So as a player I wish to get my cards before they skyrocket in price. I have found out by reading these threads that many "speculators" are able to pick up the cards I want pre skyrocket.eg. ten cent sowing salt , ten dollar LOTV.
So. Where are you traders picking up cards so cheap. How are you profiting?
Surely you are not buying from shops and eBay then, re selling to stores at buylist? There is so tiny margins in doing that.
And where are you getting such large quantities at the low price?
Thanks again
They are usually bought from eBay, stores, threads on here, etc. The reason they get them cheap is because they are spec targets, they buy before the demand is there in hopes of demand increasing to the point they make a profit. Really all they are doing is buying low and selling high, just like with any other commodity.
That's why it's called speculation. You watch tournament top 8's. GP's. SCG tournaments. You see a cheap fringe/eternal playable card? See (Transmute Artifact, Horizon Canopy, Daybreak coronet, Shadow of Doubt) Pick them up on the cheap and sit on them. It's not 100% that it will rise, but that's the point.
Picking up cards right when they make their tournament big time, the cards listed above by Sparki are examples.
Picking up standard potential staples when they hit low peaks or when they are undervalued on release and have potential in the future. A recent example would be say Hellrider, you could pick them up for 2 bucks or less when the card was newer and its peak was around 8-10 on the low end. The value has fallen below where the card was at then but if you sold them say 5 months ago you would have gotten great value for the card if you picked them up at 2 bucks each for instance.
Picking up random cards that you feel have great long term value to hold for a few years stuff like Snapcaster Mage, Deathrite Shaman, etc..
To dump cards people use a combination of things from Ebay, Store Buylists, TCGplayer.com etc...
Just to make a note though even if you have a reputation as a guy that buys cards around town you will likely never meet a guy that has 20+ copies of a card you actually want to buy. That is why most speculators use websites to buy their cards not many random players have 20 copies of a card in their binder unless they are also speculating on that same card.
In addition to those looking to make a profit, many people (like myself) are speculating to stay ahead of the curve on prices.
I see that card X is better than it looks and snap up a playset while they are still cheap. Not that I intend to sell it, but rather because I want to have any staple cards for deckbuilding in the next two years without spending a lot to pick them up after they rise.
Picking up cards right when they make their tournament big time, the cards listed above by Sparki are examples.
Picking up standard potential staples when they hit low peaks or when they are undervalued on release and have potential in the future. A recent example would be say Hellrider, you could pick them up for 2 bucks or less when the card was newer and its peak was around 8-10 on the low end. The value has fallen below where the card was at then but if you sold them say 5 months ago you would have gotten great value for the card if you picked them up at 2 bucks each for instance.
Picking up random cards that you feel have great long term value to hold for a few years stuff like Snapcaster Mage, Deathrite Shaman, etc..
To dump cards people use a combination of things from Ebay, Store Buylists, TCGplayer.com etc...
Just to make a note though even if you have a reputation as a guy that buys cards around town you will likely never meet a guy that has 20+ copies of a card you actually want to buy. That is why most speculators use websites to buy their cards not many random players have 20 copies of a card in their binder unless they are also speculating on that same card.
Hellrider is an excellent example and a card that I went deep on last Standard, buying in 50+ copies for $2.50 and then selling to SCG for $5 each when the card was at $10. Unfortunately, I had to sell quickly because I needed to pay for the Open and a few cards.
Personally, I just buy any type of staples. Often, I have the cards before they spike, so it's just gravy. Occasionally, I will have some cards that went down in value, but nowadays, any good kind of staple will have it's spikes and it's crashes.
Take for example the Titan cycle. Each Titan had it's day in the sun other than Sun Titan, which stayed at $3-6. If you sold each at it's height, you came out pretty well (Frost Titan was as low as $1 each and went up to $15 when it got hot).
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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 bought 20 Hellriders at $0.99 apiece when DKA released. Then it spiked to 10+ when I was away from home doing AF training, and by the time I got home to my binder it was $3. I'm still ahead, but definitely missed my prime selling time. Hard market to figure out.
Another excellent example of a great target was Sphinx's Revelation. Remember when those were 5-7$? I do and I regret not buying a few when they were that much!
Another excellent example of a great target was Sphinx's Revelation. Remember when those were 5-7$? I do and I regret not buying a few when they were that much!
I remember that. They rose from $3 to $7 and I thought I had missed the boat. People here said to still buy because it would go up to $30. They were spot on.
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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)
It's a lot harder to spec for standard than it is to spec for eternal formats, in my opinion. Things like Serra's Sanctum have been rumored to go up for quite some time with theros. They've already went up about $15-17 since two months ago. You just have to fit the pieces together.
So. Where are you traders picking up cards so cheap. How are you profiting?
Surely you are not buying from shops and eBay then, re selling to stores at buylist? There is so tiny margins in doing that.
And where are you getting such large quantities at the low price?
Thanks again
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Picking up cards right when they make their tournament big time, the cards listed above by Sparki are examples.
Picking up standard potential staples when they hit low peaks or when they are undervalued on release and have potential in the future. A recent example would be say Hellrider, you could pick them up for 2 bucks or less when the card was newer and its peak was around 8-10 on the low end. The value has fallen below where the card was at then but if you sold them say 5 months ago you would have gotten great value for the card if you picked them up at 2 bucks each for instance.
Picking up random cards that you feel have great long term value to hold for a few years stuff like Snapcaster Mage, Deathrite Shaman, etc..
To dump cards people use a combination of things from Ebay, Store Buylists, TCGplayer.com etc...
Just to make a note though even if you have a reputation as a guy that buys cards around town you will likely never meet a guy that has 20+ copies of a card you actually want to buy. That is why most speculators use websites to buy their cards not many random players have 20 copies of a card in their binder unless they are also speculating on that same card.
Feel free to bid on my cards here!
I see that card X is better than it looks and snap up a playset while they are still cheap. Not that I intend to sell it, but rather because I want to have any staple cards for deckbuilding in the next two years without spending a lot to pick them up after they rise.
Check out Odds//Ends - My articles on Quirky Cards and Oddball Builds
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Currently playing Knight of the Reliquary - Retreat to Coralhelm Combo
Hellrider is an excellent example and a card that I went deep on last Standard, buying in 50+ copies for $2.50 and then selling to SCG for $5 each when the card was at $10. Unfortunately, I had to sell quickly because I needed to pay for the Open and a few cards.
Personally, I just buy any type of staples. Often, I have the cards before they spike, so it's just gravy. Occasionally, I will have some cards that went down in value, but nowadays, any good kind of staple will have it's spikes and it's crashes.
Take for example the Titan cycle. Each Titan had it's day in the sun other than Sun Titan, which stayed at $3-6. If you sold each at it's height, you came out pretty well (Frost Titan was as low as $1 each and went up to $15 when it got hot).
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 remember that. They rose from $3 to $7 and I thought I had missed the boat. People here said to still buy because it would go up to $30. They were spot on.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)DRS was 3$-5$ when it came out and jumped due to modern/legacy
Other cards are safe bets like snapcaster which is a given eternal playable card so its never really gone under 20