I ask them how much it costed them to make that deck and then they said "0.00 cause i already had all their cards.
Well by that logic, it costed me $0.00 as well to build my house $10million estimated in value house because I ALREADY HAD THE MATERIAL TO BUILD IT! NO! This is not how you add things up. What i mean is how much you spent to assemble all those cards. Then I usually have to ask a 2nd question to rephrase it. "how much is your deck worth?" Then they say ... the same thing.
I don't understand. They think it's the same question.
Many of those people don't take the time to actually accumulate current values for their cards in their head. So unless it was a recent purchase, they will value it at zero. I know the values of all my cards, but I am not offended if someone else doesn't. So people will continue to value their decks at nothing and say that it is "worth" nothing. You should ask them if they know how much it would cost to purchase all of the cards in their deck.
I ask them how much it costed them to make that deck and then they said "0.00 cause i already had all their cards.
Well by that logic, it costed me $0.00 as well to build my house $10million estimated in value house because I ALREADY HAD THE MATERIAL TO BUILD IT! NO! This is not how you add things up. What i mean is how much you spent to assemble all those cards. Then I usually have to ask a 2nd question to rephrase it. "how much is your deck worth?" Then they say ... the same thing.
I don't understand. They think it's the same question.
Why don't you just ask, in total of card value, how much their deck is worth? I can see a lot of people saying $0 for how much they spent. What if they got all their cards from boosters? Do you expect them to know exactly how many boosters they bought to get every card in that deck? Maybe it's not the people...it's the way you're phrasing your question.
I ask them how much it costed them to make that deck and then they said "0.00 cause i already had all their cards.
Well by that logic, it costed me $0.00 as well to build my house $10million estimated in value house because I ALREADY HAD THE MATERIAL TO BUILD IT! NO! This is not how you add things up.
$0 is a valid answer. For example, they might have spent some money to build a red deck and another white deck. Later, they might have decided to take those decks apart and make a new red AND white deck using only the cards they already had. Since they didn't spend any extra money on the deck, it cost them $0. All the money they spent before was technically for different decks and could be considered sunk costs.
How much is it worth is a different question, indeed, and $0 is usually not the right answer.
if you traded cards you already had for cards you needed, then your cash outlay for that deck was $0. perfectly reasonable and accurate answer to the question "how much did it cost to build your deck?"
if you had asked "how did you get the cards for your deck?" then they'd probably have a detailed answer about the trades they did to build it. but they didn't purchase anything with dollars so there's no story to tell there. what did you expect?
as for "how much is your deck worth?" you may be getting silly answers because you're asking a question that sounds silly to the person. are you asking them to trade their entire deck for some nominal value? are you offering to buy it from them? thats what it sounds like. most people don't deal like that so won't give you a reasonable answer to that question.
instead ask, "how much would you trade your Primeval Titans for?" and then see what kind of answer you get. probably a much more sensible one.
I ask them how much it costed them to make that deck and then they said "0.00 cause i already had all their cards.
Well by that logic, it costed me $0.00 as well to build my house $10million estimated in value house because I ALREADY HAD THE MATERIAL TO BUILD IT! NO! This is not how you add things up. What i mean is how much you spent to assemble all those cards. Then I usually have to ask a 2nd question to rephrase it. "how much is your deck worth?" Then they say ... the same thing.
I don't understand. They think it's the same question.
If it matters that much to you, why not ask to look at their list, and price it out yourself.
Because conservative bias is a far, far worse thing. Liberal bias doesn't, statistically speaking, make people stupid. Conservative bias (or at least Fox's version of it) does.
To be honest, if I pay $15 to play in a draft and pull/win a high dollar card the cost to me is always going to be $15 (actually less if you consider the other cards I ripped.) So my numbers for a deck wouldnt be the same number you would get if you were looking at some pricing for the deck. This is what makes trading such a iffy prospect. Some people value their cards WAYYYY too high, others too low.
