Ebay is a great resource for Newbie players to build their collections quickly.  Here is a description of my experiences on Ebay.  First part will about buying on Ebay the second part will be about selling on Ebay.

Ebay had been a place where I had been making some extra money with my brother-in-law.  Selling bits and bobs here and there we made a profit but nothing to boast about.  I always used Ebay to see how high cards values were.  Apart from being able to go back to my family and tell them about how collectable these cards were (in the hope that they would start respecting my hobby a bit more), I was always curious to know which cards were the most popular at the moment.  I also loved tracking the items that were selling whole collections, the ones which, were described as:

“My son is selling his collection as he is no longer interested in playing.  There are many rare cards.  I have counted them and there are exactly 1276 cards, with 231 shiny cards included.”

I was intrigued as to how much they would sell for.  It also tempted me to purchase when I used to think I could double my collection with just one buy.

The more I watched them, the more I used to calculate how much each card was selling for.  To my surprise the larger lots were selling for around 2-3p per card, a bargain I thought to myself.

I’d always had an idea of having a £1 Yu-Gi-Oh! shop, where all items are just £1.  You’d get a certain number of Common cards, a certain number of Rare cards, a certain number of Super Rare cards and so on.  Random grab bags but all for no more or less than £1.  The principle seemed great and the ‘£1 only’ was a great selling point.  By analysing the cost per card for the big items above I calculated how many cards I could put into each grab bag and still make 30% profit.  After taking fees into account I also worked out how much I could pay per card.

My first problem though was having the stock to sell.  I had my small collection but I didn’t really want to start selling that.  Plus the cards were majority starter deck cards and probably wouldn’t keep customers happy when they open their grab bag and see loads of starter deck cards.  Plus I had none of the newest cards from the newest sets (Elemental Energy, Shadow of Infinity etc).  I needed to buy some stock.

I started trawling Ebay looking for the deals.  I made a list of requirements for the cards and made a spreadsheet that would calculate the cost per card for each listing.  I also decided that the cards must be in mint (straight out of the packet mint) condition.  The Ebay shop sellers had great reputations but tended to be more expensive.  I wanted to get the lots that I described above, the big “my son’s collection” type ones.

I eventually found one.  A guy was selling his son’s collection and they were all in mint condition.  Plus there were plenty of rare/super rare cards as well.  It ticked all the boxes and seemed great I started tracking it.  I looked at the profile, no feedback.  A little concerned I asked him a question confirming the condition of all the cards.  I was replied to instantly, yes they are all in absolute mint condition.  I was happy and I decided I was going to purchase them.  I waited and waited and played the auction very carefully, no one seemed to be watching the item and it was finishing about mid-morning, bad time for the seller, good time for me.  I put in a little offer to see if it would be trumped, then I would know if others were watching it.  There was nothing.  I worked out using my spreadsheet what my maximum bid could be so that I could still make a profit.  During this time someone else bid on the item.  I entered my maximum possible bid that I just calculated and waited.  No one else responded and the listing finished with me as the winner.  I paid instantly and waited for my package.

Almost a week later, which was later than described in the listing, the package arrived while I was in work.  My wife had got it and told me it was waiting for me when I got home.  I couldn’t wait for work to finish that day.  When I got home I asked my wife were the parcel was and she responded, “I wouldn’t call it a parcel”.  Confused I went into the kitchen to see a creased white envelope, with selotape on the back and the address written in big black marker pen.  I reached for it and opened it; to my horror the cards were awful.  They were creased, had corners missing there were some swaps (which I was guaranteed they would all be different) plus there were very minimal rare/super rare cards.  I was not happy, it was my first bad experience with Ebay and a dishonest seller.  My initial disbelief was disappearing and anger was starting to set in.  The next day I contacted the buyer and asked if he had sent the wrong cards as they were not as described.  He claimed they were as described and that I should be glad I got a cheap deal. 

My anger grew to new levels, and I looked into Ebay and Paypal policies with regards to items not being as described.  There was plenty of protection for the buyer and there was a procedure to follow before they stepped in and you lodged a dispute.  I followed each step carefully ensuring there was no way the seller could wiggle out of his obligation.  I sent him a message regarding a solution, my money back, a discount or replace the damaged cards.  He replied with a no, I kept a record.  Next I requested contact details from Ebay, and sent emails requesting the same and informed him that I was following Ebay procedure and the next step would involve raising a dispute through Paypal.  This spurred the seller into action and he said if I sent the damaged cards he would send replacements.  Plus he would send a super rare card to compensate for the postage cost of sending the damaged cards.  Almost 2 weeks after sending the damaged cards back to him, I received yet again a tatty envelope, but the cards inside were a little better protected this time, in money bags.  The cards however were undamaged and my super rare card was Winged Kuriboh.

