Something else to add, I think people in Pokemon tend to be too unrealistic. Decreases are natural. Most stocks don’t just constantly climb. In the last recession, which was more a crash than a recession, everything dropped: stocks, real estate, employment, etc.
Another idea I consider when buying collectibles in general, will larger buyers stop generating income? Lets take Rudy for example. He doesn’t sell a single ABU card and constantly buys. Will he lose his income streams in a recession? No. Will they decrease a bit, maybe. But these people will still be doing what they do now, if anything at a greater advantage.
tl;dr Recession is a potential slow down/decrease = a different opportunity.
Anything psa 9 and under would be immovable if you are a seller unless you are willing to take any price, just like the article posted earlier said. The very high end of the market (illustrator, etc) should really not be affected at all unless the owners of those cards have overextended themselves in alternative investments (which I would assume is incredibly rare) and are forced to sell in a panic but people like Scott would be waiting with open arms even at a slight discount to current fmv
I think a lot of people need to stop and ask themselves, “Is this what ‘collecting’ has come to?”
If you’re that concerned about the value dropping and you’ve paid X for a card, then that is a real shame.
Yes, money matters but collecting should be more than just that.
@pokemonpup I fully agree. To me the collecting aspect is the greatest motivation in this hobby.
That does not mean that I am willing to pay any price for that last set card that I am looking for. It does mean that I might purchase a card for let’s say $75 which might decrease to $50. As the card is not going anywhere I personally don’t mind that.
You could also say “Is this what ‘collecting’ has come to?” when you lowball or try to bargain down a seller for an item you want.
Also keep in mind that this community is for higher end collectors so market changes can mean HUGE amounts so of course they’re interested in values.
If your only trying to fill a binder then you have a point.
@garyis2000, I believe there is nothing wrong with haggling to save money. As discussed in another post, if the seller isn’t happy, they don’t need to respond.
I may have a small collection compared to others but the value increase/decrease isn’t why I collect.
And others collect with value in mind, which there is also nothing wrong with. I collect because I love the cards, but I also have the value of the cards in mind as I do it.
Everyone collects with different goals in mind. Just because you do it a certain way doesn’t mean that people who do it differently than you do are wrong.
The people who collect solely for the monetary value and don’t have a genuine interest in the hobby won’t last anyway. The people who really know how to invest/make money in this hobby are the ones who have a real passion for it. The guys and gals who just come in hoping to make a quick buck have a very short shelf life.
Yes they’d be affected, however they’d probably pawn off everything else first before they dare sell the Pokémon cards! This includes their car, moped, cell phone, well maybe not the cell phone
Instead of lowballing and haggling, which hurts the hobby, how about just agreeing at market? If the buyer bottom feeds, ignore them. If the seller tries to rip you off, move on. The game is Pokémon, not trying to see how much advantage you can take of someone else.
We don’t exist to serve the market. Most people are in this hobby because we love the cards, and most of them have a limited income to participate in a hobby that they love, and so to acquire the cards they want they have to find and make deals.
If you don’t serve the market, you’ll destroy it. Then you’ll end up sitting in your room all alone staring at your binder. The market doesn’t start and end with you.
Yes, making deals are important. Making deals that benefit one side or take advantage of someone else is, well, a lowlifes errand.
I always try to buy, sell, and trade at market. That way I don’t hurt the market nor anybody else. This strategy has worked just fine for all of us who have found great success and friendships in the hobby we love. The dissenters can go ahead and lowball away on Facebook or Craig’s List.
The only entity I serve is God and His will. Markets should exist to benefit the people who participate in them–not just the elite few. Whether it be the stock market or the Pokemon market, we are merely dealing with assets here that are indicative of tangible wealth. And tangible wealth is worthless without spiritual wealth.
I often find myself all alone in my room staring at my binder and that brings me great joy as a collector. And that’s not because my Charizard is worth $50 or $100 or $1000–it is because of the genuine passion I have for the cards. And my enthusiasm for them is amplified when I share these cards with my girlfriend and friends and parents. The cards’ monetary value only serves my happiness so far as that I appreciate the work I had to put in to earn the money to buy these cards, and I take solace in the financial support they may provide me in the future when I will inevitably have to sell many of them to get out of my student loan debt.
