Hello!

This is rocket0777 and I am going to help you to get the best for your money, and, build your Pokemon Card collection on eBay. (By helping you find the best cards!) 

Card quality is a must for the collector. Sadly, many sellers are out there right now decieving buyers. Don't be led to beleive that you are getting a quality card when you are not. Issues that are plaguing eBay buyers when they buy Pokemon cards are usually:

• Quality (Mint, Near Mint, Good, Fair, Poor) There are sellers who are unfamiliar with how good or bad their cards are or just don't know, don't care or don't say.
• Rarity (Holo, Non Holo, Rare, Promo, Ultra Rare, POP, etc...) A lot of people have Pokemon cards and just don't know how rare they really are. Sometimes you may be led to believe that a card is sooo rare, but it's probably not worth it. Know your rarities and buy smart.
• Protection (sleeves and toploaders) If you're selling Pokemon cards, or any kind of card, they should be properly protected in a soft sleeve and a hard toploader sleeve. I personally put all my listed cards in high clarity and quality UltraPro sleeves and Toploaders before sending. Before that all cards are in clean storage in binders with protective pocket pages. No exceptions.

When a buyer becomes dissatisfied, sometimes they even become uninterested. They may just stop trying if they've been mislead a few times. I seriously think this is terrible, and that no seller should be passing bad cards,  or unprotected cards off to unsuspecting buyers. You should be informing your buyers. Not keeping them shrouded in mystery about what they are going to get. 

I want to help you, the eBay Pokemon Collecting  public, to become more informed through this guide, and go forth, find the best for your money. find the best for your collections, and be satisfied with your purchases. It's time to buy with higher standards and stop settling for less for your Pokemon Card Collection! Go forth and bid with confidence!

1)Avoid suspicious listings: I notice many sellers who list Pokemon cards that they supposedly select "randomly" and that you "may" recieve an Ultra Rare card, such as Charizard ex, Lugia ex, or Lv.X cards. What I would like to know is how we know that these are selected randomly. I think this is a scam, a hoax and I advise against bidding on these types of auctions. You will not get that Ultra Rare card. (even if the seller lies to say "Oh, I already have given out 2 Charizard ex's!") They will not give you a Charizard ex, or a Lv.X for a listing that ended at a little over a dollar. Avoid these "deals" at all costs, they are many out there.

2)Don't buy if they don't describe: A seller who fills out the details and tells you what set the card is in, and the rarity of the card, is well informed. They are most likely an enthusiast and will pay special attention to their cards. The listing should always include the set name, rarity, conditon, and a picture. A seller who just lists "holo lugia card rare" is more likely to sell you a card you will be dissatisfied with. I usually list cards like this if I have room: LUGIA ex Pokemon Ex Unseen Forces Holo #105" and I will include the condition and rarity in the details section above the discription. (#105 refers to the card's number in the set.)

3)If you have doubts, ASK: If the seller's picture is hazy, out of focus or you are unsure of the condition of the card, you may want to ask them about it. If they reply questionably, don't buy. (no matter how rare they say the card is.) The pictures should not be taken with a digital camara from far away. If taken with a camara, they should be taken to where you can see how nice the card is. I prefer and recommend using a scanner. I personally scan each of my cards, because it provides a clear look at how nice the card is, and the buyer can be confident that what they see is what they will get.

4)Make sure the card comes protected: The picture should show the card in a sleeve. If it's not, it's probably not mint. You can usually notice if it's in a sleeve or not by seeing a holofoil circle near the bottom of the card (usually UltraPro sleeves will feature this) and/or a colored surface around the edge of the card.  Placing the card in a sleeve and toploader shows that the seller actually cared to take time to make sure you get a quality, preserved item. If it's not in a sleeve, it probably won't be mint. If it's not in a hard cover toploader case, then it probably will be bent when you get it. If it's not in a toploader, bubble wrap should be used (or cardboard for protection front getting bent. The least protection the card should come with is a sleeve. (Note: some sellers use the completely clear sleeves, which are great, but not as protective if not used with toploaders. But a sleeve is better than no sleeve.) Again, ask to make sure. You ultimately make the decision if it's worth the risk to buy it.

5)Know what reverse holo and other rarities mean: Reverse Holo means the card is holographic not in the picture section, but in the colored area. (where the attacks are located.) These cards are usually harder to come by in booster packs. (there is 1 included in every ((newer)) booster pack but, it depends on the rarity of the card in the set when it comes to collectibility usually.) Reguar Holographic cards are holographic in the picture section, but are rarer and usually worth more than reverse holographics. The picture is your guide, know what you are buying. Promos, are usually not worth very much. If it has a "black star" promo symbol (shown below) in the bottom right corner, or the description says promo, don't pay too much for it. For example, there are two different versions of Darkrai Lv.X, Palkia Lv.X, and Dialga Lv.X. One version is a promo, that came in a tin with booster packs for about $15 The other version of these Lv.X cards came from the Diamond & Pearl: Great Encounters set. (Set cards are always worth more than promo cards.) The set versions of these cards can be worth $30-40. The set Lv.X and ex cards (including POP cards, explained below.) are always your wiser investments. Some promos are even given away free.

