SCG has a reputation to hold. Of course it's more expensive but they usually have enough of everything you want and will make sure it gets to your door. They also invest a lot in the magic community with their open series, the writers they pay and the decklist database. I don't buy from them anymore, as I have found better prices and better service elsewhere, but *****in' aside they are still a respectable store.
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The interesting thing about us legacy players is that we consider Force of Will, Dark Ritual, Blood Moon, Tarmogoyf and Swords to Plowshare to be fair.
I think it's just because they're the biggest. I didn't know about this refund policy though. That seems really silly when Sorin's price has already decreased so much.
What cracks me up is their ugly-as-sin sleeves and artwork. Now they're putting the crap on tokens too :)!
SCG has a reputation to hold. Of course it's more expensive but they usually have enough of everything you want and will make sure it gets to your door. They also invest a lot in the magic community with their open series, the writers they pay and the decklist database. I don't buy from them anymore, as I have found better prices and better service elsewhere, but *****in' aside they are still a respectable store.
I can understand respectable, and I hope I didn't draw that into question. My main question is as follows: With all of the product being the exact same (there is no 'Bose is better than Sony' argument in MTG), why pay more for the same cards? Is it simply to support a website that has done much for the Magic community?
Because they usually have a lot in stock. Cheaper sites don't always have as many cards available and buying on ebay takes more time and effort despite being cheaper.
They are usually about average, maybe slightly above average, in price. They DO tend to have preorder prices fairly high, but so do most other sites.
The reason to order from SCG as opposed to other sites is usually that they have the most consistancy. What I mean is, they have the cards I need in stock more often then any other site I have found. This is paticularly the case with foils.
Last reason is that they seem to be the site with the most acurate prices on foils/promos. So much so, that they are what I use to price foils for trades and what not.
I use there prices for trading as well, but as an example, I preordered my Sorin's for $35 a piece, nearly have of SCG, why would anyone put themselves through that? Perhaps it is just my dad's resonating voice in my head yelling "Shop around!", but I can't afford an extra $25 per Sorin.
I have the %10 percent discount with CoolstuffInc, and I still have a SCG account just because they always seem to have what im looking for when Coolstuff doesn't and they also seem to always have foil versions of every card, which is a rarity on coolstuff.
Jace SHOULD be unbanned in modern. I hate all the people saying "JACE IS BROKEN OHMYGOD HE'LL TAKE OVER AND CAWBLADE WILL REIGN SUPREME AGAIN" when bloodbraid elf literally comes down after jace and kicks jace right in the crotch, takes jace's lunch money, and jace is left to bleed out on the sidewalk in agonizing pain.
Keep in mind they also have a huge staff. Most online shops are a dude in a basement that buys a couple cases a set and that's the most of it. SCG actively travels, holds major events, has a storefont, has products, and carries a huge stock of everything. I'd say for an extra couple bucks on the order, it's worth making sure they stick around.
Keep in mind they also have a huge staff. Most online shops are a dude in a basement that buys a couple cases a set and that's the most of it. SCG actively travels, holds major events, has a storefont, has products, and carries a huge stock of everything. I'd say for an extra couple bucks on the order, it's worth making sure they stick around.
I think they will for this fact, but at the same time, capitalism runs its course, and when people are tight with money, they can choose to get a $60 Sorin, or a $35 Sorin. I am just amazed as to how people are willing to still invest so much in them.
I think they will for this fact, but at the same time, capitalism runs its course, and when people are tight with money, they can choose to get a $60 Sorin, or a $35 Sorin. I am just amazed as to how people are willing to still invest so much in them.
Well if they have 60 copies of Sorin at $60, and Jimbob's cards has 2 at $35... you see where I'm going. That and will such a "terrible" set (in some eyes), it's hard not to fault them for wanting to make money back.
Besides, demand will indeed adjust the prices accordingly over the next few weeks. If looking over the trade and sales threads are any indication, it's easy to see that people are quite happy getting rid of these guys while they are top dollar.
Well their preorder prices are terrible, but otherwise most of their cards are decently priced.
No they aren't. SCG is consistently higher on nearly every card. But here's the thing, you aren't just buying cards from SCG: you're buying service too. SCG is among the most professional, dilligent, and consumer-oriented online card sellers. Their customer serivice is unparalleled. It really is the best. On a couple of occasions they've sent me the wrong cards or damaged cards, and they made up for it an then some- sending me the replacements overnight. Their phone response is fast, email is too, while other vendors have taken days to get back to me.
