Organize Cards By Set
Pokemon has been around for over 20 years. In the United States, there are more than 70 sets from the 1990s until now.
Its best to organize your cards by set and then numerical order. This organization lets potential buyers quickly inspect cards and can help you earn more money since the store doesnt spend time cataloging the cards.
You can find a complete setlist on sites like Pokellector. Creating a free account lets you build a checklist to quickly see which cards you have and the ones youre missing.
There are other apps and websites you can use as well. The best catalogs display the current sales price, letting you estimate how much money you can make by selling the full collection.
Understand Different Card Buying Strategies
With 1999-2000 Pokémon cards, the long term investing would be towards Mint raw cards and Near Mint graded cards. Graded cards have been on a blistering pace the last 12 months. Lower grades of the most expensive cards or PSA 8 and up for the rest of the 1999-2000 cards are great long-term investments.
Flippers will buy a card with the goal to make a profit on it ASAP. Education is what sets the flipper from the casual collector. They know the sales, population reports and what cards are coveted by monitoring the market. If a card takes off, flippers often look to capitalize. If you only know the main Pokémon characters and not much else about the cards, flipping is probably not for you. You have to study sets, know errors, sales, population reports and have a deep understanding of why cards/sets get hot. All of this is covered here.
How To Spot Rare Pokemon Cards
In this section, Im going to focus on cards printed from 1996 to 2000 for two reasons. Not only are the rarest cards from this era the most valuable, but theyre also the trickiest to identify.
So whether youre looking to sell your old collection or simply invest in the right cards, lets cover Rare Pokemon Cards 101.
The Base Set of Pokemon cards, or the OG cards from 1996 to 1999 that we all know and love, actually came in three flavors: 1st Edition, Shadowless, and Unlimited.
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What Are Pokemon Cards
For the uninitiated, Pokemon Cards are part of the Pokemon Card Trading Card Game that originally launched in 1996. Back then, the original set contained just 151 cards one for each OG Pokemon.
In simplest terms, Pokemon cards are baseball cards but for adorable Japanese Pocket Monsters.
Since then, Pokemon has exploded into the worlds most valuable media franchise, valued at over $100 billion worldwide. For comparison, thats more than Star Wars, Spongebob, and James Bond combined.
Fueling two decades of meteoric growth was a steady stream of new Pokemon creatures and thus new cards to collect. There are around 898 total Pokemon and over 9,100 Pokemon cards to collect in the English market.
Not all 9,100 cards are available on store shelves at once, of course. The Pokemon Company International, the folks who make Pokemon cards, publish and release cards one generation at a time, with each generation lasting about two years.
In total, there have been eight generations of Pokemon cards since 1996. And as the next generation of cards begins appearing on store shelves, the previous generation tends to sell out. At that point, its no surprise that certain cards begin shooting up in value!
How Much Can You Sell Pokmon Cards For
Once you have decided where to sell your Pokémon cards and have sorted every set-out, the next question is, how much can you sell your cards for? Some of the error cards are worth a lot of money. The prices range anywhere from $3.00 to $11,000 on eBay.
Some base card sets can be worth up to $200,000. If they are the first edition, you may have found a top seller because it is limited.
The Pikachu trainer trophy cards are worth up to $100,000. These are hard to find. The Holographic Shadowless First Edition Charizard is one of the top-selling cards worth up to $11,999.
If you think you have a top dollar card, do some research and have it graded.
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Where Is The Best Place To Sell My Pokemon Cards
If you want top dollar for your Pokemon merchandise, it is advisable to use a card trading platform. This article includes a list of the top places! Other options include visiting your local comic store, pawnshop, or even on Facebook Marketplace.
Looking Up How Much My Pokemon Cards Are Worth:
If you get too many results that include cards NOT like yours, use the checkboxes to pick the ones just like yours. Choosing a few comparable items by using the checkboxes gives you a much more accurate estimate of what your Pokemon card is worth.
What to do next:
Once youve gone through and searched for the value of your Pokemon cards using the mavin.io price guide, you have several different options:
If the Pokemon cards are valuable: You can either hold onto the cards, perhaps get them graded if theyre really valuable, and hopefully see them appreciate in value over time. Alternatively, you sell it to a local card shop without getting ripped off since you know its worth. Lastly, you can sell it yourself on eBay to get a competitive price. Read our guide to selling on eBay.
