TCG Pricing, Selling, and Shipping Guide
In the past few days I’ve noticed a number of posts regarding the price of Pokemon TCG cards; people asking for price quotes on certain cards they have and in return receiving various sorts of advice. I would like to outline one method to pricing and selling cards so that members can get an idea of how to appropriately value their collections for either their personal knowledge or for future sales posts.
I know a post like this way made about six months ago, but this one will look at some different things, so I hope no one minds it. Just trying to help out!
This guide will outline the following subjects:
1) Evaluating and organizing your cards
2) Determining the value of your cards
3) Pricing and selling your cards
4) Shipping your cards
This guide assumes that you have a basic understanding of TCG cards such as how to determine rarity (Commons verses Rares), various types of cards (holos, reverse-holos, Legends, ex, Lv. X, etc), and how to determine what set cards come from. If you need help with any of this, please feel free to contact me and I can help you out!
1: Evaluating and Organizing Your Cards
The first step you’ll want to take is to pick the cards you want to sell. A real “duh” thing, I know, but if you have a thousand cards, maybe pick out 200 you want to sell first and split the rest up over the course of a few months. This makes it easier for people to view your cards and easier for you to set up a manageable shop.
Consider organizing the cards you wish to sell in one of the following manners:
a) Divide them based on sets or set groups (ie. Base sets, Neo, E-series, EX-series, D/P, Platinum, and HGSS).
b) Divide them based on rarity (ie. Commons, Uncommons, Rares, Holo Rares, Reverse-Holos, and Ultra Rares).
Once you have the cards you want to sell, you’ll want to figure out their condition. This will greatly affect their potential price. Often people will ask about a card’s condition, so be prepared to let them know! This is how I evaluate cards, though I think this is pretty standard:
Mint: Fresh-from-the-pack condition, probably placed in a sleeve immediately; no visible blemishes or scratches
Near-Mint: Excellent condition; may have very slight wear on the edges or extremely light scratching on the surface
Very Good: Noticeably good condition, a very acceptable card; closer evaluation may show scratching and edge or surface wear
Acceptable: Noticeable wear, but still acceptable; scratches and edge wear are apparent, may have creases
Poor/Played: Heavy wear; scratches and edge wear are very apparent, card has heavy creasing or bends
Now that you’ve got your cards sorted and you’ve decided the ones you want to sell, you can start figuring out their prices!
2: Determining the Value of Your Cards
This portion of the guide pertains to ultra-rare holo cards. If you’re looking to price non-holos, check out the next step!
I prefer to use ebay to price my cards, though referencing online card shops such as trollandtoad.com can be used; however, they do not offer as accurate of a price. This is my personal method to using ebay.
Looking up your card properly is important; put in not only the name, but the number as well to get the most accurate results. Not all sellers include the set name, so you may or may not want to include that bit. Look up the card and take a look at the prices. Often they are mainly BIN and thus overpriced. Go to the options on the sidebar and click on "Completed Listings". This will give you recently (usually within the past two weeks) finished auctions. Auctions with green prices sold for that price while auctions with red prices did NOT sell. Check out those that sold (make sure to keep the shipping price in mind). These selling prices are usually the most accurate and will tell you what the demand price is.
Here are some examples, but keep in mind that these prices are accurate at the time of this article’s writing and very subject to change! Many factors can change prices which include demand, how many are being sold, and whether or not a card is popular in competitive play.
Example 1: Charizard* (EX Dragon Frontiers, 100/101)
Charizard* last sold for over $50 with a BIN as high as $60. The lowest BIN price for a Charizard* (no condition mentioned) is $50 plus shipping. A near-mint card has $70 being asked. A safe estimate for that card's price would be $55-65 mint.
Example 2: Charizard G Lv. X (Platinum: Supreme Victors, 143/147)
What’s interesting about this card is that it has a promo-released version as well; same text, same card, different picture. Competitively this lowers the value of the original, but in a set collector’s mind it makes no difference. Selling prices for this card are ranging from about $8 to around $12, including shipping. Take a buck or two out to account for the shipping price and you have a card valued at around $6-10. A good direct selling price for this card, in very good to mint condition, would probably be $7-8.
Example 3: Charizard (Unlimited Base Set, 4/102)
This one is well-known and good example of where condition can greatly affect the value of a card. For this example we will be looking for a Charizard card in near mint to mint condition that is of the unlimited edition (let’s not get into 1st edition stuff with this card!). On the lower end this card is selling for around $11, but on the higher end, there are BINs going for $50! In this situation it can be difficult to determine a value and may be best to place the card up for auction with a starting price of about $12 and a BIN of maybe $35-40. If you were very set on a direct sale, a near-mint card may sell for $20-25 if there is a buyer looking for one.
As mentioned before, the condition of your card will have an effect on the price.
3: Pricing and Selling Your Cards
Now you have a good idea of how much your cards are worth... but how should you sell them? Cards valued over $15 may be best to auction or put up for offers to ensure everyone who is interested has a chance at getting it and that you get the best price for it. Cards under that value would probably be best placed up for direct sale.
