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Pokemon cards are two hobbies sharing a product. One is collecting — opening packs, finding cards you like, putting them in a binder. The other is playing — building a 60-card deck and using it against someone else's. Most children do the first and only some do the second, and the products that serve each are different. Working out which one your child means by "Pokemon cards" is the single most useful thing you can do before spending anything.

In practice, for a first purchase, it rarely matters: an Elite Trainer Box serves a collector well and gives a prospective player a reason to want a deck. But it explains why the advice on this site forks — what to buy is the collecting side, and decks is the playing side.

There is no amount at which Pokemon cards become a bad purchase and no amount at which they become a good investment, so pick a number you are comfortable with and ignore everything that implies otherwise. Useful reference points: under $10 gets a mini tin with two packs. Around $25 gets a good binder or a battle deck. Around $50 gets an Elite Trainer Box, which is the single best first purchase. Above $150 you are into booster box territory, which is bulk buying and a poor fit for a beginner.

The gift guide by budget lays every tier out with specific products, and how much to spend deals with the harder question of where the ceiling should be for a child.

• Rarity does not mean value, and value does not mean much. Most rare cards are worth very little. Treat the money as spent on an afternoon's entertainment, not on an asset. How rarity works.
• Fakes are common in the resale market. Sealed product from a major retailer is safe; loose cards and suspiciously cheap sealed lots from a marketplace are where the risk is. How to spot fakes.
• Cards need protection immediately. They come out of packs unprotected and get damaged within days. Budget for sleeves and a binder in the first purchase, not later.
• New sets come out every few months. There is never a wrong time to start and nothing is about to be discontinued. The release calendar.

If you want to stop reading and just buy something, this is it: one Elite Trainer Box, one zippered side-loading 9-pocket binder, and a hundred penny sleeves. That is roughly $80 all in, it arrives with everything needed, nothing gets damaged, and there is no second shopping trip. Add Battle Academy if anyone wants to actually play.

If you want to understand what you are buying first, Pokemon cards for parents is the long version of this page, and what to buy by age narrows it down by how old the child is.