"The Best and Worst Times of Year to Vend Pokémon Cards (Full Breakdown)"

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]I think most Pokémon card vendors treat [music] every show exactly the same.

[00:00:05]Um and I've come to learn that that is absolutely not the case. There is a very real seasonality to Pokémon card vending. When's a good time to buy?

[00:00:14]When's [music] a good time to double down and sell? And what that ebb and flow of the year looks like. [music] So today, I want to talk about that. What's up, guys? It's Taylor with Mount Silver Trading Company, and today we are talking about the seasonality of Pokémon card vending or collectibles in general.

[00:00:31]This is pretty applicable across the board, but after a little over a year, closer to a year and a half now, of vending Pokémon cards, I've noticed this very real ebb and flow, and I think it's important that you guys know, too, so you know what to expect going into a given season. First and foremost, [music] I'm going to give you guys the juicy stuff right up front.

[00:00:54]The ebbs and flows of the Pokémon market follow real-world money [music] trends.

[00:00:59]During the winter months, the holidays, or during the summer months, people are spending their money elsewhere. They're buying gifts for family members, they're going on trips, they're planning vacations, >> [music] >> and so sometimes people are wanting to sell off their valuable collections to [music] try and fund some of that stuff.

[00:01:18]So today, I want to dive deep into these patterns and talk about how I prepare for them as a vendor. So, let's just go in chronological order. Let's start at the very beginning of the year. As people are wrapping up the holidays and getting into the kick of a new year, January [music] through early spring, let's call it like April, are a great period to be selling a lot of cards.

[00:01:43][music] People are looking to buy more things for themselves. They just got out of the holiday season. Maybe they received [music] some cash as a gift.

[00:01:51]Maybe they don't have as many expenses, and now they can afford to splurge a little bit on themselves. And like I mentioned before, this is also tax season. Tax season is a great time to be selling Pokémon cards. If you guys have been in the hobby for a couple of years now, >> [music] >> you know that typically February and March we have been seeing huge booms where cards [music] are reaching all-time highs because people have money in their pockets to spend. As people are getting their tax refunds in mid-February through mid-March, >> [music] >> this is a really, really great window for you to sell cards and see growth [music] in the cards that you're currently holding in your inventory. It gets a little bit harder to replenish inventory during this period, but we'll talk about how you can plan and prepare for that in our winter [music] section.

[00:02:40]During the spring, there's some really great opportunities for you to move some big [music] cards, but you've got to set yourself up for success. I've noticed that grail cards tend to do really, really well during this period.

[00:02:53]>> [music] >> So, hunt top chases and make sure you have them on hand for when this boom inevitably comes.

[00:03:00]>> [music] >> Now, summer is an absolutely awesome time to set yourself up for success [music] for the remainder of the year. I love to buy heavy during the summer months as people are trying to sell off parts of their collection to help fund [music] family vacations, travels, repairs around the house. And so, this is a really, really great window to stock up on backstock inventory and to get stuff at a discount before it goes back up in the fall. Some of the big things to be looking out for in the summer months are full [music] lot collection buyouts, as well as people coming to shows with great stuff to sell. [music] I wouldn't stop doing shows in these months even though it may feel like you're selling less and things are moving a little bit slower [music] because your buying opportunities are going to be absolutely awesome. One thing to be mindful of during the summer months is not to panic if you notice that the value of your inventory is dipping down even 10 15%.

[00:04:03]Yes, it may feel bad at the shows if you get people that are coming and doing the same thing. They're trying to buy up stuff at that time, but just know things will bounce back. You'll be able to build some good trades at this time and everything that you're picking up will grow pretty measurably equal [music] as you move into the fall or back around into the new year. The best piece of advice is to build up your cash reserves during [music] those heavy selling months so that you're set up for success to buy big collections and make good purchases when the prices are [music] cheap. All right, let's talk the fall now. Uh the fall is actually a really great window to start selling again and you'll notice [music] that there will be another natural uptick as people are getting back into the school, as the weather's starting to cool [music] down that will provide a really great opportunity for you to sell off some of the stuff that you just picked up in the summer. Now, I'm talking in a lot of generalities here. I'm not telling you that everything that you pick up during the summer is going to be cheaper then than it is in the fall and I'm not telling you that everything that you [music] sell in the fall is going to be at an all-time high.

