How to Use Emporium’s Onchain Pokémon Vending Machine

In my recent top tokenized Pokémon platforms piece, I walked through the key points of 10 projects, starting with the biggest teams here: Courtyard, Collector Crypt, and Phygitals.

For that post, I got hands-on and explored each of the apps. But it was actually one of the smaller projects from that list, Emporium, that I enjoyed the most and have stuck with using since.

Why? Simplicity.

With some of the other platforms, I had trouble navigating their gacha systems, or I ran into one small problem or another.

But with Emporium, I found it straightforward to dive right into pulling Pokémon cards, shipping them, or instantly selling them back for 85% of their market value. No headaches.

If you're still trying to find your footing in this scene, this is one easy entryway then. Let's catch you up on the basics in case you want to try for yourself.

Getting started

Accounts on Emporium are handled via Privy, so you can create one and log in through your email, Google, or X handle by using the "Connect" button in the upper right corner of the website.

Once you're signed in, head over to the Vending Machine, which is the main attraction. It's filled with PSA 10 cards, which are effectively pristine.

Pulls are paid for with USDC on Solana, so you may need to bridge some over (plus some SOL for transaction fees) to a Phantom wallet. With funds ready, press "Select Wallet" on the Vending Machine page to plug in.

Now, you'd be ready to start buying, but first take a quick look around. The buy UI shows the price per pull ($60 USDC), the expected average value based on the available cards (~$65 USDC), and the buyback rate (85%).

This rate just means that if, say, you pull a card valued at $100, you can immediately sell it back to the Vending Machine for 85 USDC, so on and so forth.

If you scroll further down, you'll see the total number of pulls so far (e.g. 6,856) and the number of Legendary and Rare cards that are in the machine at that time. A little bit further down, you'll find the pull odds. For instance, there's a 75% chance you'll pull a Common card and a 3% chance you'll pull a Legendary.

Scroll a little further and you'll find a "Recent Pulls" carousel and a list of the "Top Pulls Available" in the machine.

Right now, the most valuable possible pull here is worth $1,500, though this will fluctuate depending on 1) restocks, and 2) people selling cards back to the machine.

Buying, selling, and shipping

Once you've gotten the lay of the land, you can try your first pull. Head back to the buy UI and press "Pull now for $60." Confirm your transaction and give it a moment to clear, then tap the Pokémon ball graphic that pops up to check your card.

For example, here I pulled an Uncommon 2019 Vileplume valued at $130. If I don't want to hold it, I could press "Sell Back" to immediately get $110.50 USDC via the buyback rate. Just confirm the sell transaction, and the funds will quickly land in your wallet.

If you do nab a card you want to keep, press the "Keep Card" button instead. You can then track and manage your holdings on Emporium's My Cards page.

Below, you can see some of the cards I currently own. Later if I decide to sell, I'd just press the dollar sign below my target card and complete the sell transaction. Alternatively, you can use the paper airplane icon to transfer cards to a different wallet.

Lastly, you can use the truck icon to ship an individual card to yourself, or use the "Select Cards" option at the top of the "My Cards" page to choose and ship multiple cards at once.

For reference, you can request to ship up to 10 cards simultaneously for a flat $25 fee, after which you should receive your pulls in 3-5 business days. You just have to put in your address details and fire off the payment transaction. You can also optionally toggle on shipping insurance for $4.99. Up to you!

Zooming out

Will Emporium make you rich? No. Will you mostly pull Common cards? Yes.

However, if you enjoy Pokémon cards and onchain apps, and want to explore their crossroads, Emporium's Vending Machine makes it simple to pull and sell until you have your fill. If nothing else, it's a straightforward starting point.

Plus, Emporium is currently running a points system, so maybe trying it now could lead to an airdrop down the road. We'll have to wait and see, but either way it's a possibility to keep in mind.

In the meantime, expect more tokenized card platforms to pop up, though to me Emporium is already standing out for its simplicity. Consider testing the waters here while keeping an eye on how the onchain Pokémon scene evolves going forward!