I decided to be careful after that incident and purchase from sellers with good feedback.  My next stop was an Ebay shop.  Plenty of good feedback and selling these new packs of cards, which only had rare cards in them.  No commons, rares only with an Ultra Rare promo card on the front.  One pack had Ancient Gear Golem, a nicely valued card.  In fact the card itself was worth double the price of the pack.  The shop came with lots of guarantees of official cards and exchange/refund policies so it seemed like a good purchase.  However I was weary that I hadn’t seen these products before.  They looked like official Yu-Gi-Oh! merchandise, had Yugi, Kaiba etc on the front and were well packaged.  They looked like the real deal.  I went searching on the internet to see how much they really cost in the shops.  I couldn’t find them anywhere on the internet.  I was suspicious again but due to all the promises I bought the item and requested the Ancient Gear Golem pack

This time it was delivered a lot quicker (3 days); it was well packaged in a bubbled envelope and contained a copy of the Paypal receipt.  I opened the packet and immediately noticed the reflective look of the entire card, I held some and felt how light they were and also how they were slightly curved.  I noticed an Ultra Rare Joey Starter Deck card Invigoration.  I went upstairs and pulled my official Joey Starter Deck Invigoration card, it was a common.  The cards were fake and it was obvious they were fake.  I contacted the buyer and assumed he wasn’t aware of the fact the cards were fake, I let him know and he was extremely apologetic.  He refunded my money in full and offered me 10% discount on my next purchase.

I later bought another 3 lots of cards.  They were a little more expensive than before but I was happier about the quality.  I received them all within the next week.  I was a lot happier.  I received 1 of each of the main Elemental Heroes (Sparkman, Avian, Clayman and Burstinatrix), plus I also got most of the current Roids.  I managed to get my first real-life Gyaku-Gire Panda plus some other useful cards for my Beast Deck.  Things looked a lot better.  The other sellers had good reputations, had been selling Yu-Gi-Oh! cards for some time and when I contacted them seemed to be more knowledgeable about the cards and the game itself.  They were still bulk purchases but I decided to stay away from the parents who were selling their sons/daughters cards.  I finally had a decent level of stock…

I was now ready to start selling some cards on Ebay.

Ebay is a great way of increasing your collection without paying lots of money.  Yu-Gi-Oh! is a brilliant game but I know that it is also expensive.  For those players like me who have to watch the pennies it can be really difficult to get the cards you need for your deck.  Ebay can help but as you can see from my experiences you need to make sure about who you buying from and what you are buying.

Here are some of my tips when buying on Ebay:

• Feedback scores are useful but check to see where they got their scores from.  They may have never sold a single Yu-Gi-Oh! card before.
• If someone is selling a product that isn’t being sold elsewhere in a high street shop, or is selling a booster set before its release date then check its authenticity it is more than likely fake.  Plus if someone is selling a World Championship Winners card then again that will almost definitely be a fake.
• ALWAYS ALWAYS look at the total cost of the item.  That is the final price + delivery.  Don’t be caught out by excessive postage costs.  If the costs look particularly high ask why.  For higher delivery costs you should expect better conditioned packing, i.e. bubbled envelopes or even card sleeves.
• Use somebody who is recommended by someone else you know.
• Keep records of all your dealings and messages between you and the seller you may need them as evidence in a dispute situation.
• Don’t rely on the picture in the listing to be the actual picture of the cards.  Some sellers tend to copy and paste pictures from the internet and may not state in their listing that the picture does not represent the item being sold.
• Confirm with the seller by what they determine by rare cards.  Some sellers may not be aware of official Yu-Gi-Oh! terms for card descriptions.  For all your information here are what I believe are official descriptions for card rarities.

Rare Cards have a Silver Card Name and a Normal Picture.

Super Rare Cards have a Normal Card Name and a Shiny Picture

Ultra Rare Cards have a Gold Card Name and a Shiny Picture

Promo Cards have a Holographic Shiny Card Name and a Holographic Shiny Picture

Ultimate Rare Cards have a Gold Card Name; Gold Level Stars (on monster Cards) a Shiny Picture (I’ve never seen an Ultimate Rare card before so my description may not be 100% accurate but you can find out more on the Pojo message boards).

Secret Rare Cards are similar looking to Promo Cards but do not have LIMITED EDITION written in between the picture and the card description box. (again I’ve not seen a secret rare card either)

• Also confirm with the seller what they would determine as mint condition.  Different people can interpret this in different ways.
• Set yourself a maximum price and don’t go above it.  Remember the point of buying on Ebay is to save you money than buying in your high street retailer.
• Finally some parents have little idea about Yu-Gi-Oh! and when they sell their son’s/daughter’s collection on their behalf they will have no idea about the quality, condition or popularity of a card.  Most of their knowledge will be as simple as ‘if it is shiny then it is a better card’, and not much else.  This can be beneficial in that they could potentially be selling a really valuable card without realising, or it could be detrimental in that they could be selling poorly conditioned cards, starter deck rare cards that aren’t worth much or worse still be selling some fake import they bought while on holiday in Spain.  My advice is to be careful with these types of listings.

So Newbies if you are staring to venture into the real-life duelling arena then you will need to start increasing your selection of cards.  Ebay is a great way of doing this and in a cost effective way to.  If you have any more questions about Ebay and buying on Ebay then just email using the address below.

My next article will be 2^nd part to my experiences of Yu-Gi-Oh! on Ebay describing when I tried to sell on Ebay.

My email address is mofox9@hotmail.co.uk email me for any help or advice or even your opinions on my articles.  I would love to hear your opinions and if you have any suggestions to improve them then let me know.  I will reply to all emails that are sent to me.  Remember newbies no question is a stupid question.

Until next time fellow duellists!