Buying and selling Pokémon cards has been a sizeable part of the last 25 years of pop culture. It started as a playing, collecting, and trading hobby among school kids and has turned out to now be an amplified version of that for kids and adults alike!
There has been one large shift in thinking when it comes to Pokémon cards though in recent years. And that is how much people look at Pokémon cards for the dollars that they are worth vs the general appreciation for the cards themselves.
2021 had an absolutely major boom in Pokémon cards popularity and pricing. And everyone who had any cards started sifting through their collections to see what kind of value they now had.
With the boom and popularity though, it’s easy to wonder if there is an actual money-making opportunity within the Pokémon Card world.
Well friends, you’ve come to the right place. We are going to answer all of your questions regarding selling Pokémon cards and if it can be a good money-making opportunity.
Let’s jump right in!
Can I Make Money From Opening Pokémon Packs?
In doing a little bit of research, you will be able to find that there are quite a few newly released Pokémon cards that are worth a hundred and sometimes a few hundred dollars! And with packs only costing between $3-7, it surely makes sense to buy some packs to get some expensive cards from them, right?
Well, while Pokémon and the shops that sell them appreciate the thought, there is a reason that those expensive cards are worth so much money. It’s because they are incredibly hard to pull.
And if everyone could make money just by re-selling the cards that you pull from the packs, then there would be even harder to pick up now than they already are.
Just to give an idea of how difficult it is, several groups have ripped HUNDREDS of packs to figure out what the pull rates are in different sets. If we look at the very popular Pokémon 151 set, pulling a Special Illustration Rare would give you around a 1/30 pack chance to get one.
And that’s just to pull ANY Special Illustration Rare.
To pull a specific SIR, you would have to pull something around 225 packs to get the one you’re looking for. If you happen to pull the Charizard? $100 just like that. If you happen to pull the Giovanni’s Charisma as your SIR though? $10. Not exactly making a huge profit with that one unfortunately.
So if you are opening packs to enjoy the process? Keep at it. If you’re hoping to open Pokémon packs to make money? You might want to look at spending your money elsewhere.
Can I Make Money Streaming Opening Pokémon Packs?
Slightly different than our first question. What if you open packs but also stream it so people watch? Maybe starting a Youtube Channel and doing so? Can I make money that way?
Quite a few people make some decent money doing this. A few at the very top of the heap actually make a lot of money doing it. So can you?
I’ll keep this answer relatively short. You definitely could make money streaming opening Pokémon packs. That being said, it will take a very large amount of time, effort, and initial money to do so.
You would be entering into a very established market and have to compete with people who are opening $20,000 booster boxes who already have hundreds of thousands if not millions of followers.
You would then need to consider the time and money you would need to spend to get a nice camera and setup. Then you would need to go through the process of creating a channel and editing videos to make it all look good. Oh, and don’t forget about the cost of the packs you are ripping in the first place.
So is it possible? Yes, quite a few people have done it. Will it be quick and easy? Definitely not.
Can I Make Money Buying and Reselling Pokémon Cards?
Once you have gotten a taste of buying and selling Pokémon cards, it’s easy to wonder if you can make some good money doing it. Well, if you’ve had this thought, you are definitely not alone.
I myself got back into Pokémon after buying a binder from a co-worker. Once I did, I wanted to buy, sell, and trade as much as I could. I wanted to add new stuff to my collection, complete full sets, send my own cards in for grading, and any other Pokémon card activity you could think of.
I did not have a huge presence in Pokémon cards, and yet I was able to do pretty well buying and selling cards for a few years there. So the short answer is yes, but it will take some work and hustle to do. Let me run through some of the difficulties in reselling Pokémon cards to give you a real idea of what you may be in for.
There is Far More Pricing Technology Than There Used to Be
When you went to a card shop or otherwise when Pokémon came out and even just a few years ago, it was pretty dang hard to tell what the price of that card should be.
Even if you look back at PriceCharting or TCGPlayer Data, they only go back to about January of 2021 at the earliest. Before then, it was kind of the wild west. Everyone just paid what they felt was fair for their cards.
Nowadays, my 7 year old can look up a card and see how much they should sell for. So trying to buy low and sell high to resell Pokémon cards has become much more difficult than it used to be.
Add in all of the apps that make it easy to get the value of your collection, and everyone seems to ask top dollar for what they have.
Let’s get to the next hurdle.
It’s Hard to Keep Consistent Supply of Pokémon Cards
This is maybe the toughest to deal with of all of them. If you actually want to make money reselling Pokémon cards, you have to find people who are willing to sell a collection low enough to leave dollars for you.
There are a few common places to do this. But you will quickly realize that all of these take some serious work and that you are not alone in your hunt to find nicely priced Pokémon collections.
That being said, I’ll share some of the main ways I’ve found to find a supply of Pokémon cards.
eBay
eBay is an absolutely massive online marketplace and is second only to Amazon in being the most visited. They dominate a huge corner of the market and have a BILLION items up at any given time.
So eBay auctions particularly can be a great place to find good deals on Pokémon cards. There are a hundreds and thousands of items that run through the website every day and not everyone is paying attention to all of them all the time.
So if you’re willing to jump on eBay at odd hours of the night or early in the morning, you may be able to pick up some nicely priced Pokémon cards!
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook marketplace can be a great place to pick up cheap Pokémon products. Typically, people post there to get rid of items quickly and it doesn’t tend to be as competitive as other online marketplaces.
