For years I've been watching the magic market. One of the persistent anomalies which I've never understood is how Kid Icarus on ebay consistently sells above market price. I get that he has great feedback. But this has been one of the persistent and consistent anomalies of Magic pricing.
He has been doing this for years, if not the last decade or so. I remember early on that his ending listings didnt always go as high. But you know what? Over time, he built a solid reputation and a huge base of customers that keep coming back to his listings to get what they want. He is sort of like the SCG of ebay as far as auction listings go, and always seems to have everything (Rares/mythics/foils) in playsets available all the time. Plus the opportunity for deals gets a lot of people caught up in the bidding and being willing to pay a little more so they can grab all of their stuff at the same time from a seller they know and trust.
Basically if you get enough people bidding, eventually you will run into a few that are bidding on the same thing that WANT IT enough to pay whatever at the time even if its more than it could be gotten for normally.
For years I've been watching the magic market. One of the persistent anomalies which I've never understood is how Kid Icarus on ebay consistently sells above market price. I get that he has great feedback. But this has been one of the persistent and consistent anomalies of Magic pricing.
I've seen it happen a lot where people just get so caught up in winning, that they often don't care about how much it costs in the end.
Most people are more rational than that and will stop bidding when it tops above the total playset price on most websites.
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Originally Posted by Arcadic View Post
scumbag
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He has been doing this for years, if not the last decade or so. I remember early on that his ending listings didnt always go as high. But you know what? Over time, he built a solid reputation and a huge base of customers that keep coming back to his listings to get what they want.
This, most definitely, I've followed him for years as well. Reputation, reputation, reputation. Mint cards, reasonable shipping, fast, consistent service. And he posts so many listings he always has any Standard legal card that you want.
I've seen it happen a lot where people just get so caught up in winning, that they often don't care about how much it costs in the end.
Most people are more rational than that and will stop bidding when it tops above the total playset price on most websites.
I've done it before, admittedly.
Icarus is the best seller on Ebay. There is no one better; maybe a few that are equal. It comes quickly, is packaged nicely, and are in Mint condition. Consistent too.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I've got some cards from him in the past. Not because I was looking for him specifically, but because I won the cards at good prices. Maybe in general his listings end higher, and like others are saying he's the best I guess, but he has listings at all times of day and I usually do my bidding around 11PM-2AM EST or 6AM-9AM EST.
He's one of my favorite sellers on ebay. I can only recall once ever being disappointed by condition in 100's of purchases with him. Deilvery was always lightning fast
You can combine shipping too so you're getting a really good deal even if you have to overpay for 1 item, the others may have been so low that it still works out once you combine it all and it arrives in 3 days..
You can get pretty good deals for the cards that are not "high end" such a Snapcaster from him. I recently bought a play set of Garruk Relentless for 15 USD.
Plains - John Avon - 230
Island - Jung Park - 235
Island - Vincent Proce - 237
Swamp - John Avon - 238
Mountain - John Avon - 242
Forest - John Avon - 246
The cards that aren't in high demand are usually good deals, at least from past experience.
He absolutely sells NM cards and the condition is perfect whenever I've recieved cards from him
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Originally Posted by Arcadic View Post
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Also, the guy is an awesome international seller, so he gets buyers from all over the world (me included)
This.
The demand is very high for international sellers. There are not very many sellers on eBay.com that ship internationally. A lot of the Magic market is here in the USA, so these cards command more overseas.
Perhaps he's built himself up a collection of loyal buyers who tend to overbid on things despite them being available "right next door" for 25% off. There are people out there who like paying too much, it seems. I can list something for $20 Buy it Now, free international shipping, perfect feedback/top rated seller, and people meanwhile are bidding on the same item from another seller, and willing to bid $30 plus shipping. People like that exist, even in this horrible economy. Maybe he's found a way to collect a lot of those kind of people into his customer base over time.
The demand is very high for international sellers. There are not very many sellers on eBay.com that ship internationally. A lot of the Magic market is here in the USA, so these cards command more overseas.
What does he charge you guys for shipping? I can't see shipping a playset of Snapcasters for $3 when there are so many ways they can get delayed or lost now.
I'm sure that costs me sales, but my volume isn't high enough to make up for it right now. 55% or so of my volume used to go out of the country. Now it's about 20%. I partially blame ebay for making it so dang easy for people to get their money back when their cards don't arrive because their postal system sucks. The rest is the euro.
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Out of the blackness and stench of the engulfing swamp emerged a shimmering figure. Only the splattered armor and ichor-stained sword hinted at the unfathomable evil the knight had just laid waste.
And internationally, kidicarus marks the value at a small amount without the buyer even asking for it. You'll never have your cards hold at customs. International buyer's joy.
Well, that's fraud. Surprised a big time seller (with legions of fans, as shown by this thread) would take that risk.
I stopped buying from them a long time ago just because of the combined shipping policy. They used to charge $1 per extra auction won. One time I bought about 13 auctions at once, got charged $14 for shipping and had the package arrive with about $3 worth of postage on it.
In game EDIT: I see that they've changed it to $0.50 per extra auction won, with a $6 cap on shipping, which is much more reasonable. I'm guessing they had to lower the shipping to maintain top-rated seller status.
The thing about Kid Icarus is that because of his combined shipping policies, many auctions tend to go for slight premiums because shipping is essentially free.
