Very Pokémon cards: buying sealed Pokémon from Very

Very is the catalogue retailer that most Pokémon buyers only discover after their third sold-out ETB. It carries a decent sealed range, it sells at RRP, and it sometimes still has stock when the toy chains have sold through. It also has a way of operating that catches people out, from the credit account to the cancellation email.

What Very stocks

Very's Pokémon range covers Elite Trainer Boxes, booster bundles, tins, collection boxes and, less consistently, premium collections. It is broader than John Lewis and narrower than Smyths. New sets usually get listed, and older sets can linger on the site for a long time, which is occasionally where an out-of-print box turns up at its original price.

Prices are RRP: an Elite Trainer Box at £44.99 to £49.99 and a booster bundle at £25 to £28. Very does run sale events across toys, and Pokémon is occasionally included when a line has been sitting.

Why Very sometimes has stock when others do not

Very's Pokémon stock is not watched by the same crowd that watches Smyths. The site is a general catalogue, the toy department is one section among many, and most people looking for an ETB do not think of it. The result is that a product can still be available at Very after it has cleared everywhere else, not because Very has more, but because fewer people are looking.

The credit account

Very is a credit retailer. The site pushes a Very Pay account at checkout, with buy now pay later options and a credit limit. You do not need one. You can pay in full with a debit or credit card as a guest or with a standard account, and for Pokémon you should.

Two reasons. First, a credit account application at checkout is a delay you cannot afford during a restock, and it can be declined. Second, sealed Pokémon bought on credit is a bad habit. If the box does not sell, you still owe for it.

Delivery and collection

Very delivers by courier, and there is a delivery charge on smaller orders. Click and collect goes through a network of collection points rather than Very's own shops, because Very has no shops. Collection stock is warehouse stock, so it does not give you a separate pool to check.

Cancellations

This is the thing to know before you buy. Very has a habit of confirming orders on a restock and then cancelling some of them later, sometimes after the dispatch date has passed. It is not every restock and it is not every order, but it happens often enough that a Very confirmation should not be treated as a box in hand.

If you have the same product confirmed at Very and at John Lewis, the John Lewis one is the one to rely on.

Purchase limits

Very typically caps quantity per order on high-demand Pokémon lines and can cancel orders that exceed it across accounts to the same address. Buy the allowed amount once.

Setting up

• Create a standard account and save the address. Decline the credit application unless you actually want it.
• Save a card. Very's checkout under load is slow and every saved field helps.
• Sign in before you need to.

What a Very restock looks like

The product page moves to add to basket without any announcement, and because Very is less watched, the stock can last longer than the same product elsewhere. The confirmation email arrives normally. The cancellation email, if it comes, arrives later, with a short apology and no explanation.

Mistakes people make at Very

• Opening a credit account at checkout because the button was bigger.
• Treating the confirmation email as a completed purchase and stopping the search.
• Forgetting Very exists until everything else has sold out.
• Buying an older set at Very's original price without checking whether it is actually out of print.

Why an alert matters here

Very restocks quietly and the stock lasts a little longer than elsewhere, which makes it one of the more forgiving retailers to be alerted on. The catch is the cancellation. An alert gets you the order; only the dispatch email confirms it.

Common questions

Does Very sell Pokémon cards?

Yes. Very lists Elite Trainer Boxes, booster bundles, tins and collection boxes at RRP, and sometimes premium collections. It is less watched than the toy chains, so stock can still be available at Very after Smyths and Argos have sold through.

Do I need a Very credit account to buy Pokémon cards?

No. You can pay in full with a debit or credit card. The site promotes a Very Pay credit account at checkout, but applying during a restock is a delay and can be declined, and buying sealed product on credit is a poor habit. Pay in full.

Does Very cancel Pokémon orders?

Sometimes. Very has a habit of confirming orders on a restock and cancelling some of them later, occasionally after the expected dispatch date. Treat a Very confirmation as likely rather than certain, and keep other options open until the dispatch email arrives.

Why does Very still have Pokémon stock when other shops are sold out?

Because fewer people watch it. Very is a general catalogue site and the toy department is one section among many, so its Pokémon stock is not hit as hard on a restock. The advantage has shrunk as more buyers have noticed, but it has not gone.

Where this fits

Very is the batched-stock row in Pokémon restock alerts UK. Its opposite on cancellations is John Lewis, and the other site where you need to read the page carefully is Amazon. Paragn Network members get the alert when Very restocks. For the full list of UK retailers, see where to buy Pokémon cards at retail in the UK.