Do many fake Pokemon cards exist on ebay?

[vintagetoysales]

I recently got back into collecting cards after nearly 20 years of mostly quitting (due to having no one to trade all my duplicates with), and have been buying some packs on ebay, at rather good prices I might add, meaning not scalper prices. Not CHEAP, but you know, a fair, average price, something I was happy to pay. Between £3-£4 per back, depending on the pack, and if it was a bundle buy (example, 8 packs for just over £28).

Some packs were sealed, but some were opened and re-sealed, but regardless, all came with holos and reverse holos. One even came with a card going for about £35, which I've already sold (it sold fast).

Back in the day (like a good 25 years ago), you could tell what a fake looked like... because I own a few. You know, guy on the street selling cards, Pokemon's all the rage, I'm a kid of about 13, it happens. But nowadays, fakes look a lot better, so it can be hard to spot a fake from a real one.

I would trust a sealed pack, but even then I have slight doubts, because who's to say it wasn't re-sealed, and the seller is lying? What about the stated re-sealed packs? Why were holos inside if they were once opened? Wouldn't you want to sell the holos separately? I'm not saying the holos were mega valuable, but worth a pound (£) or so.

It does make me wonder...

But what does one do? I can ask the seller, but isn't that an ache in the you know where. And what if they lie, or just don't know? A local newsagent to me sells packs, but they're sold out half the time, and they're only of newer sets and not all the older sets I'm obviously missed over the 19 years of not collecting.

[tommystrezures]

I think your question is do many fake Pokemon exist on eBay? The answer is probably.

[vintagetoysales]

Yes, but I didn't know how often that may be or if ebay is well known for having sellers that knowingly decieve their buyers by selling knowingly fake cards. And even those who are just unaware. I'm not an expert to spotting fakes, my only real reference are the few I own that look and feel noticably different, but I know nowadays cards can look near identical, and you also can't feel the card when buying online. Like, what are the rules ebay has in place on selling fake cards, or do you come to that bridge once (and if) you cross it?

[*guinevere*]

If you buy a card which you find is fake, you have 30 days to open a dispute and return it for a full refund.

Similarly if you sell one and your buyer thinks is a fake they can return to you for full refund.

Have a read of the ebay money back guarantee under help top and bottom of this page.

[vintagetoysales]

It's more of wanting to know beforehand rather than having to return orders but also not realizing until later. I bought a bunch of packs and have the ones I wanted already distributed across the 3 card folders I own, so I couldn't even tell which cards were bought online and which I bought at a store. Having looked at a few of them they mostly look legit, there are some slight differences with say my vintage cares, which I know to be real, but I don't know if this is a manufacturing difference over the years with how cards are made today and how they were then, like slight colouring differences and cards feeling thinner or thicker and more cardboard-like.

[tressygirl]

The only thing I can think of to finding out if Pokemon cards are real before buying, is to look at the seller's feedback.

Do they have a good history of satisfied buyers buying these cards from them?

Otherwise,  it's a chance to take, and as explained above,  you do have that cushion of knowing you would receive a full refund should the item received be a fake.

@vintagetoysales