Technically, doing Pokémon card deals is rarely a good use of my time. As a buyer, I could spend an hour or two just to save ten bucks on a card. From an investing standpoint, it’s much better to pay extra for a near mint copy and have a card that will surely fetch the market price when it goes up in value later.
As a seller, it’s even worse. I’ve only moved a handful of cards, but beyond taking pictures and creating the listing, you have to keep the buyer informed, find the right packaging, organize shipping, and so on.
Still, even if you do your best to not sweat most transactions, some administrative burden is part of the entry price for this hobby. This is where Marthe Troly-Curtin’s famous saying comes in: “Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” Because once you spend th…
Technically, doing Pokémon card deals is rarely a good use of my time. As a buyer, I could spend an hour or two just to save ten bucks on a card. From an investing standpoint, it’s much better to pay extra for a near mint copy and have a card that will surely fetch the market price when it goes up in value later.
As a seller, it’s even worse. I’ve only moved a handful of cards, but beyond taking pictures and creating the listing, you have to keep the buyer informed, find the right packaging, organize shipping, and so on.
Still, even if you do your best to not sweat most transactions, some administrative burden is part of the entry price for this hobby. This is where Marthe Troly-Curtin’s famous saying comes in: “Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” Because once you spend this “necessary evil” time deliberately, it becomes one of the best aspects of being involved in the Pokémon community.
Recently, someone bought a card from me the day before I had to go on a work trip. It cost eight euros. I’m not even sure why I listed it to begin with. But on the train, I sent the guy a nice message. “Hey, sorry, I’m traveling for work this week. I’ll only be able to ship your card on the weekend. I’ll do it as soon as I can. Thanks for your purchase!”
I’ve received many friendly messages like this. Dented boxes, delayed shipments, a few bonus goodies tossed in with an expensive card—the hobby offers countless chances to make someone’s day, either with a genuine apology, peace offering, or unexpected surprise. And if it comes with a deal that was cheap to begin with, it only makes these small gestures even bigger.
Throw in a freebie. Serve someone without charge. Hand them the better end of a deal. It’s nice to be nice, and that’s a feeling you can best buy with time, not money.
Nik
Niklas Göke writes for dreamers, doers, and unbroken optimists. A self-taught writer with more than a decade of experience, Nik has published over 2,000 articles. His work has attracted tens of millions of readers and been featured in places like Business Insider, CNBC, Lifehacker, and many others. Nik has self-published 2 books thus far, most recently 2-Minute Pep Talks. Outside of his day job and daily blog, Nik loves reading, video games, and pizza, which he eats plenty a slice of in Munich, Germany, where he resides.