That being said, your market matters a lot. In a big market like Dallas Ft. Worth, there is a big buyer market and a lot of people looking through postings very frequently. If you have cash on hand though and can meet up with people quickly, you may be able to find some good stuff!
Mercari/OfferUp
While Mercari and OfferUp aren’t as established as eBay, they both have a very consistent Pokémon card presence. And because they’re not as popular, they don’t have near the competition that the above apps do.
I’ve found a good amount of luck with both of these apps as they don’t tend to be as nearly as picked through as some of the others. It will still require work and being on the app at the right time to get some good deals.
If you spend some time on either of them though, I can say from experience that there is certainly some opportunities on them both!
Pokémon Card Shows
While a card show won’t be nearly as consistent as some of the others, they can be a great place to find a massive quantity of cards to choose from at one given point in time.
Obviously there are a ton of vendors selling cards that you can buy from. There are also just as many individuals who bring their collections too though. And a lot of them are looking to sell and trade what they’ve got.
If you’re curious, just google Pokémon card shows near you. If you are close enough to make it to Collect-A-Con, then I would highly recommend it. It is one of the biggest and most popular Pokémon card shows in the nation.
Again though all of these take effort. You have to be checking them at any given time and you have to have the capital to be able to buy collections. It’s not a quick and painless process either. So take these with a grain of salt if considering trying to re-sell Pokémon cards.
Let’s get back to some of the other potential hurdles.
Pokémon Card Selling Fees Are Not Small
This isn’t a major hurdle necessarily, but you will notice how quickly it adds up when trying to make a profit.
When you buy a collection of cards, getting them at 85% of value is almost the max you should pay just to break even. If you have to sell through eBay, Mercari, or otherwise, they take between 10-15% from the sale themselves.
Then you start to factor in the cost of shipping items and the time it takes to ship it and you’ll find that it’s not nothing.
I cover ways to get around this in another article on selling cards. If you’re interested in learning how to ship Pokémon cards, I cover that as well here.
Let’s get to the next hurdle.
You Have to Spend Money to Make Money
The ultimate dilemma. If you’re trying to make money selling Pokémon cards, you have to have the funds to buy them in the first place. And typically buying collections is the best way to get cards at a lower cost.
So if you have less than $1000 to spend, it’s going to be hard to pick up anything that has enough value to make you some money back. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with starting small and increasing your investment over time.
I’ll also cover one way to potentially make some money that takes less funds further down in the article
Summary
So, can you make money reselling Pokémon cards? The answer is definitely yes, BUT it will take time, effort, and initial investments to do so.
Let’s check out the next potential money making opportunity.
Can I Make Money Buying and Grading Pokémon Cards?
If you don’t know anything about grading, I recommend you read my other article before jumping in here. The gist of this idea though is this. Grading Pokémon cards makes them more valuable (assuming they grade well).
So, is there money to be made buying raw Pokémon cards, grading them, and then flipping them after? The short answer is definitely yes. The long answer though requires a bit more explanation.
Let’s look at a Base Set Blastoise on the website Pricecharting. This website pulls sold eBay and other data to give you an idea of how a cards grade affects its value.
If we look at the below chart, we can see that a Blastoise gains a good amount of dollars as you get into higher grades. And when you consider that grading a card like this should only cost about $25 max, it seems that it would be worth your time, right?
Well let’s hold the phone before we get too excited. While there is certainly money to be made here, there are definitely some drawbacks.
Let’s take a moment to run through some of them.
You Can’t Ever Guarantee a Grade
EVERYONE who has graded a decent number of cards has been surprised by grades before, both in a good and bad way. So despite you thinking a card may get a great grade, reality might differ.
I have another article on what grade your Pokémon card may get, which can give some basic guidance into what can get you a good grade for a card. That being said, it’s never guaranteed.
Add in the fact that buying cards online can make it incredibly difficult to see every scratch and issue, and it only exacerbates the issue.
The Grading Process Is Not Fast
Now, you can pay to get the grader to return the cards faster. That being said, It would be hard to justify a $75+ grading service for the Blastoise above. I would essentially HAVE to get a 7 or an 8 just to break even depending on what I bought the card for.
If you pay for the standard “value” service through PSA or BGS, you will be waiting for about two months. CGC is a little bit quicker with their returns but it’s still usually at least 30 days.
While it’s not going to typically break you from trying to make money this way, it should definitely be a consideration.
Grading Pokémon Cards Costs Money
This one is obvious, but it does matter. If you have 10 cards you are looking to grade, you will pay at least $150 to get them graded.
Sure, the value might be made up after, but that’s only if you get a favorable grade. So the investment to send cards in for grading can be questionable. Especially if you aren’t experienced in doing so.
Summary
So, can you make money grading Pokémon cards? Absolutely. Should you grade your Pokémon cards? Check out the article linked there and I’ll give a rundown on that answer!
Summary
Can you make money selling Pokémon cards? Absolutely. There are several ways to do it that we ran through today. Most of which are incredibly viable strategies to do so.
Is it fast, easy, or cheap? Definitely not.
The Pokémon card market is incredibly competitive. Not just for other people trying to sell but for true collectors as well. If you’re willing to put in some time and effort though, it can definitely be done.
If there’s anything I missed, send me an email at [email protected]!
Curious about the most expensive Pikachu Cards? Look no further.
Need some Charizard in your life? I’ve got you covered there also.
What about some cheap Charizard Pokémon cards? Just click here.