I wanted to share some shopping tips for you to remember as you are browsing for your new decks. I have also started the process of uploading videos to my YouTube channel, so feel free to check there – you should be able to “see before you buy”.
You can easily refer to which decks have videos by browsing my tarot, lenormand, kipper, or oracle pages. As I upload the videos, I do upload the tables with the hyperlinks. As you can see in the image below, you will be able to search by name or artist, sort alphabetically, etc. The table is designed to be a quick reference tool for your convenience.
The most common shopping sites are Amazon and Etsy, and I’ve done plenty of shopping for decks on both sites. I’d like to share a few shopping tips related to both sites.
I’d like to give you a heads up about shopping on Etsy – You will see that some decks are sold in multiple shops, and you’ll also see that the prices can vary wildly. You may see exceptionally low prices (which could mean that it’s a counterfeit deck – more on that in a future blog post), while other prices may be incredibly inflated.
When I was looking at one very expensive deck, a friend suggested that I do a Google search for the deck to see if I may find the actual artist’s website. He was right – I was able to purchase the deck directly from its creator for approximately half of what the Etsy seller was charging. Note that this does NOT mean that every Etsy seller does this – I’m simply suggesting that you do your research as you are buying.
I now try to order directly from the artist’s own website if possible. That way, 100% of the purchase goes to the owner. So if you’re looking for that one special deck, I suggest that you check the artist’s site once you’ve made your decision about specifically what to buy.
Having said that, my favorite thing to do is browse on Amazon for tarot cards. I do it so much that I got tired of seeing the same old cards – until someone suggested that I mix up my search phrases.
I had been repeatedly searching for one term: “tarot deck“. Once I figured out that I should also search for “tarot cards“, “indie tarot“, “indie tarot deck“, and “indie tarot cards“, I found much more variety in the search results. I’m hyperlinking those specific search phrases on Amazon so you can see what I mean.
I have a couple of examples of artist/creator shopping tips for you.
One of my very first decks was the Gilded Tarot (the original, not the Gilded Tarot Royale) by Ciro Marchetti. He has an Etsy shop, but he also has his business website here (which I prefer, so the entire purchase price goes directly to him). I believe he has three decks that I would need to order if I want to complete my collection (Marchetti Tarot, Mystic Palette Full Color, and Mystic Palette Muted Sepia).
One of my very first decks was the Gilded Tarot (the original, not the Gilded Tarot Royale) by Ciro Marchetti. He has an Etsy shop, but he also has his business website here (which I prefer, so the entire purchase price goes directly to him). I believe he has three decks that I would need to order if I want to complete my collection (Marchetti Tarot, Mystic Palette Full Color, and Mystic Palette Muted Sepia).
Another example is Jamie Sawyer. I really like her Lenormand cards and tiles, as well as her Sawyer’s Path tarot deck. She also has an Etsy site, and her business website is here. Again, I prefer to order directly from her business website, so she receives 100% of the purchase price.
As I come up with more shopping tips, I’ll make sure to include them on this page. Happy shopping!
NOTE: Although I included quite a few links for reference, I do want to disclose that some of the links are affiliate links. That means that if you go ahead and purchase the deck, I may receive a small commission if that site has offered affiliate links. It doesn’t mean that you are paying more for the item – it’s simply built into the fees that the individual seller pays in order to list and sell their items on Amazon or Etsy.