Also, SCG has the best grading of any seller IMHO. When you buy LP from them, it's what other vendors call NM. You know you'll get quality cards from SCG. Finally, they have a massive selection. Maybe not the most complete of any online seller, but pretty close. So, what extra you spend on cards can be saved on shipping since you don't have to buy from multiple sellers.
Oh, and their free pick-up at Opens and conventions is nice too. So as you can see, it's not just cards you get for your money, but service too.
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WoTC, thank you for finally announcing the Modern format, an eternal format where everyone can participate.
SCG has a good reputation, ships fast, uses accurate description of card quality, honors all sales, and implements good customer service. Many buyers don't mind paying a slight premium for an ease of mind.
Best Customer Service (by far), best selection, fair trading/trade-in policies, reasonable prices (but not the cheapest), best conditions. You pay a little more with them because they offer the best of everything else.
And as for Sorin, the playset prices on ebay presales have been consistently around $200 for a while, give or take a little. If they are selling for that on ebay, then its perfectly reasonable for SCG to keep their pre-sales price at $59.99, especially if they anticipate that the cards price could increase, or stay the same. The layout of Dark Ascension is very similar to worldwake value wise, which will likely lead to less product getting openned, which will lead to the cards that are in demand (at the moment sorin) fetching a high price.
I will just add that with Star City when you pre order something that goes up they actually deliver...you cant say that about all of the smaller cheaper places
No they aren't. SCG is consistently higher on nearly every card.
This is primarily true on higher demand cards; I have placed many orders with Star City because the overall cost, not including shipping, has been lower than elsewhere would have been for the same cards. If you're wanting to buy copies of the best/hottest cards at any given time, then yeah, they're often higher than other online stores; but for niche stuff or just random stuff, odds are that they are going to actually have them in stock and have them competitively priced.
But yes, the primary reason people tend to order from them is the security blanket of the best customer service in the business.
I will just add that with Star City when you pre order something that goes up they actually deliver...you cant say that about all of the smaller cheaper places
There is a website that I have used that has the best customer service amongst all of the sellers, and is consistently cheaper than SCG, so I don't think it is fair to say that they can't deliver. Where SCG will price it at even $0.99, other places can and will price around 0.20, more there actual price, and always deliver.
Spam. If you have a specific gripe related to an order with the store, please discuss it. Otherwise, don't just openly attack the store because you can buy cards elsewhere for a different price.
I think they will for this fact, but at the same time, capitalism runs its course, and when people are tight with money, they can choose to get a $60 Sorin, or a $35 Sorin. I am just amazed as to how people are willing to still invest so much in them.
The only reason Sorin is at 60 dollars at SCG is because that's the price threshold for what people are willing to pay. The way pre-ordering works on SCG is that Card X will start out at Y price with Z quantity. When Z reaches 0 their system will restock pre-orders for Card X with an increased Y price and Z quantity again. This process repeats until people are no longer wanting to be pay the Y pre-order price and that is where Sorin is at 60 dollars right now.
There is a website that I have used that has the best customer service amongst all of the sellers, and is consistently cheaper than SCG, so I don't think it is fair to say that they can't deliver. Where SCG will price it at even $0.99, other places can and will price around 0.20, more there actual price, and always deliver.
What website are you even referring to first of all?
As others have said, their prices can be high but you get cards in the condition they are listed in since they are the strictest among online vendors, their stock is usually plentiful including foil versions of cards, you can get free pick up at an SCG event and probably the most important part is they have the best customer service in the business. You can see that even in this thread SCG representatives are contacting people who have had problems in order to resolve them. I don't see other sites doing this.
Nothing in this game is degenerate or completely dominant. They haven't banned anything in standard in a long, long time. Hell they should have banned affinity right away, but they didn't until boxed sales collapsed too. Hasbro had to come in and fire people.
I'll enjoy watching all the whiners eat crow monday.
I think they will for this fact, but at the same time, capitalism runs its course, and when people are tight with money, they can choose to get a $60 Sorin, or a $35 Sorin. I am just amazed as to how people are willing to still invest so much in them.
Hey there, just wanted to take the time to chime in on this thread, and say thank you to everyone who has had such nice things to say about us!
1) We have sold multiple playsets of Sorin every day since Sorin was spoiled. We are going to sell out of Sorin completely before this Friday (release date). I'm pretty diligent about restocking our website on Preorder singles as we get low (up until our threshold of what we expect to open), so the 23 copies you're seeing at 4pm is probably not the "same" 23 copies you saw at 8am.