As everyone else said, 'nothing' is a perfectly fine answer to that question. I don't even know how much my decks cost me myself, unless it's a very new deck that I just purchased every single card for, which probably will never happen because I have tons of cards already from over 10 years ago. And then there's the factor of time. I've had my duals and fetches for forever and got them for maybe a quarter of what they're worth today, or even less. And I really wouldn't take the time to check all my cards' prices just to give you a price? What if I play a card I pulled from 8th Edition boosters? I've had 54 8th Edition boosters with 2 foil Wrath of God in them which brought me 80€ each on eBay. So do I have to find out how much I paid for those boosters, substract 160€ from that and then divide by number of cards to find out how much each individual card cost me?
Also, I wonder, why do you even care about their whole deck's value? It's not like you'll get any information about their deck's strength or anything out of that price information.
Well by that logic, it costed me $0.00 as well to build my house $10million estimated in value house because I ALREADY HAD THE MATERIAL TO BUILD IT! NO! This is not how you add things up.
If I'm building a log cabin and I chop all the wood to build it, the monetary value of my log cabin is the price of my axe. If you have a disagreement, you tell me how much you think trees cost.
Now, opportunity costs are another story, but I don't think you are referring to that at all.
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If I'm building a log cabin and I chop all the wood to build it, the monetary value of my log cabin is the price of my axe. If you have a disagreement, you tell me how much you think trees cost.
Now, opportunity costs are another story, but I don't think you are referring to that at all.
I'm more or less always talking about market price.
i feel like the people who answer $0 or the $15 or whatever are being facetious. I think they 'know' what it is you mean when you ask and instead of saying 'I don't know' or 'it would cost $X', its just the most smart ass thing they can think of. But that's just my 2 cents.
So ask, "Whats the market price to build your deck, roughly?"
Are there people that actually take the time to remember and be current on that that aren't dealers or people who's livelyhood is dependant on it?
Typically, I acquire cards through limited formats, redeeming and odd set here and there on MTGO, or just putting together a set of the current expansion. Unless it's a very particular card I'm chasing for use in a deck or to complete a set, or extra duplicates of a card I'm tossing in a trade binder so as to not be completely fleeced- and even then, I'll probably just price check on my smartphone while in a trade.
If you asked those two questions to me, my answer would be the same both times- "I don't know, I built the deck with cards I already owned".
I'm going on record right now and stating that before the end of 2012 we will see foil dual lands in booster packs (The real, Alpha dual lands). You can quote me on that.
Oh, another thing I thought of is that your question could be considered rude to some people. Financial information can be a very personal topic, and it isn't necessarily polite to ask how much someone has spent.
There's also the matter of people who ask about monetary value to justify their losses. "How much did you spend on that deck? $650? No wonder I lost, I only spent $100 on mine."
Or the flipside of that is to rub a win in someone's face. "I just beat his $400 deck with this $50 pile of cards. Ha!"
Obviously, both of those are pretty rude. Some people just don't want you to know how much they spent, and it isn't really your business anyway. However, if you're truly interested in building the deck for yourself, you might phrase the question in such a way as others suggested.
I ask them how much it costed them to make that deck and then they said "0.00 cause i already had all their cards.
Well by that logic, it costed me $0.00 as well to build my house $10million estimated in value house because I ALREADY HAD THE MATERIAL TO BUILD IT! NO! This is not how you add things up. What i mean is how much you spent to assemble all those cards. Then I usually have to ask a 2nd question to rephrase it. "how much is your deck worth?" Then they say ... the same thing.
I don't understand. They think it's the same question.
I don't understand your problem. They are answering the question you ask. If you wanted an answer to a different question, you should have asked the different question.
Oh, another thing I thought of is that your question could be considered rude to some people. Financial information can be a very personal topic, and it isn't necessarily polite to ask how much someone has spent.
There's also the matter of people who ask about monetary value to justify their losses. "How much did you spend on that deck? $650? No wonder I lost, I only spent $100 on mine."
Or the flipside of that is to rub a win in someone's face. "I just beat his $400 deck with this $50 pile of cards. Ha!"
Obviously, both of those are pretty rude. Some people just don't want you to know how much they spent, and it isn't really your business anyway. However, if you're truly interested in building the deck for yourself, you might phrase the question in such a way as others suggested.
