Pokémon in general has always been about trying to get as many as you can. It might be obtaining a complete Pokémon card set. Maybe it’s completing a collection of a particular Pokémon. It might be something else that moves you.
After all, the slogan is “Gotta Catch ‘Em All”! So who doesn’t want to try?
Well, all this collecting and trading makes you think. If I complete a particular group of cards, a few similar ones, or a full set of Pokémon cards, would that increase the value of them over trying to sell them individually?
After all, part of collecting is completing those collections, right? So do Pokémon cards still follow that same logic?
Let’s jump right in to find out!
Pokémon Card Groups: Are They Worth More Together?
Let’s start with the OG’s. The Base Set Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur. They are incredibly popular cards and 3 that anyone who collected the Vintage sets would want to own.
In doing a little bit of research, I can find them individually for between $200-400. There is such a big fluctuation here really mostly because of the Charizard. If the Charizard individually is in really good shape, it can out-sell the other two by a large margin.
So what if we look them all up sold together? Is there a premium for them in that case?
After looking through eBay and other sold items, we can see that there is no premium for selling this group of cards together. They typically sell together right in the middle at about $300. The conditions of each card do sway the total, but not more than a nice Near Mint Charizard would by itself.
So are they worth selling together as a group? Unfortunately it doesn’t look like it.
What If They Are All PSA 10?
What if we go to a higher end of the spectrum? If we look at the top rated PSA 10 versions of some of the famous trios? If you don’t know what PSA 10 means, check out my other article on Pokémon card grading.
In looking at every group of PSA 10 Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur’s, none of the group of three sell at a premium to the individual prices for each one sold separately.
Buying a group of cards together is a better strategy as a Pokémon card buyer. In selling a Pokémon card collection, the seller can typically make more when selling the cards individually. This will take more time and energy though vs selling an entire collection at one time.
There are three main reasons for individual Pokémon cards selling for more than a collection together:
- Not every buyer will be shopping for every card in the collection
- Buyers who are looking for entire collections are trying to buy it at a discount
- Smaller groups of cards aren’t that hard to find individually, so it doesn’t add a premium
So ultimately, grouping the big 3 or ANY other famous group together doesn’t add any premium whatsoever.
That being said, there is at least 1 exception.
The Only Pokémon Cards Group That Is Worth More Together
There is one group of Pokémon Cards that consistently sell for more together vs being separated. Those are the Legend Series Pokémon Cards.
This set of cards are literally a card split into two separate cards. And every one of them when sold separately result in less money than them being sold together.
So yes, there are exceptions to the rule. In most cases though, smaller groups of Pokémon cards will not be worth more than the value of them individually.
Let’s looks into completed sets next.
Completed Pokémon Sets: Let’s Clarify
Let’s start with completed Pokémon card sets. A Pokémon card set refers to a group of Pokémon cards released as part of one grouping of cards. If you’d like to know more about them, you can read more here.
As an example, Evolving Skies, Base Set, Neo Genesis, Astral Radiance, and many many others are considered sets. The number at the bottom of your Pokémon card includes the card number followed by the total number of cards in that set.
So a Base Set Charizard would have 4/102 in the bottom corner. That means that it is card #4 in a set of 102 total cards. We will be referring to this set as having al 102 cards.
Let’s look into the Base Set list as an example now.
Is a Complete Pokémon Base Set Collection Worth More Together or Separated?
So let’s say that you have all 102 cards in the Base Set list. It’s a very popular set, so it should be a worthwhile one to have completed.
Does the entire Base Set card collection outsell selling each card individually? Let’s look in a few places.
In looking at eBay sold listings at the time of writing this article, that complete set sells for between $550-$800. Not too bad of a number at all but is still a sizeable range.
Next, we will add up the sold prices for every individual card in the set. If we start with the average sold for each individual card, the total comes out to around the higher end of that range.
So it seems that selling each card individually will land you towards the higher end of that number, but not necessarily far more in one way or another.
Is that always the case though?
Quality and Condition Matters
In looking at the sold price of every card in that set for only cards that are Near Mint? The range of the completed sets doesn’t go up in most cases. There’s some for $1000 stating that all cards are Near Mint/Mint, but most don’t increase from the original range given at all.
Now, what does the price do for each individual card if I look at individual Near Mint sold cards? It goes up. A lot.
Selling near mint cards individually from this set increases the value up to $1500+ vs the $550-1000 it would be based on selling them as a lot.
So even with high quality Pokémon cards in a set, do they sell for more all together? It doesn’t seem to be the case. And it actually seems to be the opposite when the cards are nice enough.
Let’s dive into one more scenario.
Pokémon Card Groups That Sell For More Together
There are very few instances where a group of Pokémon cards sell for more as a group than they do individually. One scenario was mentioned above but there is another general rule of thumb that goes along with it.
The only way a set of Pokémon cards sell for a premium is when it is both a difficult set to obtain and they are all graded perfectly. When both of these conditions are met, then you can earn a premium for a collection of Pokémon cards.
In one instance a complete 1st Edition Fossil set of all PSA 10s sold for $37,000 on eBay. The average sold for each card individually as a PSA 10? $25,579.
So why would someone pay a premium for it? Because it is both sought after and hard to obtain. There aren’t a lot of people in the world with a complete set like that. So having one of likely only a handful means it can sell for a premium. That’s all there is to it.
Let’s run through one more thought before closing out.
Last Thought
Though Pokémon cards (especially nice ones) sell for more individually than they do as a group or a lot, that doesn’t always mean it is worth trying to sell them individually. Doing so means you will have to list more cards, send more shipments, and have more packaging in general.
This takes more time and effort. And it’s up to you to decide if the dollars made are worth the time spent. If you’d like to get into selling Pokémon cards more, check out my other article here.
Summary
Hopefully this helped you with your Pokémon card buying and selling journey. There are hundreds of different instances that could have been run through but this article should give the gist of when it’s worth selling Pokémon cards together or separate.
If there is anything I missed or if you have any feedback, send me an email at [email protected]!
Want to know some reasons to get your Pokémon cards graded? Look no further.
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Want to make sure you are storing your Pokémon cards effectively? It’s incredibly important.
Thanks for reading!