2) I took a look at the back end of our system, and it looks like we have 100+ orders that are getting Preorder Price Guarantee store credit on release date!
3) If you know of a site where I can buy Sorin, Lord of Innistrad for $35, please private message me. I'd like to order some so we are not sold out for the 2+ weeks after release where there is a product blackout. The lowest price I could find BIN on E-bay was $47.95, and the lowest price I found on TCGplayer (from a reputable seller) was $49.49. There were approximately 15 playsets left on TCGPlayer when I checked, so I don't expect there to be any left on that site come this Friday, either.
- Ben Bleiweiss
- General Manager, StarCityGames.com
I will just add that with Star City when you pre order something that goes up they actually deliver...you cant say that about all of the smaller cheaper places
Agreed. I regularly pre-order (to the UK as well) my cube foils and other bits from SCG and have never been let down. Everything usually arrives extremely quickly too. I don't feel like I'm paying much of a premium of the safety of mind, really.
Thats the thing, there isnt ANYWHERE that you can "buy it now" pre-order a sorin at $35. Just because someone got a cheap copy or two on ebay, doesnt equate that out to be what the card can actually be gotten for regularly. Its what we call an outlier. When you discuss the real value or going rate of a card you exclude outliers. The real going rate for sorin on average from ebay completed listings and from the lower end of online stores, is $48-$50. So please, to anyone who is saying it, stop talking about sorin as being a $35 card because its simply not true.
SCG prices their cards at what people are willing to pay for them. SCG lists a certain amount of their expected stock at some starting price, and then if that sells out, they raise the price and list some more, and they continue this process until they are sold out. As of now, they have continued to list more and sell out to where their current price and stock they have listed is up to $60. If you want to blame anyone for the "high" prices, blame the people buying them at those prices :p.
Thanks for sweeping my question away! Anyway, it looks like they are shipping it to my work and not to my billing address (home). SCG is great!
Look, it's capitalism. Many stores exist with pros and cons. Sometimes SCG is cheaper, sometimes not. But I'm paying top dollar for a Mox, Tabernacle or Moat over another store that has them $25 cheaper because I know SCG is reliable, fast if they say something is near mint, by goodness it will be. If there's a bit of whitening on the card I get from another store, even if I know their customer service is great, I still have to spend time on the phone or typing an email. I don't want that. SCG is a store I can trust.
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What cracks me up is their ugly-as-sin sleeves and artwork. Now they're putting the crap on tokens too :)!
I can understand respectable, and I hope I didn't draw that into question. My main question is as follows: With all of the product being the exact same (there is no 'Bose is better than Sony' argument in MTG), why pay more for the same cards? Is it simply to support a website that has done much for the Magic community?
MTGS egos at their finest.
Thoughts on proxies:
The reason to order from SCG as opposed to other sites is usually that they have the most consistancy. What I mean is, they have the cards I need in stock more often then any other site I have found. This is paticularly the case with foils.
Last reason is that they seem to be the site with the most acurate prices on foils/promos. So much so, that they are what I use to price foils for trades and what not.
MTGS egos at their finest.
Thoughts on proxies:
I think they will for this fact, but at the same time, capitalism runs its course, and when people are tight with money, they can choose to get a $60 Sorin, or a $35 Sorin. I am just amazed as to how people are willing to still invest so much in them.
MTGS egos at their finest.
Thoughts on proxies:
Well if they have 60 copies of Sorin at $60, and Jimbob's cards has 2 at $35... you see where I'm going. That and will such a "terrible" set (in some eyes), it's hard not to fault them for wanting to make money back.
Besides, demand will indeed adjust the prices accordingly over the next few weeks. If looking over the trade and sales threads are any indication, it's easy to see that people are quite happy getting rid of these guys while they are top dollar.
No they aren't. SCG is consistently higher on nearly every card. But here's the thing, you aren't just buying cards from SCG: you're buying service too. SCG is among the most professional, dilligent, and consumer-oriented online card sellers. Their customer serivice is unparalleled. It really is the best. On a couple of occasions they've sent me the wrong cards or damaged cards, and they made up for it an then some- sending me the replacements overnight. Their phone response is fast, email is too, while other vendors have taken days to get back to me.
