Usually I make a list of everything I want, and then start buying the rarer cards if I see them, followed by the cheapest, and then at the end the expensive ones one at a time. I find that if I have 70% of a collection I have a lot more motivation to finish it even if the last 30% is more expensive than the 70%
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The most fun strategy for me personally has been different than what I originally thought. Instead of collecting complete sets of the sets I grew up with or my favorite sets I go through each set and look to buy PSA 9/10 or binder cards for all of my favorites, starting by knocking out the most expensive cards first. For me it has been A LOT more enjoyable just buying my favorite cards from each set instead of trying to complete sets that require me to buy a lot of cards I don’t have much interest in. Don’t get bogged down by trying to compete with others or copying other people, just go after what cards you enjoy most and you will enjoy it so much more!
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Interesting question! Here a reference to the what I’m collecting. I won’t go into too much detail for Pikachu, since it was my first collection after returning. In short: I knew next to nothing about Pokémon cards and started by buying all cheap English Pikachu cards in stock on TrollAndToad on impulse; then I started delving into other languages; I came across Justin’s Pikachu collection and joined the Efour forum; and now I’m a Pikachu expert, haha.
After I was collecting Pikachu cards for about 2.5 years I also decided to collect Seviper in a similar matter, so let me explain the process of that one first. I started by making a checklist of all existing Seviper cards in all languages. After that I simply bought all cards I could find on TrollAndToad, CardMarket, eBay, and/or Yahoo Japan. And from there on I checked those same sources every few days/weeks for the missing cards. With these kind of collections time and searching for them on a weekly basis is the most important aspect. A lot of cards I now own I’ve only seen for sale 1-3 times in 5+ years. And they aren’t necessarily expensive or very rare. They simply aren’t put up for sale often. Especially some foreign (French, Italian, German, Spanish) Reverse Holo cards can take a long time to find. And it’s also important to have a middleman in some countries (depending on where you live of course). I right now have a middleman I could ask for help in Brazil (for Portuguese cards); the US; Australia; Germany; Japan; and Indonesia. In the past I also had a middleman in Russia and South Korean, although I’ve lost contact with them (unfortunately, since I’m missing some Korean Pikachu cards from the Sun & Moon era).
With a lot of my collections researching which cards are out there while making the checklist, and then purchasing all the cards, was simply all there was to it. I started and finished my National Index collection in a few months time. I started and mostly finished my Yu-Gi-Oh rarity collection (excluding some rare misprints) in halve a year time. I started and finished my English and Japanese exclusive Full Art Supporter collection in a few months.
This was mostly possible because I had saved money for a long period of time. Right now I’m not starting any more new collections (or at least, I’m going to try not to). My savings account went down last year despite having worked full time without other major expenses. I could easily afford it, but I can’t keep it up with how fast cards were releasing for Pikachu and how fast I was adding new collection goals myself. I’m content with my collections thus far, so I’m going to try and finish the ones I have (just 1 more Seviper card; 2 more sealed Moltres; a few more misprinted Yu-Gi-Oh rarity cards; gen 8 for the National Index collection. FA Supporter collection is already complete), and from that point onward 100% focus on Pikachu and keeping up with new releases for all the collections.
The only real strategy I use right now is not buying very expensive cards one after the other and make sure my savings account doesn’t go below X amount. I currently have a 3k USD card incoming, but although another card I really want is available for sale as well for a similar price, I’m not going to buy it until at least 2-3 months from now and my savings account is back up a bit again. (The card will most likely be long gone by then, and when it pops up again it might be 1k higher than now, but so be it.)
Greetz,
Quuador
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my strategy is buy cool stuff, sell cool stuff, sit in a corner and cry about the stuff i sold
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Thanks for sharing! I am trying to do the same and wait about 6 weeks for my next purchase as I let my savings build back up after a 1.2k purchase(my most ever). Like you said about the card you want probably not being available when you’re ready, it really takes self control(or just a lack of funds) to not just keep buying haha. I’ve also made sure to keep a spreadsheet to keep myself in check for how much I’m spending between paychecks.
Thanks to all for sharing your strategies! It’s really fun to hear other perspectives.
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This is a very interesting post and also very insightful. When I got back into the hobby almost a little over 1.5 year ago I did not have a goal. However, over the course of learning in this hobby, I finally managed to narrow it down to something which is motivating and fulfilling for me.
The only strategy I have is that I have a fixed monthly budget that I don’t exceed under any circumstance. I set this budget after calculating how much I could spare after the monthly bills and my current income.
The downside to this is of course any item that I like which is over my budget , I cannot buy. It is painful and frustrating at times but I know I need the discipline. This also means high end items (for my budget) are out of my reach unless I wait half a year and the card does not move at all. It gets very tempting to dip into a different months budget but I know that almost all cards get back into the market somehow, maybe at a slightly higher price. The upside is that I get to scour the market everyday for cards. Sometimes it becomes easy to spot a new card or a good deal in the daily grind, specially with the price increase. Helps to track what is moving and what is not. I have also had few occasions where some cards were overlooked which gave me enough time to stack 2-3 month budgets and buy the slightly expensive cards.
Lastly, I collect mostly only Japanese which helps a lot with the price point and I don’t grade / collect graded. This hobby has helped me understand truly what FOMO is and why collecting is so fulfilling in the end. Some luck and a lot of patience and discipline is needed.
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I try to only pick up what I can justify buying. Fortunately as a Pichu collector the vast majority of cards are inexpensive. As for the expensive cards, I aim for rarity first. I still don’t have a 1st Edition Neo Genesis Pichu, for instance, as every time one of those has shown up there have been other, rarer cards available. I’m fortunately now in a position where that’s one of the next cards on my list - although it’s kind of annoying that WotC prices have shot up so much in the last few months.
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Similar to @pierce my favourite way to collect is to browse eBay with various different search terms and just see what comes up. I have a lot of different collection goals and a varied collection overall. I bounce around from WOTC to modern to sealed to PSA all the time - I want to own a bit of everything and my buying habits definitely reflect that.
I’m in absolutely no rush to “complete” anything - I don’t know how common that is? But I’m very happy just picking up whatever takes my fancy at any given moment.
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@pichufan Haha, that activity diagram looks exactly the same for me, except for the missing letters ‘ka’ in two of the blocks. 
Greetz,
Quuador
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Did you notice that it starts but never actually ends, too? 
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Yep, story of my (Pikachu-related) life. 
In my case an extra step would be there: sighing about the 50+ releases in a quarter. Where in your case, it’s crying about the lack of releases in 8+ years… 
Pichu and Pikachu look similar, sound similar, yet their amount of TCG releases couldn’t be further off from one another… 
Greetz,
Quuador
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This!
At begin with I lost soooo many sales due to haggling over small margins after being the first to express interest on in demand cards I needed, only to be knocked back or outbid by someone who came later to the party but was willing to pay. Money talks the loudest
Most Expensive/Popular → Rarest → Oldest/Hardest to find in good Condition → Collection Holes → Everything Else
Started out with Pokemon Yellow and basically collected my favorites on the first go around. Tried Pokemon Gold and realized you have to start trading with others to get Pokemon you want. Then I found out Emerald existed and there’s just so many Pokemon that you’ll never catch them all.
Discovery what you enjoy and build experiences with other collectors.
Buy cards Scott hasn’t hyped up yet /s
But seriously I just buy what I like.
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