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Trading card valuation and direct purchase in New Zealand

Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! and sports cards — identified properly, valued from real sales data, and bought at fair market price if you want to sell. Free initial assessment, no auction fees.

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Most people who contact us about cards have the same two questions: what have I actually got, and is anyone going to give me a fair price for it. We answer both — with evidence, and without the pressure you'd get from a shop that needs to buy low.

Free
Initial assessment
Cash
Direct purchase available
0
Auction fees
What We Cover

Pokémon, Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh! and sports

01

Pokémon

Base Set through modern. Shadowless, 1st Edition, holo and reverse holo, Japanese sets, promos, trophy cards, error prints and sealed product. We know the difference between a shadowless Charizard and a standard print — and we'll show you how to see it too.

02

Magic: The Gathering

Alpha, Beta and Unlimited, Arabian Nights and early expansions, Reserved List staples, foils, misprints and sealed boxes. Old MTG is one of the most consistently undervalued things sitting in New Zealand cupboards.

03

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Early English and Japanese print runs, Secret and Ultimate Rares, tournament promos and limited editions.

04

Sports cards

Rugby, cricket, basketball, football and motorsport — vintage through modern rookies, parallels, autographs and memorabilia cards.

Condition

Where the value really sits

Two identical cards can differ in price by a factor of twenty based on condition alone. Most collections we see contain a handful of cards where condition is the entire story — and a lot more where it isn't worth grading at all.

We assess each significant card the way a grader will, and we're honest when the answer is that a card looks better in your hand than it will under a loupe.

  • Centring — front and back, measured, not eyeballed
  • Corners and edges — whitening, softening, dings
  • Surface — scratches, print lines, holo scuffing, indentation
  • Print variation — shadowless, 1st Edition stamps, set symbols, error prints
  • Authenticity — we check for counterfeits, resealed product and trimmed cards
  • Sealed product — weight, seal integrity and provenance where relevant
Grading

PSA, BGS and CGC — when it's worth it

Grading is not automatically a good idea. Each submission carries a fee and a turnaround delay, and on a card where the graded premium is small or the condition is marginal, you can easily spend more than you gain. The decision should be made card by card, on evidence.

  • Pre-grading assessment — we estimate the likely grade before you spend anything
  • Cost-benefit call — expected graded value against submission cost and turnaround, per card
  • Submission preparation — correct sleeving, packing and paperwork so nothing is damaged in transit
  • Service level guidance — which grader and which tier actually suits your cards
  • Post-grading strategy — whether to hold, sell raw, or sell graded once results come back

A rough rule: if a card isn't worth at least three to four times the submission cost in its likely grade, grading rarely pays. We'll tell you which side of that line each card falls on.

Selling

Two routes, and we'll tell you which is better

01

Direct purchase

We buy the collection outright at fair market price. Cash in hand, settled immediately, no fees deducted and no waiting on a sale. Best when you want certainty and a clean finish — particularly common with estates and downsizing.

02

Managed sale

For collections with genuine headline pieces, a managed sale into the right market usually returns more. We handle cataloguing, grading, listing and the transaction, and you keep the upside.

We'll recommend whichever route actually suits your collection, even when that's the one that earns us less. Read more about why we work without middlemen →

Before You Do Anything

Four things that cost people money

  • Don't sort or re-sleeve. Handling is the fastest way to knock a card down a grade. Leave it as you found it.
  • Don't clean anything. Wiping a surface scratch makes it worse and is detectable by graders.
  • Don't throw out packaging. Boxes, wrappers and original sleeves can carry real value, especially with sealed product.
  • Don't accept the first offer. Shops buy to resell and price accordingly. Get an independent read first — ours costs nothing.
Common Questions

Questions we're asked most

How do I find out what my Pokémon cards are worth in NZ?
Send us photos of anything that looks promising — plus a shot of the binder or box overall. We'll come back with an honest indication of whether there's real value there. If it's worth a proper look we'll arrange to go through the collection card by card. The initial assessment costs nothing.
Do you buy cards outright, or do I have to wait for a sale?
We buy directly at fair market price. That means cash in hand, no auction fees, no seller's premium and no waiting three months for a sale to settle. If we think your collection would do meaningfully better through a managed sale, we'll tell you that instead — we'd rather you got the right outcome.
What cards do you handle?
Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and sports cards including rugby, cricket, basketball and football. We also handle sealed product, promos, and one-piece rarities. If you have something unusual, ask.
Should I get my cards graded before selling?
Sometimes, and often not. Grading costs money and turnaround time, and it only pays off on cards where the condition is genuinely strong and the graded premium is large enough to justify the fee. We assess which cards are worth submitting and which are better sold raw — and we can prepare and manage the PSA, BGS or CGC submission for you.
How do you work out what a card is worth?
From actual completed sales, not asking prices. We work from graded sales data across PSA, BGS and CGC, recent raw sales, and the New Zealand market specifically — NZ prices frequently diverge from US comparables because of shipping, import cost and local supply.
I inherited a collection and don't know what any of it is. Where do I start?
Don't sort it, don't clean it, and don't throw anything away — including the boxes. Take a few wide photos and send them through. Sorting collections into piles is where value most often gets damaged or lost, and packaging can matter more than people expect.
What makes a card genuinely valuable?
Set and print run, rarity, and condition — in that order, and condition is where most value is won and lost. Shadowless and 1st Edition Base Set, holo rarity, misprints and errors, centring, edge and corner wear, and surface scratching all move the number. A card that looks fine to the eye can drop several grades under a loupe.
Do you handle collections outside Auckland?
Yes. We travel nationwide for collections that warrant it, and for smaller collections we can assess from photographs and arrange secure, insured shipping.
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Other ways we can help

Valuation
Art valuation & appraisal
Estates
Estate & probate valuation
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Cataloguing, sales & more

Not sure what's in the binder?

Send a few photos and we'll tell you honestly whether there's real value there. Free, no obligation, and no pressure to sell.

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Or reach us directly at artservices.nz@gmail.com  ·  027 489 7801