If the Pokemon cards are worthless: A card doesnt have to be worth money to be considered valuable. Each card has sentimental value to someone: where they got it, the deck it was a part of, that time you used it to battle so-and-so a lot of people tend to hang onto them because of the memories. If you want to get rid of your Pokemon cards, they could be worth some memories to a relative or a stranger. Put them on Craigslist, take them to a card shop, donate them, or pass them along to your kids or a relative. Theres still a lot of fun to be had in those dusty Pokemon cards youve been hanging onto!
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The Best Places To Sell Pokemon Cards
There are a few different places to check out in order to sell your pokemon cards online.
I highly recommend you begin your process of finding places to sell Pokemon cards by looking through your collection first to look for possible first edition or old cards that might be more valuable.
Next, separate out cards that are incredibly worn since these are unlikely to sell.
Once you have a pile of cards you think have some value, youre ready to find a place to sell your Pokemon cards!
Rarity: Is Your Collection All That Special
In terms of rarity, base-set cards are where the money is for most collectors, and these cards are the most traded ones in the hobby. Set cards are any card you can pull from a pack bought from the store, says Pratte. The base set comprises the original 102 cards printed in 1999 and includes classic Pokemon like Pikachu, Blastoise, Charizard and Venusaur.
A complete first-edition base set in mint condition sold for $100,000 in December 2017. If you have a base-set card in your card collection, there are a few visual indicators of its worth.
Holographic cards: These are the most discernable at first glance. The background of the Pokemon illustration is shiny and reflective not the whole card, only the picture of the monster. Theyre typically referred to as holo cards, and only 16 of the original 102 are holo.
First-edition cards: Directly next to the left corner of the illustration appears the edition 1 logo. These rare cards were bought up shortly after initial release and remain some of the most sought-after and valuable cards.
Shadowless cards: This version is almost identical to the first-edition prints but excludes the first-edition logo. If you dont have a newer card for comparison, this is particularly hard to notice: the illustration box appears 2D. On newer cards, the picture box has a shadow along the right border to give it a 3D appearance.
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Investing Time In Understanding The Culture
If you truly want to make the most out of selling your Pokemon cards, it is best to do so by immersing yourself in the culture surrounding Pokemon cards as well as the collectors who keep the culture alive.
The more familiar you become with the culture surrounding Pokemon, the easier it is to understand why certain cards are more valuable and in-demand than others.
Take time to research base sets, rare cards, and even cards in mint condition that are difficult to stumble upon today.
Read on and research the lore of Pokemon characters, shows, and the history of Pokemon itself. When you feel as though you are a part of the community and culture, selling your own Pokemon card collection will begin to come naturally.
Free Price Guide For Pokemon Card Values
Youll need these details:
For example Charizard 101/108
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Whats The Most Valuable Pokemon Card
The Pikachu Illustrator cards have sold for the highest amount, publicly at least. These cards were awarded to winners of a Pokemon contest held in Japan circa 1998. Less than 40 of these cards are known to exist. In recent years, a few have sold for between $100,000 and $375,000.
Gem mint 10 first edition holographic Charizards from the 1999 base set are nearly as valuable. They have sold for as much as $369,000 at auction.
Collecting Pokemon Cards Its Like 1999 All Over Again
Aside from when they were first released in 1999, collecting Pokemon cards has never been so popular.
Sure, the Pokemon Go craze of 2015 reignited that spark for many, but it wasnt until the world plunged into lockdown in 2020, the masses returned to the hobby.
Bringing with it a wave of celebrity endorsements , the value of Pokemon cards continues to skyrocket.
So the question is, how do you start collecting Pokemon cards?
Well, firstly, we need to look at your reason for collecting.
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Learn To Spot Fake Cards And Packs
If you cant accurately spot fake cards not in person, theres a pretty good chance youll get burned here, too.
Unfortunately, a byproduct of pandemic reemergence is the similar rise in fake product designed to cash in. Advances in technology have made identifying fakes harder than ever before, but the heavy scrutiny of cards by an experienced collector can still catch nearly all instances.
Ways People Are Making Money From Pokemon Go
Pokémon GO is EVERYWHERE. Whether you play it or not, you have heard about it. Your kids are talking about it, your friends are talking about it, its all over Facebook and social media, and of course, its all over the news. I was having coffee at a local coffee shop with my mom and sister a few days ago when my sister suddenly got all excited and practically jumped out of her chair. She yelled, Theres a Pokémon on the table! While she was trying to catch it, I looked around the coffee shop, expecting to see horrified looks all around. To my surprise, no one in the coffee shop was surprised. Pokémon GO has become a normal way of life.
