Woman makes eye-watering £40 000 through buying and selling Pokémon cards

Many of us who grew up watching the adventures of Ash Ketchum and Pikachu secretly dreamed of becoming Pokémon trainers.

Fortunately for one Youtuber, she found a way to cash in on the nostalgia – through trading Pokémon cards for tens of thousands of pounds.

It sounds like a childhood fantasy brought to life, but it turns out you can make a lucrative living through Pokémon.

Chloe Webb (31) decided to quit her office job in April 2024 and opened up the Collector’s Cardhouse in her home village of Hertfordshire, Chorleywood, United Kingdom.

The shop has become an international destination for Pokémon card collectors. Just recently, she sold a card for a whopping £40 000 (about N$945 017).

Webb says she’s become used to the insanely high prices that some of these cards are worth: “It’s going to sound really awful: I’m very used to it now,” she tells BBC News.

“It is very surreal to think that this little bit of cardboard is worth that sort of money because to some people, that’s a deposit for a house – that could buy them two or three cars.”

In order to determine a card’s value, Web usually sends them to a grading company which gives the card a score out of 10. This is based on factors like the card’s cleanliness and how damaged it is.

Only cards that are perfectly unscratched and look brand new can be given a high score.

She explains: “We had a Charizard that was graded a 10. It was a special card that was given out to employees at Creatures, who own Pokémon.

I think there’s only 300 of them and we had a 10 and we sold it for just under £40 000 (about N$945 017).”
She adds that cards don’t necessarily need to be old to be valuable.

If you buy a new pack for £30 (about N$708) and happen to be in possession of a rare card, you can potentially sell it for thousands. The prices may sound shocking to some, but Pokémon evokes strong associations of childhood for many.

Before setting up the shop, Webb sold cards online with her husband.

However, it was during the pandemic that their business truly took off.

To help increase their visibility, Webb decided to set up her YouTube channel under the name PokiChloe.

The channel now has over 120 000 subscribers and mainly showcases clips of her life in Chorleywood.

They have since combined forces with fellow Pokémon YouTuber Dean Leander to set up their card house. Since opening, the shop has attracted Pokémon card traders from around the world to come and attempt to sell their valuables.

Webb reveals that while many are unfortunately worth nothing, she has had some cards brought into her shop that have been valued at an astounding £100 000 (about N$2 362 544).

“I know the money is a big part of it and obviously people are blown away by the prices, but for some people it’s about the memories, the nostalgia and just having some memories from when they were children.” – mirror.co.uk

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