Despite my extensive hatred for Mark Zuckerberg, I have to admit that Instagram provides an alternative market to ebay, and more options are always a good thing. So I might consider getting an Instagram account…
So my questions to you are:
What are your experiences with Instagram? Is it safe to buy there or did you get screwed?
Would you consider Instagram mandatory to purchase cards (like ebay), nice to have or completely niche and irrelevant?
Is there a list of the biggest and most reliable Instagram sellers?
I haven’t dealt with Instagram as a marketplace, specifically because I have heard negative reviews from friends who have used it in the past. They got screwed over in some transactions and told me to avoid looking for deals on there and instead use eBay, so I trusted them and have never tried since.
However, this is just 2 of my friends’ experiences so perhaps it is not all bad. They do a lot more purchasing than I do though, so I just decided to go along with their advice. Personally, I am interested in others opinion on this matter as well.
What are your experiences with Instagram? Is it safe to buy there or did you get screwed?
Honestly, I enjoy IG and have met tons of awesome buyers, sellers, and fellow collectors there. Many of these people have become great friends. I have never been scammed on IG. As long as you pay goods and services, it is really difficult to get scammed, anyway.
Would you consider Instagram mandatory to purchase cards (like ebay), nice to have or completely niche and irrelevant?
I would say 75% of my sales and purchases come from IG. The remaining being eBay, or the occasional Virbank finds. If I am ever buying or selling something, my first outreach will be via IG.
Is there a list of the biggest and most reliable Instagram sellers?
I’m not sure if there is a list, but a lot of sellers are well known and have extensive reference posts. As I mentioned above, just be careful and make sure to use goods and services. A lot of people here have Pokémon IG’s, as well, so it doesn’t hurt to ask here about someone.
There is of course a ton of trash accounts and ignorant/trash people, as there is on any social media platform. But, the majority of my experiences has been positive.
I’ve done countless deals on Instagram and met a lot of great people on that platform. It’s important to pay G&S unless you are comfortable with trusting the other party. Always pay attention to red flags such as requiring f&f.
That said, I have had my share of negative experiences, as well. I get messages once in a while from people who are mad that I have cards priced the way they are. I get the occasional customer who tries to lowball, over-negotiate, or back out of deals. There’s lots of immaturity there, but IMO it’s pretty easy to stay above it and just use it as an alternative platform to save some fees (unless you’re as well known as smpratte, lol). Do your due diligence and you shouldn’t have a problem.
I have zero experience with instagram as a marketplace but I am also curious how you go about finding items on it. Do you just scroll trough hashtags or do you follow a few known vendors?
Hello! Hope you are safe! Thanks for making this thread!
People like to say negative things about Instagram, and how shady it is.
That is objectively wrong, and I think many are salty because of the success of some instagram sellers.
A few highlights:
Messaging is 10x easier on IG, and you can expect replies in minutes. Super effective communication.
Ebay takes 10% of your hard earned money.
IG sellers provide more opportunities. Sometimes you can win cards for a fraction of market value, in raffles. Tell me again where on Ebay I have similar option?
IG sellers provide better pictures. Most sellers flex the item from multiple angles. On ebay you might have a scan of the front and back, and will struggle to get additional pictures from sellers.
Payment is often via Friends & Family. These people you meet are literally your best pals and your second family. Do you consider ebay sellers your friends? didn’t think so.
I see no future for ebay as the social media trends continue. LONG LIVE THE COMMUNITY.
to add to this highly elaborate comment, you can also find some of the most supercharizardt17flexxers69s on there, which you will never see on other lame platforms!
I have only had good experiences with instagram. I was unlucky and got scammed once when I was new to pokemon but I don’t blame that on insta I blame that on me not knowing my stuff.
I have had 100+ sales go through and I have 200+ purchases go through the platform. Knock on wood all of them have worked out great. And almost all my 1k$+ purchases has been through friends I have meet through instagram
People always talking about the raffles and scumbags, who tf are you following then? If you don’t like people the raffle and the scumbags then unfollow? Most of the people on instagram are nice people that wanna show of their collection and trade cards. I have used instagram since 2015 and I think I can count on one hand the times I have seen raffles.
I get the platform isn’t for everyone, but I like to talk to fellow collectors and buy cards and I think when you get a group of people that you can trust on there its a really good place to do deals
What are your experiences with Instagram? Is it safe to buy there or did you get screwed?
As a sharing platform, I actually really enjoy it. I see a bunch of new things, personal additions to other’s collections, art, custom cards - there’s really a great variety to consume there versus the tidbits you see on other media platforms.
As for buying, as long as you use Goods and Services on paypal, you’re pretty covered, but I wouldn’t purchase from someone who isn’t a trusted buyer already or someone I didn’t know. I’ve had a few people verify with me their ebay account just in case but so far haven’t had any issues (granted I haven’t made many large purchases/sales).
Would you consider Instagram mandatory to purchase cards (like ebay), nice to have or completely niche and irrelevant?
Not mandatory, no. Most of my sales/purchases still go through Ebay. HOWEVER, if you’re looking for hard-to-get cards, IG is great for connections and finding someone who knows someone else who might have what you need.
Is there a list of the biggest and most reliable Instagram sellers?
I have had nothing short of an honest and welcoming experience with Instagram. The people who have reached out to me have all been friendly and those who I have messaged have too been.
I will admit, I stay far from the typical market place and do dealings on my own accord. As long as you’re selective who you make purchases from, you should too have a positive experience.
I’m not very active on it although, I do see many people contribute and seems like it holds it’s own as a market place other than eBay.
Im new to IG as well. With ebay charging tax, I’m looking for an alternative platform . Question: How do you find IG sellers? Do you just search them by tags?
you cant search on instagram really. Everyone posting pics of random cards with hastag basesetcharizard so you can barely trust the hastag search feature
I absolutely agree there should be a place similar to instagram and ebay that you can search easily without all the fees. But the fees on ebay are there because it is so successful so any other platform that becomes successful will eventually add fees
I’m in the same boat. How would you search for a specific card? I tried using the #pokemonforsale but most of it didn’t seem like they’re actually selling. Do you just assume if they have that tag that they definitely are and you PM them?
There’s no good way of searching for a specific card on IG. I have three workflows:
Look for cards on ebay, then look up their username on IG or go to the seller’s profile/item description/etc. to see whether they post their IG there.
Follow IG users who seem to consistently post items similar to what I want for sale. To find more of these users, start at the top. Go look at pokerev’s IG page and see who he’s following. I look at these accounts and scroll through their posts to see if they fit the bill as someone who I’d want to follow. Rinse and repeat with the new people you decide to follow. Then you just have to wait until one of them posts the card you’re looking for (like waiting for it to pop up on ebay).
Just buy the card on ebay. Fees are unavoidable sometimes.