Start to Finish: A Complete Walkthrough of One Pokémon Investment
Paid Tier: Free — Screenshots, timelines, and real numbers, from buy to exit.
Disclaimer: This post is for entertainment only and is not financial advice. See full legal disclaimers here.
To those new to the space, you might be wondering what I mean when I say Pokemon card investing? Is it an easy skill to pick up and build into a cash-flowing business? Imagine buying a single card for pocket change (relatively speaking) and watching it explode 550% in value in 24 months while you sip coffee and wait. I did that with the Umbreon VMAX Alternate Art card from Evolving Skies, and today I’m breaking down the deal from the buy-in to cash-out.
This isn’t me cherry-picking something that went up a lot. This is a real-world trade I executed, complete with the receipts, the math, and the lessons. If you’re serious about building a Pokemon portfolio or a business that’s fun and you can share with your family, hit that Subscribe button now — you won’t want to miss the deep dives coming next (including my portfolio updates of the cards I’m actually invested in).
For the TL;DR folks, here’s the breakdown
Buy (raw): $660.33
Grade: PSA 10 (fee $20) → All-in: $680.33
Waiting Period: 24 months
Comp Sold: $3,749 (PSA 10)
Net Proceeds: ~$3,187–$3,299 (after 12–15% marketplace fee)
Net profit: $2,506–$2,619
Net ROI: +360% to +385% (≈ 4.69x to 4.85× your money)
This is a big win, especially if you’d bought 10–20 of them. This is a bit of an outlier, not every card performs this well. But it shows the potential gains that exist in Pokemon cards.
Step 1: The Buy-In
Every great investment starts with conviction. I don’t chase hype; I hunt cards with scarcity + demand + cultural staying power. Below is the card in this example.
The Card: Umbreon VMAX Alternate Art (#215)
Era: Sword & Shield
Set: Evolving Skies
Release Date: August 27, 2021
Pull Rate: ~1/1,994 packs (i.e., how many packs to open before pulling one)
My Entry: June 2023 @ $660.33 raw
I purchased it for $660.33 on June 06, 2023. A little over 24 months ago.
Why this card?
It was the most popular card in the most popular set in the Sword & Shield era.
Umbreon is an extremely popular character in the Pokemon universe.
The card is extremely rare (1,994 packs to pull just one)
The print run ended in 2021. All of the PSA 10 graded versions now mostly sit in personal collections, and those collectors will never let them go.
The card itself is beautiful. It’s hard to explain unless you have it in front of you. But every time you adjust it under the light, new details emerge. The printing techniques used to make this card are extremely difficult. It’s special compared to an average Pokemon card.
Step 2: Grading
Raw cards don’t command the price premium that a highly graded slabbed version can. Sometimes I’ll buy cards already graded and sometimes I buy them raw. I’ll cover grading in a separate article, but when I receive a raw card in the mail and it appears mint or better, I send it off to get it graded (I don’t recommend this for beginners).
Given the condition of this particular card, I had it graded for the cost of $20, and it came back a PSA 10. So we add that into the cost when calculating return.
Grading:
Cost: $20
Result: PSA 10
New All-In Cost: $680.33
PSA grades on a 1-10 scale—here’s their rubric. A 10 means a virtually perfect card.
Population Report Reality Check:
PSA issues a population report for any card that tells you how many have been submitted for grading and how many received a coveted 10. Get familiar with it as it provides valuable information. I looked up the population report for this card when writing this article, and here’s the information
18,873 PSA 10s out of 26,383 graded = ~72% gem rate
Cost to pull 1 raw Umbreon: 1,994 packs × $5 = ~$9,970
Need 1.4 pulls for a PSA 10 → ~$14,000 raw cost equivalent
That means to pull this card organically by opening packs might cost me up to $10,000. To find one in good enough shape to grade a 10, I might have to pull 2, bringing the cost of packs up to $14,000. That’s why purchasing on a marketplace for $600 is such a steal.
Here’s my actual card after being graded
Remember PSA 10s always trade at premiums. It’s difficult both to pull one of these extremely rare cards and have it in top-tier condition.
Step 3: The Wait
I typically follow a 12–24 month hold rule for my Pokémon investments. Why?
It gives time for any reprints of the set to happen so the total population of the card is known.
Collectors and investors gobble up the top cards over the 12-24 month period following the initial release. This continues to squeeze the available supply, driving up the price.
During the waiting period, I track:
The PSA population report.
Completed transactions to see where the card is clearing the market.
Ignore fluctuations—this card dipped multiple times.
Step 4: The Return - 550% ROI in 24 Months
Let’s take a look at the result.
June 2025 comp: PSA 10 sold for $3,749
All-in cost: $680.33
Gross profit: $3,068.67
Net after 13% fees: ~$3,180 → 468% return
Metric
Buy Price (Raw) — $660.33
Grading Cost — $20.00
Total Invested — $680.33
Sell Price (PSA 10) — $3,749
Gross ROI — +451%
Net ROI (after fees) — +368%
Yes, this is an outlier. But I find you can consistently get 2x or greater returns on average, even if the card doesn’t end up being a home run.
What’s Next? (Subscribe or Miss Out)
Pokemon products provide me with a great source of additional income. But it’s just one data point. I’m going to walk you through building a business step by step:
How I think about selecting cards to purchase (with examples).
How to spot the next Umbreon before it 5x’s.
Live portfolio update – what I’m buying right now.
One Important warning: You can lose money just as easily as I made it here. Buy the wrong cards at the wrong price and you’ll never make your money back. That’s why I share every step of my thinking and process in this newsletter. Try to understand and learn before committing any serious money.
Want in? Smash the Subscribe Button (free or paid—paid gets spreadsheets + early access).
Have a card you’re eyeing? Drop it in the comments—I’ll give you my thoughts.
P.S. Pokémon isn’t “kid stuff.” It’s a $10B+ asset class with better liquidity than most NFTs. The sooner you treat it like a business, the sooner you print.