Collecting How to Get a Solid Trade Binder?

[PlinfaTheBest]

So I've been playing the Pokémon TCG for almost two years now and definitely moved forward (I remember my first Water/Grass/Fire deck, lol) but I couldn't get a decent trade binder at any point. I think it's because I play and collect my cards: I want to have a playset of every decent Trainer, but I also keep my Ultra Rares in my own collection. So I ask you: how can I move forward and get a better binder?

Thank you for your time
PlinfaTheBest

 

[Serperior]

How you go about this depends on what kind of expendable income you have. Usually you're gonna want to buy boxes or spend carefully on singles. Buying packs is usually a poor return on your money because they're $4 a pack and ultra rares with actual value are hard to pull. (Like, how many packs are you gonna buy until you pull a Shaymin? It's not like there's x packs per Shaymin, unfortunately.)

 

[PlinfaTheBest]

I usually don't buy boosters, only the singles I need for my decks. But because I'm a Senior, I get boosters form tournaments at a solid rate. That's another point I forgot to mention: I'm on a VERY limited budget. I just earn around $40 through pocket money and some private tutoring per month, but that isn't the most and I want to buy other things as well...

 

[Electricbluewolf]

I'm afraid the only way to get a good trade binder is by buying. You could pick up bundles of trainers for cheap. The high-value cards (battle compressors, vs seekers muscle bands) never come cheap. People also want a good trade for them.
You could try and sell the cards you don't need and your doubles.
Many professional TCG players I know don't collect the cards for their own collection. Many just get what they need, and sell doubles from winnings etc.

 

[Athena]

It's very difficult to be both a player and a collector, especially if your funds are limited. Ideally (unless you're rich), it's best to focus on one or the other, so that you can trade your playable cards for FAs, etc., or vice versa. If you keep both playable and rare cards to yourself, you won't have much available to trade as you yourself are learning. My advice would be to prioritize: if building up a good trading binder is important to you, then you're going to have to be able to part with some of your cards for the sake of trading. If you'd prefer to stay both playing and collecting, you may have better luck purchasing singles which is more cost-effective over the long run.