Amazon is one of the largest retailers in the world. They sell an estimated 12 million items per day and are quickly becoming the top retailer and online marketplace in the world. That said though, you should heavily consider other options before buying Pokémon cards through Amazon.
It may seem odd that Amazon would not be a good place to buy Pokémon cards. And while they should be a better option, it absolutely is not at the moment.
I know these are strong statements, but I’ll use the following article to detail out why that is the case and why you should consider buying Pokémon cards elsewhere.
Let’s get to it.
Amazon Sells Re-Bundled and Unwanted Pokémon Cards
If I search for Pokémon cards on Amazon right now, some of the top items that populate are the following. Please note that I am not going to add the links to these items as that is not the purpose of this article.
- TCG Value Pack – 3 Random Booster Packs, 30 Cards Total. Chance at Rares & Holofoils
- Assorted Lot of 50 Single Cards [Any Series]
- 25 Rare Pokemon Cards with 100 HP or Higher (Assorted Lot with No Duplicates) (Original Version)
Let’s go through the issues with these items as it pertains to the title above.
TCG Value Pack – 3 Random Booster Packs, 30 Cards Total. Chance at Rares & Holofoils
While it doesn’t seem like this is such a bad deal overall, the reviews point to these packs hardly being “random”. And if you know anything about Pokémon card sets and the packs that contain them, you’ll know that some card sets are worth a lot more money than others. And these “random packs” seem to contain nothing but the cheapest card packs in each time frame.
What makes matters worse is that holographic and special Pokémon cards weigh more than their non-holographic counterparts. While this used to be a much bigger issue with vintage cards, it is still true with modern cards as well.
And because that is the case, these packs seemingly all fall on the lighter end of the scale and are therefore less likely to have any unique rare Pokémon cards inside. One commenter bought this several times and weighed each pack that he got.
Needless to say, he did not pull anything worthwhile. His review was now found helpful more than 1100 times and there have been a number of other reviews stating the same outcome.
Let’s look at the next item.
Assorted Lot of 50 Single Cards [Any Series]
I’ll start by playing devils advocate on this one. If you are just trying to pick up some cheap Pokémon cards and you or the receiver doesn’t really care what they are, then maybe this isn’t the worst option. However, you should expect to get nothing of any value whatsoever.
Whoever is putting these together is simply taking “leftover” cards from ripped packs that won’t sell on their own and making some money off of them. If who you are buying for just wants a lot of cards to look at, I’d suggest going to a local card shop and asking for bulk cards. I can almost guarantee they will have them and will sell them to you for cheaper than this bundle.
25 Rare Pokemon Cards with 100 HP or Higher (Assorted Lot with No Duplicates) (Original Version)
Let’s start by saying that “rare” Pokémon cards used in this instance refers to a symbol on the cards and not necessarily the fact that they are hard to get. Similar to the post above also, these will not contain any specialty or valuable cards either, even if they are holographic and “rare”.
Once again, these cards are simply ones that will not sell on their own and are not worth trying to sell individually. It is then just a bundle created to get rid of cheap cards for a seemingly low price.
I’ll make the same devils advocate comment that I made above. This is not the worst way to pick up a handful of cards for relatively cheap. If you’re buying for someone that just wants a lot of cards, this is not a terribly way to spend your money. That said, I would still highly recommend just going to a local card shop and buying bulk from them, likely for cheaper than this.
Let’s get to our next section.
Amazon Focuses Reviews Around the Item, Not the Seller
Yes, Amazon does have reviews around the actual sellers of the items. However, this is not the focus of purchasing, which is the way that other reputable sellers such as TCG Player or eBay work.
What this means for you is that when you buy items through Amazon, you usually aren’t thinking about who you are buying from. You are simply shopping the item that you are looking at.
Because of that, you never really know who you are buying from. When you buy Pokémon cards through GameStop, Walmart, or another well known retailer, you know you are buying from an official Pokémon card reseller who has a reputation to uphold.
With Amazon though, you shouldn’t have the same amount of trust. Because of this, a large number of Amazons higher selling Pokémon card products still have a tremendous amount of negative reviews. Most of these are due to damaged packages and re-sealed product.
Despite having a good returns policy, sometimes the hassle is not worth the effort.
Amazon Re-Sells Fake and Knock-Off Pokémon Items
This goes back to the issue regarding the sellers as well as these random “bundles” that are being offered. When buying Pokémon cards through Amazon, you don’t really know what you are going to get. And while some of these may seem fun, you have to remember that the person selling them is trying to make money.
Take gold Pokémon cards for instance. Turns out there are some real gold Pokémon cards and items that you can purchase. Unfortunately though, there are also fake versions that are also sold through Amazon that are incredibly cheap when bought elsewhere.
Amazon is simply the reseller of these items and is not terribly concerned with the authenticity or otherwise, as that responsibility to state that falls on the seller. Unfortunately though, Amazon does not do anything to mitigate issues and otherwise with Pokémon cards.
Conclusion
Amazon is a great place to buy an incredible number of items. Because of the way they sell and promote items though, Pokémon cards are not an ideal item to buy through Amazon.
While there may be one instance to try Amazon (buying cheap cards), you could still get a similar or better deal by just stopping at your local card shop. On top of that, there are a number of other places to buy Pokémon cards from that are far more reputable and worth your time.
If I missed anything or if you would like to give some of your own thoughts, send me an email at [email protected]!
If you’re trying to find the values of your Pokémon card collection check out these apps!
Want to open Pokémon packs for free online? Check out this website!
Want to learn some basic Pokémon card terminology? Look no further.
Thanks for reading!