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How To Sell Your Bulk Pokemon Cards

There comes a time in everyone’s life when you have to make the difficult decision: stay balls deep in the collecting game, or finally bite the bullet and sell your Pokemon cards to make room for other hobbies (and/or closet space).

Even though letting go can be difficult, there are lots of different factors that can contribute to the decision to sell. Some people are moving on from the hobby completely and want to offload their entire collection, others are simply cutting down on what they choose to collect (i.e. moving on from Vintage to Modern or vice versa), many are hoping to get a little excess income so they can chase down the cards on their wish list, and a bunch of people have loved ones that are begging them to find a new home for the thousands of bulk cards they have taking up space around the house.

Regardless of which category you fall into or your motivation for selling, the great news is that there are a lot of options out there when it comes to selling your Pokemon cards! 

SELLING POKEMON CARDS YOURSELF VS. SELLING POKEMON CARDS TO A RESELLER

If you’ve got some experience selling items on eBay and are familiar with how to package and ship products, chances are you’ll make a lot more money by selling each card yourself through third party sites like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or Mercari. The benefit here is that you get more bang for your buck, but the tradeoff is that this method is incredibly time consuming and comes with a lot of extra hassle like fronting the cost for shipping supplies, being responsible to photograph and list each product, dealing with returns...you get the picture.

For most people, the more realistic option is to sell your Pokemon cards as a lot to a reseller. Not only do you not have to go through the hassle of photographing, listing, and shipping each card individually, you’ll also get cash in-hand the quickest. 

    How To Sell Your Pokemon Cards

    If you are looking to sell your Pokemon cards to a reseller, here’s how to kickstart the process.

    Step 1: Find A Reputable “Buyer” (or in this case, Pokemon reseller)

    There are tons of people out there who sell Pokemon cards, but not everyone is a certified reseller OR is actively purchasing lots - especially if you’re just looking to unload your bulk cards! Make sure that the people you’re reaching out to are actively looking to buy lots, and remember that reputation goes a long way when picking who to work with. Do some research, check their eBay reviews, and make sure the resellers you’re considering selling your Pokemon cards to are respected in the community! If they’re great to buy from, chances are they’ll be great to sell to as well.  

    Step 2: Figure Out Exactly What You’re Looking To Unload

    Before you reach out about selling your Pokemon cards, make sure you’ve taken some time to evaluate your collection and know exactly what you’re looking to get rid of. Are the cards you want to sell primarily holos and non holo rares, or do you have a bigger selection of commons? If you’re selling bulk cards, do you have mostly vintage bulk or modern bulk? Lastly, how many total cards in each category are you hoping to sell?

    These are some of the first questions you’re going to get hit with when you reach out about selling your collection, so knowing the types of Pokemon cards you want to sell and the total quantity of bulk cards, holos, etc. that you have available will go a long way towards speeding up the selling process!

    Step 3: Research Bulk Pokemon Card Pricing So You Know What To Expect

    If you’re selling a bulk set of cards to a reseller you should be prepared to get bulk pricing for those cards, which is typically a fixed-rate based on the type of card (holo, non holo rare, commons, uncommons,etc). It’s important to understand that bulk rates are always going to be much lower than the market value for that card, and for good reason! When you sell to a reseller they’re turning around and putting in the time, money, and effort to sell those cards individually for a profit (all that annoying, time-consuming work you didn’t want to do), and in order for that to be worth it they have to be able to mark those cards up significantly.

    Bulk Pokemon card rates can vary by company, but for most places you’ll see prices in the following ranges:

    •Vintage Commons - 5 cents to 10 cents per card
    •Vintage Uncommons - 10 cents to 25 cents per card
    •Vintage Rares - 50 cents to $1 per card
    •Modern Commons/Uncommons - 1 cent to 4 cents per card
    •Modern Rares - 2 cents to 5 cents per card
    •Modern Holos/Reverse holos - 10 cents to 20 cents per card

    Keep in mind that card condition plays a big factor in which side of that range your cards will fall in - for example, a LP rare may be valued at 50 cents, while that same card in NM condition would be valued closer to $1. 

    Step 4: Submit A Seller Inquiry

    Once you know what cards you want to sell and who you want to sell them to, go ahead and submit a seller inquiry! Most people have a seller form submission on their website (ours is here), but you can always try to reach out via Instagram or email as well if you don’t see a formal place to submit your request.

    Step 5: Finalize The Logistics

    Once you’ve gotten in touch with someone about selling your Pokemon cards, the rest of the process is just hammering out the details of the deal! Everyone does this step a little differently, but the things you should get concrete answers to before finalizing anything are:

    •How much are they paying you? After you submit your inquiry, give them some time to look through what you’re selling and put together an estimate on what you’ll be offered based on the total number of cards, types of cards, and your card conditions. Don’t be surprised if they ask for some additional photo or video content, or want to examine the cards in person!

    •How are you getting your cards to them? It’s not uncommon for resellers to want to see your cards in person before they commit to purchasing. If you’re selling to a local reseller, you’ll likely arrange to meet in person at a neutral location so they can look everything over! In cases where the person you want to sell to isn’t local, they’ll typically have you send in your cards for evaluation. Make sure you ask them what that shipping process looks like, who’s covering the shipping costs (do they foot the bill or is that cost on you), and how they want the cards packaged for transport.

    •How and when will you receive payment? Always make sure you’re familiar with a reseller’s payment methods before committing to a transaction! Some people are comfortable with Venmo, while others use methods like PayPal GNS to ensure that neither party gets ripped off. Don’t be afraid to ask how you’ll get paid and when that payment will take place (when cards are shipped, after they’ve been received, half up front and half after, etc).

    Step 6: Say Goodbye!

    Now that you’ve worked out a deal, all that remains is saying goodbye to the cards you’ve made so many memories with. Chances are that you’ve held onto these cards for a while, and although making the decision to sell them may have been difficult it helps knowing that they’re going to make some other kid (or grown man in his early thirties) ridiculously happy.

    Selling your Pokemon cards can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. Here at the PokeTrade Emporium we’re always looking to acquire more cards, and we’ve set our purchasing process up so it’s as simple and transparent as possible for everyone involved! If you’re looking to unload your cards, check out our bulk rates and submit a seller inquiry today.