card, it is well above 10k. In fact, the price in the last few years alone is averaging above that mark. But that would be the actual sales average, not speculating based off of emotion.
If Iād be willing to pay $10k or more for an Illustrator I would already own one. I could have easily bought one of the several copies that popped up in the past 2 years. But I didnāt because the card is not worth as much to me (simply my feeling and emotion, has nothing to do with recen sales or anything). Iād buy one for around the same price tag what this copy sold for. Thatās just me of course
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Now that is how you opinion!
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I think weāre back on the right track.
Iām sure you understand that after fees, shipping charges, and potential customs duties are factored in, the final price for this auction would be at the $7k to $8k mark (unless you live in Japan) so itās not that far from the $10k figure. Still not cheap. 
Bloody Pikachu!
YJ! has a lovely $550 fee on cards in a certain price ranges before any middling fees are applied. The final price I paid to get the card to my doorstep was a solid 2k over the ending price. I also live in the US, with no import duties.
Good
Thatās true. The custom fees are killing every YJ deal but luckily we have a middleman on the forum who could declare a parcel for less than the selling price. The official middlemen are of course not doing this as it is against the law for them.
Haha bloody PikachuSā¦ this yellow pokemon already cost me so much this year without an Illustrator
Pika trophy English good price too www.ebay.com/itm/151350986233
What???
I have that many right now, just on my list who would pay 10k.
It really looks like some haters here are simply trying to dis Scott. Whatās up with that?
The green eyed monster is rearing his headā¦
Thatās really not a good price for a No. 3 English Pika Trophy. If anyone is interested in them, I can connect you to some people with better deals.
evan with psa 9 grade I would of thought that was on the low end of price but I have never bought one so I was not to sure about prices on them sry
The thing with these is that they arenāt all old, theyāre still being produced with the exact same art every year, their production has doubled with the awarding of VGC players with trophy cards, and theyāre almost all kept very nice, so PSA grades on them are pretty much guaranteed a 9 or 10 (most likely a 9).