Pokémon GO is the latest mobile augmented reality game craze that gained its stardom overnight. This innovative new game gets you off the couch and moving around because you have to be physically near the Pokemon in order to catch it. And the Pokémon are everywhere. You have to walk around or drive somewhere to find them . The point of the game is to collect as many Pokémon as you can and level up as you do.
How are people making money off this latest craze?
1. Uber
2. 24/7 Pokémon GO Bus
3. Pokémon GO Walkers
4. iPhone Hacks
5. Ebay is a great way to make money fast.
6. Poketree.com
7. Pokestops and Lures at Small Businesses
8. Themed Pokémon GO Items
9. The old-fashioned Lemonade Stand
10. Lure Modules
11. Have a Yard or Garage Sale
12. Recharge Stations
13. Selling Photos and Videos
16. Custom Walking Sticks
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Selling Your Pokmon Go Account
Credit: Matthew Corley Shutterstock
You could make: £100s or even £1000s, depending on your account
Some people just don’t have the time, patience or energy to find rare, strong Pokémon . As a result, a fad has emerged amongst lazy people to go the quick route and buy an already-activated Pokémon account on eBay that’s already miles ahead of the game.
People have previously sold their high-level Pokémon Go accounts for well over £1,000. However, prices seem to have been cut dramatically, with sellers undercutting each other. This makes it pretty unlikely for a Pokémon Go account to sell for loads of money.
A Level 23 account here in the UK has previously sold for £175 so still a fair amount of money.
We need to point out that if you do decide to sell your account, you’re at risk of having it disabled by Niantic as it goes against their terms of service.
Are Any Of Your Old Pokemon Cards Worth Anything
Like many Millennials in their 30s, I had a binder full of Pokemon cards that my family and I held onto for years. Upon hearing the news that some of them might be worth a 401, I immediately called up my mom.
Mom do you have any idea where my old Pokemon cards are??
Sadly, she didnt. Our shared conclusion is that we likely donated them to a kid down the street years ago, along with my old airsoft stuff.
This deflating revelation immediately made me feel like the guy who paid 10,000 bitcoins for pizza.
However, if youre also fretting over the location of your old Pokemon card collection, I actually have some good news for you:
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The Best Places To Sell Pokemon Cards For Cash How To Sell Pokemon Cards
posted on May 24, 2021This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclaimer for more information.
Chances are, if you grew up in the late 90s/early 2000s or had a kid around the time, youve owned Pokemon cards at one time or another.
With over 800 different Pokemon species and millions of fans around the world, theres no doubt that Pokemon is one of the defining shows and card games of multiple generations.
Plus, with thousands of cards and a variety of different sets and expansions, the world of Pokemon trading cards has a pretty insane amount of depth to itand a ton of monetary value.
Some Pokemon cards are worth nothing, some are rare, and some are extremely valuable.
In fact, if you can get your hands on cards like a first edition, perfectly rated Charizard, you might be looking at over $300,000 in value with just that single card!
The point is, the world of trading Pokemon cards is insanely valuable, and many collectors view Pokemon cards as both a piece of history and lucrative investment opportunity.
So, if you have any cards saved up from when you were younger or if you still collect, you could potentially be sitting on hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Of course, theres a lot you should know in order to avoid undervaluing your Pokemon cards.
Where do you sell them? How do you price them? And what else can I take advantage of?
Stick around until the end to find the answers to all those questions including the best place to sell Pokemon cards!
Best Place To Sell Pokemon Cards Right Now
If you have your hands on some Pokémon cards and want to offload them for as much cash as possible, there are a variety of resources you can use right now to get cash in hand. The great thing about many of these resources is that you dont even need to meet anyone. It will be as easy as slipping it into an envelope and shipping it off. Of course, there are in-person options as well if thats something youre interested in.
As in all of my guides, Im always honest. I dont promote garbage nor will you find me pushing millions of ads. I just dont work that way as I like to inform and thats it.
Before I begin, however, let me quickly explain what determines your Pokémon card value.
Generally, your cards will be valued upon the condition, its rarity, the edition, and of course, the demand. All four of these factors can have an affect on the pricing, and much like the stock market, the prices can fluctuate from one day to the next. Im mentioning this because the prices can swing wildly, either going up or down, of course. If you see a price thats worth it, then it may be best to sell ASAP unless youre willing to take the gamble.
With that being said, lets dive in and see a few of the best places to sell Pokémon cards for cash online. All of the options Im about to mention will let you know what your card is worth at the time.
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