Also, SCG has the best grading of any seller IMHO. When you buy LP from them, it's what other vendors call NM. You know you'll get quality cards from SCG. Finally, they have a massive selection. Maybe not the most complete of any online seller, but pretty close. So, what extra you spend on cards can be saved on shipping since you don't have to buy from multiple sellers.
Oh, and their free pick-up at Opens and conventions is nice too. So as you can see, it's not just cards you get for your money, but service too.
And as for Sorin, the playset prices on ebay presales have been consistently around $200 for a while, give or take a little. If they are selling for that on ebay, then its perfectly reasonable for SCG to keep their pre-sales price at $59.99, especially if they anticipate that the cards price could increase, or stay the same. The layout of Dark Ascension is very similar to worldwake value wise, which will likely lead to less product getting openned, which will lead to the cards that are in demand (at the moment sorin) fetching a high price.
This is primarily true on higher demand cards; I have placed many orders with Star City because the overall cost, not including shipping, has been lower than elsewhere would have been for the same cards. If you're wanting to buy copies of the best/hottest cards at any given time, then yeah, they're often higher than other online stores; but for niche stuff or just random stuff, odds are that they are going to actually have them in stock and have them competitively priced.
But yes, the primary reason people tend to order from them is the security blanket of the best customer service in the business.
There is a website that I have used that has the best customer service amongst all of the sellers, and is consistently cheaper than SCG, so I don't think it is fair to say that they can't deliver. Where SCG will price it at even $0.99, other places can and will price around 0.20, more there actual price, and always deliver.
Spam. If you have a specific gripe related to an order with the store, please discuss it. Otherwise, don't just openly attack the store because you can buy cards elsewhere for a different price.
MTGS egos at their finest.
Thoughts on proxies:
The only reason Sorin is at 60 dollars at SCG is because that's the price threshold for what people are willing to pay. The way pre-ordering works on SCG is that Card X will start out at Y price with Z quantity. When Z reaches 0 their system will restock pre-orders for Card X with an increased Y price and Z quantity again. This process repeats until people are no longer wanting to be pay the Y pre-order price and that is where Sorin is at 60 dollars right now.
What website are you even referring to first of all?
As others have said, their prices can be high but you get cards in the condition they are listed in since they are the strictest among online vendors, their stock is usually plentiful including foil versions of cards, you can get free pick up at an SCG event and probably the most important part is they have the best customer service in the business. You can see that even in this thread SCG representatives are contacting people who have had problems in order to resolve them. I don't see other sites doing this.
Who's eating crow?
Hey there, just wanted to take the time to chime in on this thread, and say thank you to everyone who has had such nice things to say about us!
1) We have sold multiple playsets of Sorin every day since Sorin was spoiled. We are going to sell out of Sorin completely before this Friday (release date). I'm pretty diligent about restocking our website on Preorder singles as we get low (up until our threshold of what we expect to open), so the 23 copies you're seeing at 4pm is probably not the "same" 23 copies you saw at 8am.
2) I took a look at the back end of our system, and it looks like we have 100+ orders that are getting Preorder Price Guarantee store credit on release date!
3) If you know of a site where I can buy Sorin, Lord of Innistrad for $35, please private message me. I'd like to order some so we are not sold out for the 2+ weeks after release where there is a product blackout. The lowest price I could find BIN on E-bay was $47.95, and the lowest price I found on TCGplayer (from a reputable seller) was $49.49. There were approximately 15 playsets left on TCGPlayer when I checked, so I don't expect there to be any left on that site come this Friday, either.
- Ben Bleiweiss
- General Manager, StarCityGames.com
Agreed. I regularly pre-order (to the UK as well) my cube foils and other bits from SCG and have never been let down. Everything usually arrives extremely quickly too. I don't feel like I'm paying much of a premium of the safety of mind, really.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
SCG prices their cards at what people are willing to pay for them. SCG lists a certain amount of their expected stock at some starting price, and then if that sells out, they raise the price and list some more, and they continue this process until they are sold out. As of now, they have continued to list more and sell out to where their current price and stock they have listed is up to $60. If you want to blame anyone for the "high" prices, blame the people buying them at those prices :p.
Look, it's capitalism. Many stores exist with pros and cons. Sometimes SCG is cheaper, sometimes not. But I'm paying top dollar for a Mox, Tabernacle or Moat over another store that has them $25 cheaper because I know SCG is reliable, fast if they say something is near mint, by goodness it will be. If there's a bit of whitening on the card I get from another store, even if I know their customer service is great, I still have to spend time on the phone or typing an email. I don't want that. SCG is a store I can trust.