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Arr! Here be pirates!
The Ethics of Piracy
I've been building a collection of decks purchased from AliExpress. These are counterfeit decks produced by Chinese printers and sold at rock-bottom prices. Obviously, bootleg tarot decks aren't exactly a great phenomenon - sales take royalties away from deck creators (both artists and authors), and your money is going directly to China instead of to a U.S. publisher.
Of course, pretty much every tarot deck publisher today still manufactures in China, so China is still ultimately getting a cut of what you spend. Not only that, but some modern publishers have become extraordinarily woke (looking at you, U.S. Games), giving even less reason to give them your money.
I generally don't pay for bootleg stuff. I prefer the free route, which is easy when dealing with digital content. It gets difficult when you're talking about physical product, or just stuff that's really hard to find (like map updates for an aging in-car nav system). I've experimented with printing my own mini decks, and it's definitely a fun project, but then I'm limited to decks I already own.
The majority of the decks I've purchased have averaged about $3.50 per deck (including shipping), so it's about as cheap as you'll ever find for a printed product like a tarot deck.
There's another aspect to this subject that has nothing to do with the ethics of piracy.
Deck Production Quality
I've now purchased about a dozen standard decks, along with two full-size decks and three decks packaged in metal tins. The standard decks are uniformly undersized, at 10.5mm x 6.2mm (about 2 3/8“ x 4 1/16”). I have very small hands, and this smaller card size is significantly easier for me to shuffle. I've actually ended up buying bootleg copies of several of my favorite decks, because these decks are so much easier to handle and shuffle. It also has the added benefit of keeping my OG decks in excellent condition.
These standard decks are slightly flimsier than the average Llewellyn deck. The small size of the cards means the printer can get away with using thinner cardstock than if they were printing full-size (2.75“ x 4.75”, or 70x120mm) cards. The biggest disadvantage to the thinner stock is that the cards will hold a curve more readily from riffle (poker) shuffling. That being said, the tuck boxes in which these decks are packaged are very tight, so this helps a bit with keeping the shape of the cards. It also makes it kind of hard to pull the deck out of the box, and there's no thumb notch for making the flap easier to pull open.
Final image quality varies wildly depending on the original source material. So far, I've been quite happy with the decks I've purchased. Unfortunately, these printers aren't particularly concerned with accuracy, so a few decks are rather imperfect. Specifically, decks that use a nonstandard card aspect ratio are altered to fit the standard undersize deck size sold by these Chinese shops. The hush is particularly bad about this, as is the Wildwood Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigWildwood Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery deck. Fortunately, the vast majority of decks use the same standard aspect ratio, so this is only occasionally a problem.
The two full-size decks I purchased (Mushroom Hunter's Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigMushroom Hunter's Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery and Trifoni Della Lunaplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigTrifoni Della Luna
Deck Notes
Card Gallery) are printed on the same weight cardstock used with many of my Llewellyn and Lo Scarabeo decks. There's really no noticeable difference at all.
The tarot-in-a-tin decks have all been pretty amazing. I now own tinned, undersized copies of my Cat Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigCat Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery, Adventure Time Tarot (unofficial)plugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigAdventure Time Tarot (unofficial)
Deck Notes
Card Gallery, and Everyday Witch Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigEveryday Witch Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery decks. The Everyday Witch deck is imperfect - the card back is printed upside-down, and the frame at the bottom of each card displaying the card name is misaligned and cut off at the bottom edge of the card. Even with these imperfections, the overall production quality is excellent. The cardstock is quite heavy, but somehow this doesn't cause problems shuffling, and I haven't accidentally bent or creased any cards while shuffling. These decks are also gilded, with a holographic or glitter print on the card edges, which seems to be pretty well-done and sturdy. Like most gilded card decks of any kind, these decks do need to be carefully separated, card by card, before attempting to shuffle for the first time. The tins themselves are prone to suffering small dents, but that's to be expected from thin, rolled steel. They will also eventually rust, but it generally takes a decade or more for a steel tin container to start suffering serious rust.