What are you talking about? There's no way you can keep the value of your cards a secret. That information is very publicly available to anybody who has an internet connection - you can simply look up the value of any card online.
If I know what cards are in your deck, it's very simple for me to find out the value of your deck. So when I ask how much your deck is worth, it's very silly for you to try to deprive me of that information since I can find out myself anyway.
If you don't want other people to know how much your deck is worth, best don't bring the deck outside your house.
What are you talking about? There's no way you can keep the value of your cards a secret. That information is very publicly available to anybody who has an internet connection - you can simply look up the value of any card online.
If I know what cards are in your deck, it's very simple for me to find out the value of your deck. So when I ask how much your deck is worth, it's very silly for you to try to deprive me of that information since I can find out myself anyway.
If you don't want other people to know how much your deck is worth, best don't bring the deck outside your house.
Necrogenesis makes great points btw. I am not sure it's silly at all to refrain from divulging information that is none of your business :P. You can easily formulate an opinion of someone based on the value of their deck/trade binder/collection, not to mention this can also make you a mark for thieves. Besides, if you actually do know all the cards in a persons deck+sideboard, then can't you just do math for yourself? This attitude smacks of laziness
i feel like the people who answer $0 or the $15 or whatever are being facetious. I think they 'know' what it is you mean when you ask and instead of saying 'I don't know' or 'it would cost $X', its just the most smart ass thing they can think of. But that's just my 2 cents.
Actually if someone asks me how much my deck costs I respond with, my cost or market value? That normally ends up in a huge discussion. Most people dont understand the difference.
What are you talking about? There's no way you can keep the value of your cards a secret.
The opening question was more along the lines of, "How much did it cost to build that deck?" The way the question is phrased in the first post made me think he was specifically asking how much the other guy spent, who or may not want to reveal that information. And that answer can obviously be different from the cards' value.
The opening question was more along the lines of, "How much did it cost to build that deck?" The way the question is phrased in the first post made me think he was specifically asking how much the other guy spent, who or may not want to reveal that information. And that answer can obviously be different from the cards' value.
And thanks, stratgan.
As much as I wouldn't like this to turn into a silly argument I think you're misunderstanding the OP.
OP doesn't really care how much somebody spent on a deck, rather, OP is interested in the market value of the cards - that's why he's disappointed with answers such as $0. If what he wanted to know was specifically how much the other guy spent, then, in a large number of cases $0 should have been a satisfying answer for the OP (because $0 is in fact how much the other guy spent in a large number of cases). But the OP is dissatisfied with these responses because he wants to know something else - namely, what is the market value of that deck?
Well by that logic, it costed me $0.00 as well to build my house $10million estimated in value house because I ALREADY HAD THE MATERIAL TO BUILD IT! NO! This is not how you add things up. What i mean is how much you spent to assemble all those cards. Then I usually have to ask a 2nd question to rephrase it. "how much is your deck worth?" Then they say ... the same thing.
I don't understand. They think it's the same question.
The second question is subjective, because value is subjective. But there should be relative value based on a website.
The question isn't the same...
If I pulled all my cards from packs (which makes each card cost roughly 25 cents), then it only cost me $10.00 not counting lands.
However, the deck's value based on MOTL prices could up upwards of several hundred bucks.
Why don't you just ask, in total of card value, how much their deck is worth? I can see a lot of people saying $0 for how much they spent. What if they got all their cards from boosters? Do you expect them to know exactly how many boosters they bought to get every card in that deck? Maybe it's not the people...it's the way you're phrasing your question.
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$0 is a valid answer. For example, they might have spent some money to build a red deck and another white deck. Later, they might have decided to take those decks apart and make a new red AND white deck using only the cards they already had. Since they didn't spend any extra money on the deck, it cost them $0. All the money they spent before was technically for different decks and could be considered sunk costs.
How much is it worth is a different question, indeed, and $0 is usually not the right answer.
How about phrasing your question in a slightly more transparent manner? E.g. "how much would it cost me to build that deck from scratch?"