[00:05:13]Be mindful and be aware of market circumstances. Don't just blindly say yes to everything that you get. But [music] in general, things become a little bit more liquid and things start to move between like late August through mid to late October. You'll also notice this across most hobbies [music] is spending is very high during the fall months. This isn't just a uniquely Pokémon thing. People typically just have more discretionary spending in that window between the summer and the holidays. [music] One thing to note, we actually saw this last year in September and October, you'll see a portion of the hobby hit some kind of crazy all-time high during that window. For us last year in September and October, Sword and Shield alt arts went absolutely [music] crazy, and that was a great time to sell those off. You were able to pick them back up during the winter months for, you know, 10, 15, 20% off of their all-time highs as their new market price. So, if you're buying at a percentage from that, it's a really, really good opportunity. So, don't be afraid if something is moving up to sell it, even if you're not selling it at the absolute peak.

[00:06:27]>> [music] >> All right, we're back to our last season here, and really I'm going to focus on the holiday window. Early November is kind of like a weird in-between time.

[00:06:36]Some things are still really hot, liquidity is still pretty [music] decent, but you kind of hit a wall mid-November as people are prepping for the holidays. They're prepping for that shopping season, uh and you'll actually start to see a lot of people coming to your table, just handing you stuff saying, "I'm looking to sell this. I'm looking to sell this.

[00:06:55]No other vendor is buying right now.

[00:06:57]They're [music] trying to hold their cash."

[00:06:59]Same thing as what we talked about in summer, build up your cash reserves so that you can say yes to anything cool that comes to your table, and you are ready to go to be able to pick up some really great inventory at awesome prices. The other thing I like to do during the winter period is take some [music] opportunity to kind of reassess my overall inventory, see if there's anything that has kind of stuck for me that I'm ready to move on from, and offer really good holiday discounts, posting it up on different groups, or trying to make a deal with another vendor. This is a good time for a nice refresh on your inventory, so that you're ready to go for that early year push the next time it rolls [music] around. I do want to know market to can change at any time for any reason. We've been in this hype cycle for a little over 18 months now. 30th anniversary is coming up [music] and after that passes, there is a chance that we have a small pullback and regression, maybe even a big pullback and regression. The hobby has been at critical mass for a very long time. I think that there is a very real opportunity that some of these all-time highs that we're seeing on Ultra Modern stuff and on big vintage cards sees a pretty big pullback.

[00:08:22]Don't panic during that period. You may lose your lunch on a couple of things, >> [music] >> but as long as you're turning your inventory quickly, you're not sitting on anything too long, your risk will stay relatively low even if the market is bottoming out. The [music] biggest thing that you need to worry about is an overall massive shift in demand. If people stop caring about Pokémon and liquidity dries up, that's when it gets a little bit tougher and you have to get a little bit more scrappy to sell things. [music] But right now, if the market drops, but demand is still there from [music] people, people are still interested in the hobby, I wouldn't stress about it too much.

[00:09:02][music] The last quick thing that I want to touch on is the seasonality of the set releases. Pokémon Company follows pretty regular schedule for their [music] releases. You're going to have two specialty sets that release in January, you know, February-ish, that [music] Prismatic and Ascended Heroes window. Then you'll also have a set that will release mid-to-late summer, ala Black Bolt and White Flare last year. In addition, you'll have between five and six additional normal sets that come out sometime in that window in between those two [music] specialty sets. One thing I would very highly recommend if you want to be careful and set yourself up for success [music] is what the upcoming season is and how that ties into the most recent set [music] release. So, for example, Destined Rivals came out.

[00:09:55]Mewtwo kind of stagnated for a little while. It dropped because we moved into the summer months.

[00:10:02]We got into kind of a crazy hype cycle with that set, so it did end up bouncing back up. But, it's not abnormal for a product to come out, a card to skyrocket up initially, and then you hit a slowdown in the hobby, and then it trickles down for months, and you end up getting stuck with it at a bad margin.

[00:10:22]My general rule of thumb is I don't buy most of the current [music] set until the next set comes out. And even then, if I feel like prices are too volatile, I'll keep my hands off. This is mostly case-by-case basis. Don't feel like this is a lot or anything. Lower-end cards typically are less volatile, and so they're easier to pick up. Whereas, the big chases may end up being more volatile. So, use your discretion. Be careful with what you buy, and but [music] just know what seasons are coming up and how that may affect the cards that you're [music] purchasing.

[00:10:57]If you keep these things in mind, you'll really be able to set yourself up for success for the coming year. Just be mindful of when is a good time to buy, when is a good time to hold, when is [music] a good time to sell, and how you can use those seasons to your advantage to make sure that you are in the best inventory position possible as you're preparing to grow.

[00:11:17]>> [music] >> If you have any questions, don't forget to leave them down in the comments below, and hit that subscribe button.

[00:11:22][music] Thanks for watching.