Buying Loose Packs

Buying Loose Packs

Buying loose packs is often riskier than buying full booster boxes

Every time you buy a single pack of cards, you are essentially gambling. Each pack of cards has a chance of containing a super rare card, but it’s far more likely that the pack doesn’t contain such a card. A “booster box” is a factory sealed package of booster packs. These full booster boxes have a guaranteed ratio of Holo and Rare cards. This means that when you buy a full booster box, you are guaranteed to get a set amount of high-rarity cards with a chance to get even more! On top of that, it’s cheaper to purchase a sealed booster box than it is to buy the same amount of packs that you would find inside the sealed package. Of course, part of the fun is never knowing when you’ll get that super rare card!

There is another risk to buying loose packs – tampering. The most common form of “pack tampering” is weighing the individual packs and selling the lighter ones. Because of the nature of trading cards, the Holo cards are typically the most expensive cards you can pull from a pack. However, these cards also weigh more than the non-holo variants. This means that dishonest sellers can weigh all of their packs and sell only the light ones (as those don’t contain Holo cards), while keeping all of the heavier packs for themselves. This type of scam is more common on open marketplaces like eBay.

The other type of tampering is more often found in big box stores rather than hobby & game shops as it relates to returns and refunds. An individual would purchase a pack of cards from a store, open them up, take the rare cards out and attempt to re-seal the pack to return it the next day. Uninformed store workers would then restock the shelf with this now-compromised item.

So how do you safely buy loose and individual packs of cards? From a trusted seller!

Hopefully by now we’ve earned your trust and possibly your business. All of the loose packs that we sell have been taken from a sealed booster box. In fact, we just keep an open box on our shelf and pull packs from it as they’re sold. That means if you were to buy a booster box worth of individual packs… First of all, why? But we would just open up a new box and send you all of the packs inside!

Posted by Ryan

Ryan is the visionary founder of Elite4 Games, a premier destination for all things Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG). With a vast depth of knowledge and competitive experience, Ryan has achieved multiple regional championship titles and qualified for the Pokémon TCG World Championships three years in a row—a testament to his skill, dedication, and strategic prowess.

At Elite4 Games, Ryan channels his passion for the game into building a community where players and collectors of all levels can thrive. From expert deck-building strategies to in-depth analysis of game mechanics, Ryan’s insights inspire and empower TCG enthusiasts. 

When he’s not competing or sharing his expertise, Ryan enjoys helping players unlock their potential and discover the joy of Pokémon TCG. Read his other articles for championship-winning strategies, tips for collectors, and updates on the latest Pokémon TCG trends.

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