I've ended up purchasing several bootleg decks that I probably will never buy from the original publisher, mostly because I wanted to archive the deck and was curious about the imagery. I'm very into surrealist art, but couldn't find full digital archives of either the surrealist and mmoments decks. I'm glad I didn't spend the extra money on the official copy of either, because I will not be using them for reading. I am, however, quite happy to finally get a look at both full decks.
Tips on Buying
Try to find multiple decks from a single seller or storefront. You'll save a bundle on shipping. Go by total price and estimated delivery date when choosing a seller - the product they're selling is identical to everyone else. If you end up with a bum order (one of my multi-deck orders was incorrectly fulfilled, and I ended up with a copy of the Spiritsong Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigSpiritsong Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery I didn't actually order), and you're never able to get an actual refund, it's really not the end of the world, because you're only losing a few dollars.
Bootleg Books
These sites host PDF copies of many deck books. Some PDFs are incomplete or partially corrupt.
My Bootleg Decks
Here's a list of the decks I've purchased from AliExpress.
- Adventure Time Tarot (unofficial)plugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigAdventure Time Tarot (unofficial)
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - After Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigAfter Tarot
Deck Notes
This deck is a new take on the standard Rider-Smith-Waite Tarot, depicting what happens before each standard card's illustrated scene. It's also the sibling of Before Tarot. All three are included here for comparison.
Card Gallery - Anima Mundi Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigAnima Mundi Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Bumbleberry Hollows Tarot
- Cat Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigCat Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Cat's Eye Tarot
- Cat Tarot (D)
- Cat Tarot (P)
- Cats Rule the Earth Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigCats Rule the Earth Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Cattitude Tarot
- Considerate Cat Tarot
- Crystal Unicorn Tarot
- Crystal Visions Tarot
- Day Dream Tarot
- Dreaming Cat Tarot
- Dreaming Way Tarot
- Dreamkeepers Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigDreamkeepers Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Everyday Witch Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigEveryday Witch Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Fairy Lights Tarot
- Forest of Enchantment Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigForest of Enchantment Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Green Glyphs Tarot
- Green Witch Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigGreen Witch Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Harry Potter Tarot
- Haunted Cat Tarot
- Heartscape Tarot
- Hush Tarot
- John Bauer Tarot
- Kawaii Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigKawaii Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Kawaii Tarot (L)
- Kitten Tarot
- Luna's Cinnamoroll Tarot
- Marshmallow Marseilles Tarot
- Midnight Magic Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigMidnight Magic Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Mini Mice Tarot
- Monsoon Tarot
- Mushroom Hunter's Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigMushroom Hunter's Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Nicoletta Ceccoli Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigNicoletta Ceccoli Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Nishikigoi Tarot
- Oak, Ash & Thorn Tarot
- Ostara Tarot
- Pacific Northwest Tarot
- Pagan Otherworlds Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigPagan Otherworlds Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Pagan Tarot
- Plastic Oracle (Mean Girls Tarot)
- Puppy Tarot
- Reigning Rouge Tarot
- Runic Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigRunic Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - RWS Wide Angle Tarot
- Sambucus Tarot
- Shadowscapes Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigShadowscapes Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Somnia Tarot
- Solar Kingdom Tarot
- Spacious Tarot
- Spiritsong Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigSpiritsong Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Stella's Tarot
- Stray Cat Tarot
- Surrealist Tarot
- Tarot de Carlotydes
- Tarot Familiars
- Tarot of Forbidden Dreams
- Tarot of Mystical Moments
- Tarot of the Old Pathplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigTarot of the Old Path
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Tarot of the Witch's Garden
- Tempest Tarot
- Trifoni Della Lunaplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigTrifoni Della Luna
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Trifoni Della Luna Full Spectrum
- Tyldwick Tarot
- Universal Celtic Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigUniversal Celtic Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Victorian Fairy Tarot
- White Sage Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigWhite Sage Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery - Wildwood Tarotplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigWildwood Tarot
Deck Notes
Card Gallery
Other oracle decks:
- Affirmations of the Fairy Cats
- Crystals Oracle
- Druid Plant Oracle
- Fairy Tale Lenormand
- Mildred's Secret Pocket Oracle
- Mushroom Spirit Oracle
- Tree Keepers Oracle
- White Light Oracle
- Woodland Wardens Oracle
- Zammer Twins Oracle