So I’m guessing these are things most collectors stay away from since usually we are after a specific card or want to know exactly what we are spending our money on. But as an old time Pokémon fan, I just can’t help wanting that feeling I had as a kid opening up base set packs and not knowing what I was gonna get with the hopes of pulling a rare holo.
This brings me to ask this group what are your opinions on those mystery listings for like 25-60 bucks where it says something like “Random Base Set lot. Chance for Rare Holos!” Has anyone here actually pulled a rare card from a listing like that?
I report every mystery listing I see. Sellers obviously use mystery packs to ship off their bulk and trash cards for profit by taking advantage of the misplaced trust that random people give them. I will never fully trust a 3rd party repacked “mystery” listings.
Plus lottery listings like that are against ebay rules.
I would never try one because I feel like I’d be getting scammed. There might be someone out there who actually seeds decent cards into some of the packs but at the end of the day the person is doing it for profit. I’d rather go put the money on a number at the roulette table, I might be gambling but at least I know the game isn’t rigged
There are legitimate ones where they ship of rare cards, but there will also be scams. I dont buy them so I would not know which ones are legit. While the surprise is fun you will lose money if you go for these, it is the tradeoff you have to make if you were to buy on of them.
I did them in the past but I told the buyer exactly what they would be receiving: “All WotC cards. 30 commons. 10 uncommons. 5 1st edition cards. 3 regular rares. 1 promo. 1 holo rare. Conditions vary from LP-NM, holo rare guaranteed NM.” I don’t see a problem with them if you give every detail possible. The problem comes along when the seller obscures or leaves out the details completely.
I’m okay with this. I never buy these kind of things myself, but if the seller is extremely transparent about what the buyer is getting, I don’t think it’s morally objectionable. Unfortunately, most secondary market “mystery packs” advertise a “chance” of getting a Crystal Charizard or something in the holo rare spot, which is clearly bullshit.
If the seller is advertising specific cards that the buyer has the opportunity to get, those cards should be included in one of the lots. That is to say, if the seller has 100 lots available and advertises a “chance” of getting a 1st Ed Charizard in one of the lots, somebody who buys all 100 lots should get the Charizard. Anything else is a fucking scam and people who do it should be publicly shamed.
I actually just bought one sort of. I bought a listing on ebay from a Japanese seller that had a lot of promos and other unique items. Saw a few cards that were worth the price of the lot to take a risk on it. I will see how it is once it ships out (said he will in two days) so Im kinda intrigued to see if this was a worthwhile purchase.
I would never buy them off ebay… but that said I just bought a ~$10k mystery box from a well known community member that I am super excited about opening. I think it comes down to level of trust, with random ebay sellers I just assume all ‘unweighed’ packs are VERY likely to be light, where as with a respected member here I would assume the correct ratio
(box was my request btw, wasn’t feeling any strong attachment to anything and wanted some inspiration so I gave a seller I trusted with an awesome collection a budget and said put something awesome together. I have high hopes… but I guess we’ll see =])
I don’t think mystery anything should be allowed. Just like the casino, the house always wins. On the off chance that they are actually going to throw in an expensive card, think about the 99 other people who get dogshit.
I think these are cool for kids who just want a lot of cards for what is usually cheaper than buying packs. Hopefully most people know you aren’t going to make your money back. It’s a good way to recycle cards. The ones that have super rare cards listed in the title are sooo scammy but ones that are explicit enough a parent would easily understand are cool imo
I used to buy a ton of MTG repacks when I was new to MTG. And I’m not going to lie: it was an amazing way to build up a collection and to acquire trade fodder. I remember this one repack that I easily bought 100+ of; $5.99 and you got 10 rares + an Alpha card + a Beta card. I built up a pretty giant collection of minty Beta/Alpha commons and uncommons that way.
Point being that Pokemon repacks are probably a great way for new collectors to start out. The key things are to find a reputable repack listing AND avoid repack listings that promise chase cards like the plague. If the repack listing mentions 1st Ed. Base Set Charizard anywhere, then don’t touch it. But if it just advertises a decent mix of cards, then I don’t see the issue with it. But yeah, not worth it if you have specific collecting goals.
Thanks for the input everyone. The first couple buys I made getting into collecting were these types of listings. I’ve obviously moved away from them as I’ve learned but the vast amounts of crap cards I got will be held on to for my kids to enjoy when they are older. And also, who know what will be valuable 50 years from now
They are good for new collectors and kids to get a base collection(base meaning starter not base set XD). Collectors know these are for people moving bulk com/uncom, rares, holos ex gx v etc. They are fine aslong as what is included is shown and no lottery aspecy.
That kind of thing imo is fine as it states what is included. It is a good way to move cards from opening lots of product, and purchased collections. I do not agree with the lottery/gambling aspect with misleading pictures listings.
. I’ll post the contents