Back to the market talk–in a caring society, any market should serve the happiness and well-being of its participants. Sure, we all need to work for our paychecks and pay the bills, but we should also strive to help our fellow neighbor should he struggle. It is often the joy we can bring to others that brings us the most joy. There’s a reason why most people don’t live alone in the woods.
That said, obviously Pokemon isn’t a necessary good. You don’t need it to survive. Whether it costs me $5 or $500 to acquire a 1st Edition Base Set Caterpie, it is not a life-or-death matter. Nor is it even so much of a matter of happiness or misery. What is, though, are amenities like housing and education. Not necessary for survival, but for many necessary for a stable, satisfactory life. When “the market” (market value) decides that a house is worth an arm and a leg, and an education will leave you in debt for decades to come, this is not an ideal market. It serves to benefit only the major contractors and lenders, whose wealth is already bordering if not beyond the line of “more than any human could ever hope to sincerely spend”. This market is serving the elite few, and not the general populace. Sure, selling houses at “market value” and giving out loans with interest rates at “market value” is good for the health of the market, but it is not good for the health of the society i.e. it is not good for the majority of the people within the society. Adding undue stress into peoples’ lives and making it harder for them to attain happiness is not the moral thing to do, especially if such a result is of essentially little to no consequence of the contractor/lender/proprietor/whoever.
I’m rambling at this point, but what I’m trying to say actually isn’t so much so in disagreement with your opinion on the “Pokemon market” in and of itself. I think sellers who need money to improve their lives should seek to make profit. What I most disagreed with in your sentiments is the idea that we should serve the market–and that is the reason for my little tangent. Serving the market is the equivalent of serving money. It’s a very unhealthy, radically-libertine yet uncaring idea that does much more harm than good for the majority of the people of a society. We should all seek to work and acquire the money we need to lead stable, happy lives, but we shouldn’t go so far to acquire wealth beyond a reasonable amount if that excess money could serve to be of greater benefit to our fellow man instead. There’s no greater service in life than improving the lives of your brethren. One could say that that’s just an opinion, of course, but I think that’s an “opinion” that nearly every human being shares, whether it be in their conscious and subconscious thoughts.
Serving the market could mean a dozen different things. I’m sure most of us got the actual point. You did not my friend. I could only get through one paragraph but it appeared you took it waaaaaaay too literally;)
@garyis2000, You seem very upset with people who try to offer what they can for an item, DM me if you want to clear something up as I can’t tell if you’re personally directing it at me?
If everyone bought at market then it should always stay at a constant. It seems you wouldn’t be happy with selling a $100 card for $25 which I understand however, if someone offered $500 for the same card are you telling me you wouldn’t accept? Do you consider that market growth? I think if you have that attitude it should work both ways…
I have came back to the hobby not too long ago and to be quite frank, the market growth is incredible? I’d say more outrageous! All it takes clearly was a bunch of people to enter the hobby with a bunch of cash and overpay for cards. They are 100% entitled to do so if they can, now the market that they’ve created is ridiculous.
Anyway, I’ll keep going about my business buying what I like. I make offers on cards daily, some get accepted, some don’t. I don’t fuss, I move along and I’m a very happy person lol.
@pokemonpuppy,
I’m too old to have my time wasted lol.
If the last 5 of something sold for 100.00 and someone offers 50.00 then they should be tarred and feathered then sat on by Snorlax
Maybe I’m nuts, but I don’t think offering $50 for a $100 is that bad. There’s plenty of room to counter there and come to a reasonable agreement. Hell, depending on circumstances I might even take $50. It’s not like offering $5 for a $800 item, and at that point you might as well give away the item and donate $5 to a charity.
Offering 50% of market value is pretty terrible lol, those types of offers are just ignored by me, if the buyer sends them frequent enough they get the block.
