I'm a seller of these lots.
If you know what you want, then don't buy these. I treat these as a bigger booster pack with set rates. Like a normal booster has x number of commons, uncommons, and rares, I add in holographics and ultra rares.
Whenever someone messages me asking for a particular card, or how many packs they need to buy before they get a particular card, I just tell them if they already know what they want, it would be way cheaper to buy it separately. If they don't know what they want, but they just want some ultra rares, then go for it.
My targeted demographic are parents who have kids that want Pokemon cards, or for gifts. Kids just want something flashy. That's usually the newest ultra rares, but most are happy with any ultra rare. Where I'm based, for one of my products you can buy 3-4 booster packs. The general consensus on pull rates are 1/3 for holographics, and 1/8 for an EX, 1/12 - 1/18 for full art (based on box pull rates, not blisters). So for the price of 3 boosters, you get a few holos and an ultra rare. Yes the individual value of these cards are less than the price of the product, but the same can be said for boosters. You buy 5 boosters, you get a Magnezone EX. You're still behind in real money terms. Why do most people still buy individual booster packs? For the mystery, I think.
The difference is that in the booster pack, you know the cards will be from that set. With mine, it can range from BW to XY, but leaning more toward XY. Some people like that, some people don't.
I put in the description that "Ultra Rare" means EX, ex, LEGEND, Prime, Full Art, Secret, Gold Secret, Gold Star, etc, but most of the ones I have available now will be EX, Full Art, Prime, Lv X and Gold Secrets.
I don't include Radiant Collection EXs/Full arts in that pool. I use those for my auctions that don't reach the guaranteed ultra rare threshold. They're more like better holographics for my purposes.
It seems to be working well, most people who buy them are very happy (100% feedback, top rated seller). I've had a few who misunderstood. For those I just ask them to return and I'll refund them. Sometimes after I've explained myself they don't ask for a return and keep it.
Interestingly, when I first started out I had complaints of not enough range. Since those lots consisted of my leftovers from cases, they were mostly from the same set. When I increased the number of sets in the card pool, many more people commented that they were very happy with the range.
Some people who buy from me feel slighted, or cheated. I write them something similar to what I wrote here, and offer a refund if they return it. Most of the misunderstandings come from people who only look at pictures. My pictures have holographics and ultra rares (EX, Full art, Primes, Gold Secrets), to show what I'm talking about when I say holographic and ultra rare, as it could've been interpreted as something else, like those reverse holographics with the set name in the lower right corner, or they thought I had tons of gold stars available. This happens every couple of months, while I sell stuff everyday.
In summary, I don't sell these lots to lose money. I sell these lots to make money. I don't gouge people or pull a fast one and include a Meloetta EX from Radiant Collection, but at the same time I won't include the Secret Rare Gold Charizard. I won't pretend I have the Charizard available in the pool. If you're looking to "win", don't buy these lots. Buy those bulk lots from mothers or past collectors with 2k+ cards if you're feeling lucky.
