So I have a brother who recently moved to the Netherlands, so through him I inadvertently have access to MCM. Am I correct in thinking this is a good way to pick up some cards off of there cheap and have him send them my way for some savings? Or is there something I'm missing that would make this a bad idea? It almost seems too easy. Currently looking at Survival of the Fittest judge promo, which is on there for 180 Euros, or just shy of $200 USD (assuming 1.11 euro/1 USD as google says), whereas tcg's lowest is $260. Even him shipping it to me with tracking from there would save me a nice chunk of cash, right? In fact, wouldn't it be very easy to make some quick cash by buying up some stuff that has a large disparity and selling it for profit here?
I guess this seems obvious, I just want to make sure there isn't something I haven't taken into account.
URGImperial AnimarGRU BRGProssh, Tokenmaker of KherGRB WURNarset NostalgicRUW UBR"I like your deck better" JelevaRBU UBlue BraidsU GAzusa, Lost but RampingG
WUHanna, Pillowfort's NavigatorUW WBRAleshacratsBRW UBRGrixis Pew PewRBU URGYasova the ThreateningGRU BGGlissa the ArticiferGB WUSygg MerfolkUW RSquee, Value NabobR
So I have a brother who recently moved to the Netherlands, so through him I inadvertently have access to MCM. Am I correct in thinking this is a good way to pick up some cards off of there cheap and have him send them my way for some savings? Or is there something I'm missing that would make this a bad idea? It almost seems too easy. Currently looking at Survival of the Fittest judge promo, which is on there for 180 Euros, or just shy of $200 USD (assuming 1.11 euro/1 USD as google says), whereas tcg's lowest is $260. Even him shipping it to me with tracking from there would save me a nice chunk of cash, right? In fact, wouldn't it be very easy to make some quick cash by buying up some stuff that has a large disparity and selling it for profit here?
I guess this seems obvious, I just want to make sure there isn't something I haven't taken into account.
Nope, that's pretty much exactly how it works. I had a friend move to Finland for several months, and I purchased a ton of judge foils.
Just make sure that your brother can recognize what the cards are and what damage is. One of the cards that I ordered as "NM" came with a nice fat crease in it. You'll be very disappointed if that happens to you.
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Having a friend/relative in EU works, just notice that you have to pay customs fees when shipping the card outside EU. If you don't announce the values and you get randomly checked, the added fines will eat all the savings you gained and more. While this is somewhat rare happenstance and might not happen at all, note that you are breaking the customs laws and cannot insure any shipments, as insuring a letter that you tell customs is worthless for 500$ is something that will get you checked instantly.
Long time ago (too old to prosecute anymore anyways) I bought a lot from US, as dollar was really weak. Some sellers did not announce the value of the shipments and some did. I had one really bad scare when a 4.5k$ box had been opened by customs and riffled through looking for contraband, this was from a seller who had marked the value as 25$. Luckily this time the customs personel didn't play MtG, or I would have faced a very large bill in fines and customs fees.
Another issue is the money transfer. As US wants to make living harder for it's population (:sunny:) and doesn't use the IBAN-banking codes, you have to use PayPal. There are quite stiff fees for moving money into the MCM system, which you can read from the MCM FAQ-page. This was the reason I haven't been dealing on eBay, as the fees on each end eat up to 28% of the money and most profit margins are much lower than that. The easy solution is to transfer money to your brothers european bank account, if he gets one, and let him move the money to MCM (for free), but there might be some fees involved from your bank in the US. Just don't write checks, as those can really have big fees involved in cashing them, as does companies like Western Union etc.
Hopefully this didn't scare you too much, as MCM is a great market place, but if it was that easy to make money out of, several of the larger dealers would already have done it. Currently only SCG and (I think) CoolStuff have active buyers on MCM, and both have been slowing down in the last year and mostly getting cards that do not rock the market trends. But things like german Commander precon mythics, Italin Legends rares and random P3K and Starter-99 cards that they have a buyer for do sell every now and then.
Having a friend/relative in EU works, just notice that you have to pay customs fees when shipping the card outside EU. If you don't announce the values and you get randomly checked, the added fines will eat all the savings you gained and more. While this is somewhat rare happenstance and might not happen at all, note that you are breaking the customs laws and cannot insure any shipments, as insuring a letter that you tell customs is worthless for 500$ is something that will get you checked instantly.
