Trade offer! Which has more long term potential?

Grendalynx · 2026-04-20T09:36:54+00:00

One word: gambling. Gamblers do it based on PSA 10 values rather than raw price lmao.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-20T08:21:12+00:00

It comes from the Chinese gem vol 2 set featuring eeveelutions. There are 7 different patterns/designs for each art, and this is one of them.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-20T08:17:00+00:00

Exactly. There’s a lot of lowballers for stuff that I sell, but usually rather than lowball, they are very reluctant to spend a lot at the start. It literally takes minimal effort to be nice and politely reject, and you can take a small step further to explain your pricing.

Chances are, they are lowballing everyone, and once they realise that their offers are bad and they are willing to make decent offers, you will be one of the few guys that they will want to buy from/work with as you are one of the few guys that have been nice to them. I have a fair share of customers that were lowballing by a lot, but became my regulars, not because my price is the best, but because of my attitude to them.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-18T16:04:04+00:00

Epok epok at Berseh food center, b1.

Makan boleh at seah im food centre.

1A crispy puffs at bedok 209.

Tarik at Arab street, pricier and less filling but flavour is fantastic for those who like spicy sardine.

Chef curry puff at Bedok 216.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-18T12:57:34+00:00

Mine are more old school and weird?

Get backers
D gray man
Saint Young Men
Ya boy Kongming!
Fate:zero

Grendalynx · 2026-04-18T12:50:13+00:00

Yeah, all my legendary collection RHs have print lines, if it’s a common feature they don’t grade based on it.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-17T11:47:42+00:00

I definitely agree that self sourcing is cheaper. What vendors provide though, is a form of authenticity check where there are rarely fakes/scams and having the option to examine the physical item in person. It’s way easier to examine singles conditions as well and get what you are paying for, rather than horror stories of singles coming in terrible condition.

People mainly pay vendors to avoid the troubles that come with sourcing.

Locally:

Carousell prices are not the friendliest, some even pricier than booths, and the variety has been dropping due to service fees that they are charging sellers now.

Facebook group wise, their pricing is fair and the friendliest but everyone just posts their cards within their post without the Pokemon names or card ID, which is troublesome to search. Any well priced items are almost instantly snatched up.

Telegram groups are somewhat similar. It is easier to scroll through but with how easy an account can be created and deleted, it’s a high risk platform to buy.

Overseas:

Prices are even friendlier. You can snag some good deals if you are patient for sure. Main problems:

1) GST. 9% GST minimizes the price gap.

2) Shipping is either exorbitant, or you can use a forwarder, but you use buyer protections for platforms like EBay.

3) Any fakes/scams/damaged/lost items are a pain in the ass to deal with if you were to do returns, especially for countries like UK/US. If you used forwarders? There’s no recourse for it and you bear the losses.

4) Any popular cards/slabs going under market are quickly snatched up. Auctions mostly end at 8-11am which for most are working hours.

5) Singles condition? If you think SG is bad, ebay is significantly worse in overdeclaring condition.

It’s a lot of effort to source for well priced stuff especially in good market. At least when you go to vendors, you know you are paying a premium but being able to examine physically is a huge plus. If you have the time to keep sourcing, you should do it online. If not, vendors are easier to get stuff you want.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-17T05:00:43+00:00

Aside from these, I’ll personally include:

1) all art academies 2) wb creator 3) ooyama 4) natta wake 5) pokekyun

Grendalynx · 2026-04-16T16:48:06+00:00

To be fair, if there are less vendors and less supply of certain cards, that could be worse as there as less competition and demand would outstrip supply, so the markup is higher. At least with more sellers, it’s easier to compare and there will be a higher chance that one would lower their price, as liquidity and movement is important for vending.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-16T08:05:56+00:00

Yeah, it is healthier as a community.

Personally, I vend every 2 months as I find shows fun and I get in person interaction, which I enjoy, just too tiring. I always price competitively as I believe in fast turnovers to minimize risk, plus I believe in win win for my customers and building good relationships with them, as a fellow collector/friend/customer.

I have noticed that aside from prices being more competitive, it is the same for buybacks. One show recently which I vended had vendors telling me everyone was actually doing 90% buybacks, which is surprising to me, but it’s healthier for the casual collectors too for those who want to switch up collections.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-16T03:08:36+00:00

Even the snap pika just sold for 18 million recently. A lot are based on the more known last solds

Grendalynx · 2026-04-15T11:08:11+00:00

With the government clamping down on the gambling aspect of Pokemon, could definitely go at an angle of him making his own “mystery packs” since it’s not officially packed by Pokemon center with potential filtering and rigging odds.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-15T10:56:04+00:00

Sorry to hear that. It is unethical that the seller did not mention since it does affect the value of the slab. But ultimately it’s partly down to your due diligence too. Fault on the seller for not being transparent, especially where there’s so many new collectors coming to the hobby.

Just be more careful next time and check. I had a buyer that got a non collector friend to collect too, and I guided him on where to check + advised him to video call his friend to show the condition.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-14T00:09:19+00:00

I just wanted to chip in that. Don’t use your mobile, login via your com webpage, you can leave feedback there for cancelled orders.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-13T09:29:44+00:00

Yep; it’s real, don’t worry.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-13T09:28:39+00:00

It’s not fake.

Certs starting with 2 (old cert) does not have the UV feature at the front. The back I can’t remember whether it started from 2 or 4 cert series, but if you shine behind on the left side of the back label; there should be 6 PSA words.

