I’m looking for opinions/expertise on whether or not it’s worth attempting to sell/liquidate my Pokemon collection from childhood.
So I haven’t counted, but the collection is probably around 400 cards. Ranges from Base set unlimited to EX Magma/Aqua (mostly cards in the base and neo series). Card quality ranges from moderately played, to some that might be near mint(would like some expertise looking at some of these to help me determine, if this is allowed/anyone is willing) with most of them probably in the “lightly played” category. Unfortunately the older the set, the more “played” typically.
I’m planning to keep some of the cards/sets that mean the most to me, including my Jungle cards and maybe fossil.
I don’t have an eBay account with any seller feedback, so I could use the cheaper cards to establish rep before selling the more valuable ones, but this would take a lot of time/effort. For those who have done/do it, has it been rewarding? Would there be a better platform for selling when first starting out?
I keep going back and forth on grading my most valuable cards. Might post them in the mega grading thread for opinions, if that’s allowed… But I can’t imagine they would get higher than PSA 8. (The only reason I would grade is to get a higher price when selling.)
One goal I have in mind is being able to fund a more modern collection I can start with my daughters (Don’t have a lot of free money in the budget to spend otherwise), but I don’t know if that’s really possible with my old collection.
Anyway, any thoughts, comments, opinions or pitfalls I might run into would be appreciated. I know in the end I have to make up my own mind on what I’m willing to do/how much time I want to spend… But really wanted to hear some other experiences. Thanks for reading!
So, it depends. Most peoples cards are not in good condition, especially older ones they had when they were kids - because kids don’t really think about preserving the condition of the cards, they just want to play with them. Selling on ebay is a possibility for your cards, but…unless the cards you’re selling are holographic, you’re probably only going to be able to sell them for a couple of bucks. There are some exeptions, but this is generally the rule.
So, look at your holo cards. Then seperate them into 2 piles: cards that are in good condition, and cards that are not. Cards in good condition will not have scratched surfaces (front and back), will not be torn, bent, or have the cardstock peeling. The edges won’t have nicks or excessive whitening, or silvering. There should be no sun damage on the cards as well. These are the cards you can sell on ebay. Look up what other people are selling the card for, and list it accordingly.
You probably won’t make the amount you think you will selling these cards - this is not meant to be discouraging or mean, just want to set your expectations here.
Grading is out for you because it takes potentially years to grade the cards, and since your cards probably aren’t in good condition, they won’t be getting the grades that people buy (generally PSA 7 or higher). It is also expensive to grade - 50 bucks or more per card. So if you’re OK spending a couple hundred dollars and waiting for a year or two, that’s what would be involved.
Lastly: post pictures of some of your holo cards, and we can give you an idea of what they might go for, and if they’re sellable.
@octaane , thanks for the real talk! Not discouraging at all, this is exactly what I wanted to hear. I honestly probably just don’t have enough holos to make much money, unless they were somehow in good condition.
Grabbed some pics of the best ones: imgur.com/a/qdCWQze
(BTW, if you want to see a super up-close image, right click the image and “open image in new tab”. Might be slightly different wording depending on the browser.)
Even with my inexperienced eye, I can see scratches on the holo on most of them. The edges(especially back) are definitely not perfect. Aggron is slightly curved. The white specs on Umbreon might be dust, but not sure…
Still pretty looking cards, I think… But grading is a different story. xD
Grading may not be worth it (though turn around times are down to a few months now through PSA rather than years), but after just a quick glance on my phone screen, those aren’t bad at all! Certainly sell-able on ebay etc. Just umbreon is probably in the 50-100 usd range. Would be up to you if it’ll be enough of an injection to start a modern collection
Nice - all of those are sellable on ebay, the umbreon and espeon could probably go for 100 bucks each. They’re in better condition than I thought. The Skarmory would prob go for 20-30. As far as the aggron, putting a couple of books on it for a week or so can help straighten it out.