BRG Loam Control (Assault - Loam) BRG
W Mono White Control (Martyr - Proc) W
if you had asked "how did you get the cards for your deck?" then they'd probably have a detailed answer about the trades they did to build it. but they didn't purchase anything with dollars so there's no story to tell there. what did you expect?
as for "how much is your deck worth?" you may be getting silly answers because you're asking a question that sounds silly to the person. are you asking them to trade their entire deck for some nominal value? are you offering to buy it from them? thats what it sounds like. most people don't deal like that so won't give you a reasonable answer to that question.
instead ask, "how much would you trade your Primeval Titans for?" and then see what kind of answer you get. probably a much more sensible one.
If it matters that much to you, why not ask to look at their list, and price it out yourself.
Also, I wonder, why do you even care about their whole deck's value? It's not like you'll get any information about their deck's strength or anything out of that price information.
If I'm building a log cabin and I chop all the wood to build it, the monetary value of my log cabin is the price of my axe. If you have a disagreement, you tell me how much you think trees cost.
Now, opportunity costs are another story, but I don't think you are referring to that at all.
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I'm more or less always talking about market price.
So ask, "Whats the market price to build your deck, roughly?"
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Are there people that actually take the time to remember and be current on that that aren't dealers or people who's livelyhood is dependant on it?
Typically, I acquire cards through limited formats, redeeming and odd set here and there on MTGO, or just putting together a set of the current expansion. Unless it's a very particular card I'm chasing for use in a deck or to complete a set, or extra duplicates of a card I'm tossing in a trade binder so as to not be completely fleeced- and even then, I'll probably just price check on my smartphone while in a trade.
If you asked those two questions to me, my answer would be the same both times- "I don't know, I built the deck with cards I already owned".
That answer is comletely valid in both cases.
There's also the matter of people who ask about monetary value to justify their losses. "How much did you spend on that deck? $650? No wonder I lost, I only spent $100 on mine."
Or the flipside of that is to rub a win in someone's face. "I just beat his $400 deck with this $50 pile of cards. Ha!"
Obviously, both of those are pretty rude. Some people just don't want you to know how much they spent, and it isn't really your business anyway. However, if you're truly interested in building the deck for yourself, you might phrase the question in such a way as others suggested.
I don't understand your problem. They are answering the question you ask. If you wanted an answer to a different question, you should have asked the different question.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=353661
What are you talking about? There's no way you can keep the value of your cards a secret. That information is very publicly available to anybody who has an internet connection - you can simply look up the value of any card online.
If I know what cards are in your deck, it's very simple for me to find out the value of your deck. So when I ask how much your deck is worth, it's very silly for you to try to deprive me of that information since I can find out myself anyway.
If you don't want other people to know how much your deck is worth, best don't bring the deck outside your house.
BRG Loam Control (Assault - Loam) BRG
W Mono White Control (Martyr - Proc) W
Necrogenesis makes great points btw. I am not sure it's silly at all to refrain from divulging information that is none of your business :P. You can easily formulate an opinion of someone based on the value of their deck/trade binder/collection, not to mention this can also make you a mark for thieves. Besides, if you actually do know all the cards in a persons deck+sideboard, then can't you just do math for yourself? This attitude smacks of laziness
Actually if someone asks me how much my deck costs I respond with, my cost or market value? That normally ends up in a huge discussion. Most people dont understand the difference.
The opening question was more along the lines of, "How much did it cost to build that deck?" The way the question is phrased in the first post made me think he was specifically asking how much the other guy spent, who or may not want to reveal that information. And that answer can obviously be different from the cards' value.
And thanks, stratgan.
As much as I wouldn't like this to turn into a silly argument I think you're misunderstanding the OP.
OP doesn't really care how much somebody spent on a deck, rather, OP is interested in the market value of the cards - that's why he's disappointed with answers such as $0. If what he wanted to know was specifically how much the other guy spent, then, in a large number of cases $0 should have been a satisfying answer for the OP (because $0 is in fact how much the other guy spent in a large number of cases). But the OP is dissatisfied with these responses because he wants to know something else - namely, what is the market value of that deck?
BRG Loam Control (Assault - Loam) BRG
W Mono White Control (Martyr - Proc) W