When I needed to get a hundred of a certain single I did this -- bought one of his auctions at full price and then sniped pretty much every other auction for a week. It was effectively getting a discount on every single auction after the first, and a very large one after hitting the shipping cap.
people are happy to pay for peace of mind, and apparently will pay a premium when most of his stuff is available from other sources at a lesser price. Works the same way as buying from star city...you're paying for peace of mind.
People are lazy, and if getting a better deal takes some work they'll just pay a premium for their stuff. Doesn't matter if it's magic cards or a new car...some people are just bad with purchases.
people are happy to pay for peace of mind, and apparently will pay a premium when most of his stuff is available from other sources at a lesser price. Works the same way as buying from star city...you're paying for peace of mind.
People are lazy, and if getting a better deal takes some work they'll just pay a premium for their stuff. Doesn't matter if it's magic cards or a new car...some people are just bad with purchases.
I always wonder why people still use "peace of mind" as an excuse for spending more on ebay. Sellers already have to bend over backwards to avoid bad DSRs and Paypal claims. Though, I guess not having to deal with that as a buyer is worth something to some people.
That said, his shipping charges are still atrocious compared to just about everyone else (but it's better than the $1.80 + $1.30/item he used to charge) -- I'm surprised he doesn't get more bad DSRs than he currently does. The good deals are few and far between, so it's hard to justify buying from him over some of the cheaper stores/ebay sellers unless you can nab one auction during off-peak hours.
Take this auction for snapcaster mages.
$93.50 for a playset.
Not even starcitygames can command that price. A quick check of starcity indicates that a playset would go for 88.
at TCGplayer, you can find them for 80.
How does someone, anyone in magic, consistently sell cards above market prices?
Basically if you get enough people bidding, eventually you will run into a few that are bidding on the same thing that WANT IT enough to pay whatever at the time even if its more than it could be gotten for normally.
Most people are more rational than that and will stop bidding when it tops above the total playset price on most websites.
scumbag
Want Higher Level Card Evaluation? Visit Diestoremoval.com
This, most definitely, I've followed him for years as well. Reputation, reputation, reputation. Mint cards, reasonable shipping, fast, consistent service. And he posts so many listings he always has any Standard legal card that you want.
Legacy: D+T
Oldschool: BW Deadguy BW
Magic player/collector since 1994
Proud supporter of #MtgForLife!
I've done it before, admittedly.
Icarus is the best seller on Ebay. There is no one better; maybe a few that are equal. It comes quickly, is packaged nicely, and are in Mint condition. Consistent too.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)But yeah, everything FoodChainGoblins said.
BRGrenzo, Dungeon Warden EDH
GAzusa, Always in a Rush EDH
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Warlord EDH
Trade thread on MOTL
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=4832736
Trading 10 full art zen basics for 8 of yours!
I want
Plains - John Avon - 230
Island - Jung Park - 235
Island - Vincent Proce - 237
Swamp - John Avon - 238
Mountain - John Avon - 242
Forest - John Avon - 246
He absolutely sells NM cards and the condition is perfect whenever I've recieved cards from him
scumbag
Want Higher Level Card Evaluation? Visit Diestoremoval.com
This.
The demand is very high for international sellers. There are not very many sellers on eBay.com that ship internationally. A lot of the Magic market is here in the USA, so these cards command more overseas.
And other factors as mentioned above.
.
What does he charge you guys for shipping? I can't see shipping a playset of Snapcasters for $3 when there are so many ways they can get delayed or lost now.
I'm sure that costs me sales, but my volume isn't high enough to make up for it right now. 55% or so of my volume used to go out of the country. Now it's about 20%. I partially blame ebay for making it so dang easy for people to get their money back when their cards don't arrive because their postal system sucks. The rest is the euro.
Well, that's fraud. Surprised a big time seller (with legions of fans, as shown by this thread) would take that risk.
I stopped buying from them a long time ago just because of the combined shipping policy. They used to charge $1 per extra auction won. One time I bought about 13 auctions at once, got charged $14 for shipping and had the package arrive with about $3 worth of postage on it.
In game EDIT: I see that they've changed it to $0.50 per extra auction won, with a $6 cap on shipping, which is much more reasonable. I'm guessing they had to lower the shipping to maintain top-rated seller status.
When I needed to get a hundred of a certain single I did this -- bought one of his auctions at full price and then sniped pretty much every other auction for a week. It was effectively getting a discount on every single auction after the first, and a very large one after hitting the shipping cap.
Ended up with a pretty considerable discount.
People are lazy, and if getting a better deal takes some work they'll just pay a premium for their stuff. Doesn't matter if it's magic cards or a new car...some people are just bad with purchases.
I always wonder why people still use "peace of mind" as an excuse for spending more on ebay. Sellers already have to bend over backwards to avoid bad DSRs and Paypal claims. Though, I guess not having to deal with that as a buyer is worth something to some people.
That said, his shipping charges are still atrocious compared to just about everyone else (but it's better than the $1.80 + $1.30/item he used to charge) -- I'm surprised he doesn't get more bad DSRs than he currently does. The good deals are few and far between, so it's hard to justify buying from him over some of the cheaper stores/ebay sellers unless you can nab one auction during off-peak hours.
MKM?