Parents are often at a loss when their child asks for a specific Yu-Gi-Oh card. Some single cards can be worth over 50 dollars, which is a lot for a a playing card. It is important to be well-informed on the appropriate worth of a single card. While this is intended specifically for Yu-Gi-Oh cards, they can also be applied to most other cards from card games.

Here is a quick rundown of the cards in the game. There are three different types of cards, monsters, spells, and traps. Traps are maroon in color, spells are a blue-turquoise, and monsters have different colors, but have orbs with stars above the picture. There are four types of monster cards, regular, effect, ritual and fusion. Regular cards are tan, effect cards are brown, ritual cards are blue-gray, and fusion cards are purple. All ritual and fusion cards require other cards to complete as a set, rituals need a specific spell card and fusions require specific monsters and spell card to play. Some effect cards need a specific card to complete as a set as well, but regular cards do not need any additional cards. Check out the writing on any non-normal monster to find out if any extra card is needed. The picture below shows the main different types. Top row: spell, effect monster, trap, regular monster. Lower row: fusion, ritual.

There are six different rarities that can be easily identified by markings on the card. A Rare card can be identified by the title, which will have silver foil lettering. Rare cards are usually of minor worth, with moderate effectiveness in play. A Super Rare card has a holographic foil picture, best described as being shiny and reflective. Super rares in general have greater worth and playing value then rare cards. Ultra Rare is the largest of the regular rares, and they have gold foil lettering on their title, as well as a holographic picture. As with the pattern, their worth increases as their playing value. Secret Rare is an addition to the overall cards, and is identified with a reflective 'rainbow' title lettering, where they change colors depending on the angle you hold the card at. The picture has a distictive holographic appearance, with a sort of sparkily look in addition to the holographic foil. In the recent packs of the last year, a change was made from having secret rare cards to a different style named Ultimate Rare. They are identified by a holographic picture, gold foil lettering, and in addition the icon in the top right is also foil. Ultimate rare cards do not have specific cards in that rarity, but are actually modified from all the rare cards in that set. So you could get a rare card and an ultimate rare card that are in effect the same card, only one has the characteristics of an Ultimate Rare card. The general prices for these cards are as follows: Rares are usually between $1-$4, Super Rares are $10-$25, Ultra Rares are $30-$40 and Secret Rares are $45-$50. Ultimate rares are usually about a 30-60% increase in the previous cards worth.

Cards have been reprinted in compilation sets and also as promotional cards, and because of the ease in getting the reprints, they are often of less value. Ultra Rare promotional cards can come in Special Edition sets, video games, and Starter Decks. To know where it came from, at the lower right corner directly underneath the picture has a serial number. The picture above has the serial number MFC-105. The letters indicates the set it came from, and the numbers shows the number in the set. MFC is the Magician's Force set. If a card was received early on in the sets release, then to the exact left of the serial number would be the words 1st Edition. If it doesn't have anything there, then it is an unlimited edition. A 1st edition would usually get a few more dollars than an unlimited edition card. If it is a promotional card then that location would have the words Limited Edition. I can't reveal all the set codes because of space, but the reprinted sets are these. DB1 and DB2 are the Dark Beginning sets 1 and 2. DR1 and DR2 are the Dark Revelation sets 1 and 2. SDY, SDK, SDJ, and SDP are the starter decks for Yugi, Kaiba, Joey and Pegasus respectively. SYE is the Starter Deck Evolution Yugi, SKE is the Starter Deck Evolution Kaiba. DP1 and DP2 are Jaden and Chazz Duelists packs respectively. JMP is the promotional cards from the Shonen Jump Japanese magazine. For additional information and clear understanding on the cards worth, visit almost any official store that sells single cards. Some of the best ones for information is Pojo Yu-Gi-Oh and Toy Wiz.com.

There are often fake cards in circulation, and sometimes they can be very close to the original. If your child is a casual player, then an unofficial card can just be for enjoyment and has no harm whatsoever, but you don't want to pay as though it is a real card. Pay attention to telling signs, alternating fonts and point size, lesser quality pictures or typos on the text, and drastic changes in the intended color of the card. For this purpose a small foil tag is in the lower right corner and has Yu-Gi-Oh repeated on it. See the above picture. 

Yu-Gi-Oh can be a fun hobby to collect and a fun game to play. Like with most of Ebay, be knowledgeable about what you are looking for, and know what you can get, and be smart about what you are willing to pay.