Holographic cards, ex's and Lv.X's are always worth more if always worth more if they come from a set. Think about it, the sets usually have about 100 or more cards, and you have about a 1 in 37 odds of getting a Lv.X (or ex) in a pack. So it's either buy 37 packs and go through over 369 cards to find one Lv.X, or get yours on eBay. It can get expensive when you are on the search for a Ultra Rare card. But most of them are worth it.

POP cards (POP stands for Pokemon Organized Play) are different from promos.  These cards are special and come from the Pokemon TCG league games and are printed only to be given away in special POP 2-card booster packs. Expect to pay more for POP cards then you would pay for Promos. POP cards are rare. (there are ex's in POP sets, and possibly will be Lv.X's coming out soon in future POP sets.

World Championship deck cards have a signature and a silver boarder and are not worth very much. (even if they are ex or rare, Because they are in a deck that sells for about $11 and none of the cards are holo.) These world championship decks also have a different back than all other english Pokemon cards. They are not playable in many leagues, too.

There are some pictures below for you to look over. Also notice, as explained above, that these cards are in sleeves. (The picture of the Typhlosion promo below has some indicators on it.)

Reverse Holographic:

Regular Holographic:

Promo: (holo; promos come in holo or non-holo, depends on the card.)

Some indicators are on here for identifying sleeves and the set symbol or promo star.

Symbol for Promos:

Kind of hazy, but it says "promo" across the star. (all set symbols now appear in the bottom right corner.)

(older cards may have the set symbol on the right-hand side of the picture.)

Set symbols have various looks for each set, but will not look like a  promo star. Set symbols are different.

POP cards have a "PokeBall" and a big number next to it in the bottom right corner. (There have been 7 sets of POP cards released. The big number would represent the set. ex: POP 1, POP 2, POP 3...etc.) POP cards come in series sets that contain somewhere around 17-20 cards to collect usually.

World Championship deck cards:

See? It says ex, but it's not Holo, has signature printed on and silver boarder. Neat, but not worth very much. The biggest one being sold deceptively is Lugia ex.

Back of World Championship deck cards: (Different!)

6)Buy lots for playing cards: Usually cards sold in lots, (unless they are sleeved or in a binder with pocket pages.) are not in that great of condition. They are better to play the card game with than to collect. But you may not get those hard-to-find cards to play with, so you may want to buy singles for those. Some people like their deck cards to be nice too, so buying lots may not be for you.

7)Every seller seems to have a different grading system: So be careful. MINT to me means like fresh out of the pack. Other sellers may have a different idea of Mint cards. Be sure to check the seller's feedback to see if anyone has complained about condition or even other issues. I have bought so-called "Mint" cards that were damaged enough to be what I consider "Fair" and that's only one step up from Poor condition. It's best to find sellers that people seem to trust and have no complaints about condition.

8)Get a number when a seller lists a "lot": If the seller does not give an exact number of how many cards they are selling, you might end up short. For example, a seller is listing 50+ Pokemon cards, and you bid $55 on them. Well, if the seller give you 51 cards you may feel like you got cheated, when you were expecting maybe 70. Ask for a number and what kind of cards they have together.

9)Avoid buying cards with major imperfections (poor condition): If you come across these cards, they are not worth a thing if they are torn, bent or damaged drastically. They are only good for playing the game. (If you can still read it) I do sell some cards that are in what I call "fair" condition, but I refuse to sell cards with major imperfections. I list cards that are under "good/fair" in the "Play quality" section of my store, I concider them good for gaming, but not a serious collection.

10)Look out for fakes!: Fake Pokemon cards have been on the rise. Pokemon USA recently said they will not stand for the fake products. So watch out, some may appear on eBay. Do a little research and see if the card exist elsewhere on the net before buying a card that you are suspicious about. I have seen some actual fakes and many are not even real Pokemon! I've seen some fakes with information wrong as well. (such as information, or evolution. I saw a Dragonite that was a basic Pokemon.) So if you have any questions about fake cards or suspect a fake, feel free to ask me! I will be writing a guide sometime about identifying fakes.

Hopefully this guide clarifies some things for Pokemon card collectors and players alike. I hope that there will be less cheating and rip offs in the future on eBay. I find it offensive that some sellers are not informing buyers, not protecting their cards, and are using to deceptive selling tactics to lure in people. I hope that through this guide, it has helped you become more aware of how to buy better Pokemon cards, the ones that are worth it!

Again, this is rocket0777, and if you have any Pokemon TCG questions or need help identifying a Pokemon card, you can message me and I can help you, even if you don't buy from me. You will receive top notch at my store.

I will have another guide coming out sometime soon for identifying cards by set as well.

Thanks for reading my guide, hope you enjoyed it, and I hope it helped!

Have fun Pokemon collectors! That's the most important part!

rocket0777

eBay Store: Rocket Trading Cards

www.stores.ebay.com/rocket-trading-cards

Where the customer is always #1!