Alright, so you wanna know about my little adventure with tarot decks for sale, huh? It wasn’t some grand business plan, let me tell you. It kinda just… happened. I’d been into tarot for a while, you know, for myself. Picked up a deck here, another there. Suddenly, I had a bit of a collection, and some I just wasn’t vibing with anymore.
Getting the Ball Rolling
So, I thought, why not try and sell a few? Seemed simple enough. First step was figuring out what I actually had and what they were worth. Some were pretty standard, others a bit more niche. I spent a good chunk of time just looking them up, seeing what others were asking. You gotta do your homework, otherwise you’re just guessing, and that’s no way to do things.
Then came taking pictures. Man, that was a pain. You’d think snapping a photo of a box is easy, but no. You need good lighting, show off the artwork, maybe a few sample cards. My first attempts were pretty shoddy, not gonna lie. Looked like I took ‘em in a cave. Had to redo a bunch.
Where to Offload These Mystical Bits of Cardboard?
Next up, deciding where to actually sell these things. I looked at a few online spots. You know the big ones. Each has its own set of rules, fees, and headaches. I didn’t want to set up a whole fancy website or anything, too much work for just offloading a few extras, or so I thought at the time.
I started with a couple of the more popular platforms. Listing them was another little learning curve. Writing descriptions that people actually read, figuring out shipping costs – that’s a whole other can of worms. You gotta weigh ‘em, measure ‘em, then try and guess what the post office is gonna charge. And they always seem to find a way to charge more than you expect.
- Taking photos: This took way longer than I thought. Getting the light right, showing the card details.
- Writing descriptions: You gotta be honest about condition, especially if they’re used. People are picky.
- Pricing: A bit of a guessing game at first. You look at what others are selling for, try to be competitive.
- Shipping: Oh boy. Calculating this can be a nightmare. And packing them so they don’t get damaged. Bubble wrap became my best friend.
The Actual Selling Part and What Came With It
My first sale, I was pretty chuffed. “Hey, this actually works!” Then you get into the rhythm of it. Packing up orders, trekking to the post office. Sometimes you get lovely buyers, really enthusiastic. Other times, you get the ones who ask a million questions and then disappear. Or the ones who complain about things you can’t control, like shipping delays. You just gotta roll with it, I guess.
What I quickly realized is that some decks fly off the shelves, and others just sit there. And sit there. And sit there. It’s not always the ones you expect, either. Tastes are funny things. I also learned that condition is king. Nobody wants a deck that looks like it’s been through a war, unless it’s super rare or something.
I also tried sourcing a few decks specifically to sell, not just my own cast-offs. That involved finding suppliers, or sometimes just getting lucky finding a good deal. That adds another layer – you’re putting money out, hoping you can make it back. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t. It’s a bit of a gamble, like anything else.
So, What’s the Takeaway?
It’s been an experience, that’s for sure. It’s not a get-rich-quick thing, not by a long shot. It takes time, effort, and a bit of patience. You deal with postage, packaging, picky customers, and platforms changing their rules all the time. But, if you’ve got some decks gathering dust, or you genuinely enjoy the process of finding and sharing them, it can be a decent way to clear some space and maybe make a little bit on the side.
Honestly, it’s more of a hobby that sometimes pays for itself than a serious business for me. I’ve learned a lot, mostly about how much bubble wrap one person can go through. And that even in something as niche as tarot decks, people are people. Some are great, some are… less great. But hey, that’s life, right? Just packaged up with some fancy cards.