I recommend the following prices for non-holo cards:
Commons: $0.10-$0.25
Uncommons: $0.25-$0.50
Rares: $0.50-$1
Trainers: Varies (most trainers go for under $0.25, but a trainer currently popular in competitive play may go for up to $5 each)
Energies: Varies (most energy cards go for well under $0.10, but special energies popular in competitive play may go for up to $5 each)
For holographic cards, use the technique explained in the previous step. Keep in mind that rare-holos (not ultra rares) don’t usually sell for more than $2.50 or so. Reverse-holos are in a category all of their own. Most people (but not all!) do not seem to like reverse-holos and for that reason, do not expect to treat them has holos when pricing. A common reverse-holo may be priced about $0.05-0.10 (yes, that’s five to ten CENTS) higher than a normal common, but usually they are very hard to get rid of.
If you don’t see them selling on ebay and they’re not selling in your post, consider lowering your prices.
How you display your cards in your sales post (or even on ebay) can make a huge difference in how much you sell. Once again, there are a number of ways you can display your cards:
a) Divide them by set (easier for people looking for specific cards from a specific set)
b) Divide them by type/element (easier for type collectors)
c) Divide them by rarity (easier to price)
d) RANDOM CARDS EVERYWHERE (not recommended... but do what you want!)
Of course you can mix and match these... I tend to sell by set and then by rarity, but it all depends on how many cards you’re selling and how you want to do things!
Photographing your cards well is a HUGE selling point. Blurry and very crooked photos can make it difficult for buyers to see the cards’ conditions or, in some cases, see the cards at all. :X Try lining up your cards in short (maybe 5-7 cards long), neat rows and only do two or three rows a picture. That way the buyer is less likely to miss a card because it’s in the center of a huge mass of them! Placing your cards on a flat-bed scanner is another option; the pictures come out far clearer, BUT it’s very time-consuming! If you don’t have access to a camera or a scanner and must use a phone or similar device, do what you can to ensure good lighting and the clearest pictures you can, even if it means only photographing a few cards at a time. Using clear pictures will make a difference!
4: Shipping Your Cards
Shipping methods may be less relevant to card pricing, but I think it’s an important thing to keep in mind when you’re looking to sell your cards. It’s best to be over-prepared for potential orders, and luckily, the materials needed to ship cards usually come in convenient bulk packaging. I personally buy all my card-shipping supplies at Wal-Mart as they tend to be cheapest. If you have a good trading card store nearby, you may be able to find some of this stuff a bit cheaper. :) Here’s my suggested supply list:
- Soft card sleeves (usually $1 for a pack of 100) or deck sleeves ($2-3 for 50 sleeves)
- Hard trading card Top Loaders (about $3 for 25)
- Mailing Envelopes (about $3 for 40) OR small bubble-mailers (about $0.50 each)
When shipping cards your number one priority should be making sure they aren’t bent during transit. There are a few ways you can achieve this. I recommend always placing holographic cards in a soft sleeve and then into a top loader. You can fit two holo cards, each in their own sleeve, into each top loader. It is recommended to place a small piece of tape over the opening in the top loader to prevent the card from slipping out during shipping. If you don’t have a top loader, you can tape together two piece of cardboard (a cut-up cereal box works, or index cards) and use them to protect the card. Just make sure don’t get tape on the card itself! A soft sleeve is still recommended with this method. Shipping non-holo cards is less of a hassle. You can actually fit around a dozen cards into one soft sleeve, which leaves the cards very well protected, both against scratching and bending. Holo or not, I always recommend placing cards in soft sleeves; they make a huge difference!
Next you’ll need to decide what to package your cards in. When shipping within the US, you can place up to two top loaders OR about 6-8 soft-sleeved cards in a regular envelope with only a single postage stamp. Any more than that may result in the envelope being too thick or too heavy to ship without extra charges. When shipping more cards than that, you may want to consider using a small bubble-mailer. You can fit a fair amount of cards in them (probably up to 40) and still have shipping be under $1.50. I have personally shipped around 100 cards in a small bubble-mailer for about $3.
Determining shipping prices is a huge thing too; you don’t want to undercharge or overcharge too much! Consider what goes into shipping: sleeves, top loaders (depending on the card), envelopes/bubble-mailers, postage, and the time/gas it takes you to get to the post office. When shipping within the US (International is about $0.50 more) I usually charge $1 for envelopes and $2 and up for bubble-mailers, before fees. This incorporates the price of all materials. I walk to the post office though, so gas isn’t really an issue! When people are only spending a few dollars on cards and are then hit with a $3 or more shipping fee it may be a total turn-off to your sales for them. You’re shipping something very light and flat, so try not to rip people off! :)
Good luck valuing, pricing, and selling your cards! I know this was long, but I hope it helped!
As a closing disclaimer: My credentials for this guide come from 11+ years of card collecting, starting with the Base set and continuing up to the present, as well as over 2 years of dealing cards both through this community and eBay. I’ve also dealt with professional card dealers in “real life”. I am by no means an “expert”, but I feel I have a strong grasp on the TCG-collecting world; however, I am NOT a competitive metagame player. This guide is based mainly around American-released cards and is my own personal pricing method and thus, opinion. I am open to suggestions, comments, and constructive criticism. :D