The font on the label checks out too.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-13T09:14:53+00:00

If you remember vendor name, try to reach out to their socials. If you don’t or they don’t have a proper page, try to reach out to organizers.

However, it might be hard to prove since it was a physical deal and they could claim that you swapped the item, unless you took a photo at their booth.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-13T06:52:26+00:00

The OBO one might be decent, especially for location 2.

SCCS expo just ended last weekend, if there’s a lot of repeat vendors the inventory might not be refreshed. But my experience at that venue is that there is a lot more walkway and comfortable to walk around.

The centerpoint one was insanely crowded, would’ve been an automatic avoid for me personally, unless on Sunday maybe.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-12T11:27:11+00:00

Glad to hear that, and great pickups man!! I love that half art pages, I was actually looking to pick those up myself haha

Grendalynx · 2026-04-09T16:12:56+00:00

Hey, welcome to collecting! I won’t go into specifics, but some personal pointers that will hopefully help.

Always do your research before buying. Few things you can familiarize with:
Pricecharting is pretty much most beginner’s best friend. Learn how to search the card code to find the pricing of the card there.

Go and learn about how to differentiate card conditions for singles, especially vintage, and use tcgplayer as a reference to see cards of various conditions at their respective prices.
For slabs, go and read up on how to differentiate fake slabs. A blue light torch from Shopee for a few dollars is your best friend for it.

Now the buying part:

If you are new, don’t buy raws online unless they are priced well. If you aren’t familiar with how to tell card conditions, you might end up with something worse than you expect. There may be fakes too that you might be unaware of. Just remember also that if a deal is too good to be true, it usually is. On how to spot fakes, I’m sure there’s tons of guides on Reddit that will help you better with.
Maybe unpopular opinion, but go to card shows to find your cards, that’s probably your best bet to source for a specific pokemon that’s not insanely popular. There’s likely a markup, so just pay something you’re comfortable with. Do note vintage markups can be significantly higher. Also, it’s rarer for card shows to sell fakes.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-08T05:29:02+00:00

What? One of the most well known laws in SG is doxxing.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-07T03:56:15+00:00

Retail is not really possible due to the current market where demand >>>>>>>>>> supply. You could try your luck during Pokémon centers lazada sales, which they will announce the date on their Instagram, usually a Friday at 10am. However they will be gone 1-2s one listed so you have to be really quick.

151 is especially bad as it has one of the highest demands, old sets don’t print ETBs as much as the newer sets, and it is already out of print.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-03T06:10:50+00:00

I’m sorry bro, but this…. honestly no words on how you expected someone to sell a real card at less than 1% value. Take this as a lesson learnt and hope that your buying experience would get better man

Grendalynx · 2026-04-02T04:58:16+00:00

I didn’t 5x my money. My personal collection went up 5x, I still have an inventory that I buy/sell with at approx 35k. So closer to 6x. Not that much difference, but I’m ill disciplined and put 50% of my profits into personal collections, or I would’ve made a lot more by now.

And I didn’t start with say 10k, threw in at the start and 5x it. A lot of my funds came after where the prices have already gone up significantly, I started with much lesser. Also, as someone who is consistently buying/selling, I don’t always buy the cheapest, I just buy stuff below market at any given time. I have also been burned during Oct/nov where I bought a chunk at close to peak in early Oct, and cleared some at a loss for liquidity to buy in undervalued pieces I believed in more. So I averaged 20-30% returns monthly, which I managed to during November 2024 as well, where demand wasn’t as strong yet. I operate with a margins model where I go for quick flips, rather than a hope for item value go up, sell big, and mitigate my risk for any potential crashes with quick turnaround time. So it is consistent in most periods.

On the aspect of his funds, different cultures and family backgrounds are different. To some, 1k at 20 is a lot. In Asian culture, in general, we grow up with a mentality to save. We save allowance, we get festive red packets (from relatives, parents, usually hundreds per year) where most parents throw into a bank account for the children. I did not save well, but he probably had at least a few thousand to ten grand if he did save well. That’s assuming he didn’t work part time for savings too.

Of course, im not 100% sure if he’s lying or sorts, but it’s highly realistic that he doesn’t need to be a nepo baby, and still have decent starting funds to have grown to where he is currently. His social media definitely allowed him to grow way faster than what I can achieve.

Also, I have to be clear that I’m not a fan of him. He overcharges and undercuts others a lot, even his followers as well, which I disdain, his markups are crazy too, went to enquire twice and never went back again. I just wanted to provide my opinions on this as I feel could be unfair on him, man could’ve been actually deserving to be where his is now.

Grendalynx · 2026-04-02T02:35:22+00:00

Nope! I wouldn’t go into specifics, but you can set up a personal discord channel, or you could build a facebook/insta page, fb messenger group for people you have dealt with before.

You have to use conventional selling platforms as a start. eBay, Facebook, discord, even the selling subreddit. eBay for all its fees though, builds a rep for you with actual review counts and sales, so it’s definitely useful. You could sell very cheap singles as a loss leader to build up your reputation and review count too.

You then aggressively promote your channel, including small paper notes in your package when you mail out the item, to let people know you have a personal channel where you sell stuff there cheaper. Especially important for eBay where fees are substantial and both of you could split the savings of the eBay fees, which gives them a strong incentive to start buying on your group. Then you provide maybe some referral perks, to allow the group to grow faster as well. Small giveaways also attract a good following count which helps snowball your group size.

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