Long time ago (too old to prosecute anymore anyways) I bought a lot from US, as dollar was really weak. Some sellers did not announce the value of the shipments and some did. I had one really bad scare when a 4.5k$ box had been opened by customs and riffled through looking for contraband, this was from a seller who had marked the value as 25$. Luckily this time the customs personel didn't play MtG, or I would have faced a very large bill in fines and customs fees.
Another issue is the money transfer. As US wants to make living harder for it's population (:sunny:) and doesn't use the IBAN-banking codes, you have to use PayPal. There are quite stiff fees for moving money into the MCM system, which you can read from the MCM FAQ-page. This was the reason I haven't been dealing on eBay, as the fees on each end eat up to 28% of the money and most profit margins are much lower than that. The easy solution is to transfer money to your brothers european bank account, if he gets one, and let him move the money to MCM (for free), but there might be some fees involved from your bank in the US. Just don't write checks, as those can really have big fees involved in cashing them, as does companies like Western Union etc.
Hopefully this didn't scare you too much, as MCM is a great market place, but if it was that easy to make money out of, several of the larger dealers would already have done it. Currently only SCG and (I think) CoolStuff have active buyers on MCM, and both have been slowing down in the last year and mostly getting cards that do not rock the market trends. But things like german Commander precon mythics, Italin Legends rares and random P3K and Starter-99 cards that they have a buyer for do sell every now and then.
All great things to know, thanks for the heads up and info.
I see him occasionally, so perhaps the best options is to just give him cash in person? If Paypal fees are going to be that bad it doesn't seem worthwhile at all to take that route. I also have relatives who visit him periodically, so I can use them as pseudo-couriers to avoid the whole shipping process.
URGImperial AnimarGRU BRGProssh, Tokenmaker of KherGRB WURNarset NostalgicRUW UBR"I like your deck better" JelevaRBU UBlue BraidsU GAzusa, Lost but RampingG
WUHanna, Pillowfort's NavigatorUW WBRAleshacratsBRW UBRGrixis Pew PewRBU URGYasova the ThreateningGRU BGGlissa the ArticiferGB WUSygg MerfolkUW RSquee, Value NabobR
All great things to know, thanks for the heads up and info.
I see him occasionally, so perhaps the best options is to just give him cash in person? If Paypal fees are going to be that bad it doesn't seem worthwhile at all to take that route. I also have relatives who visit him periodically, so I can use them as pseudo-couriers to avoid the whole shipping process.
Cash in person seems like the easiest route. That way he can also just bring your cards when he comes to visit.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Along with many mods, I've moved shop over to MTGNexus. Come check us out!
Cash is the best, just tell your relatives not to package the cards in a 'special'way in case they get a check up and the staff thinks that it's a purchased product. My buddy who visits me (I live in Europe) from the US always brings me my mobile phones, laptops etc. with opened boxes to appear as his own.
I guess this seems obvious, I just want to make sure there isn't something I haven't taken into account.
Living End Contributor and Enthusiast
Come Pucatrade with me
Rules Advisor
Modern: BRGLiving EndGRB
Legacy: UBGShardless BUGGBU
BRGProssh, Tokenmaker of KherGRB
WURNarset NostalgicRUW
UBR"I like your deck better" JelevaRBU
UBlue BraidsU
GAzusa, Lost but RampingG
WBRAleshacratsBRW
UBRGrixis Pew PewRBU
URGYasova the ThreateningGRU
BGGlissa the ArticiferGB
WUSygg MerfolkUW
RSquee, Value NabobR
Marath, Will of the Wild
Friendly Kess Twin Combo
Tatyova - Sir Bounce A Lot
Gonti's Luxury Pie
Prime (Eldrazi) Speaker Zegana (Retired)
Nope, that's pretty much exactly how it works. I had a friend move to Finland for several months, and I purchased a ton of judge foils.
Just make sure that your brother can recognize what the cards are and what damage is. One of the cards that I ordered as "NM" came with a nice fat crease in it. You'll be very disappointed if that happens to you.
Long time ago (too old to prosecute anymore anyways) I bought a lot from US, as dollar was really weak. Some sellers did not announce the value of the shipments and some did. I had one really bad scare when a 4.5k$ box had been opened by customs and riffled through looking for contraband, this was from a seller who had marked the value as 25$. Luckily this time the customs personel didn't play MtG, or I would have faced a very large bill in fines and customs fees.
Another issue is the money transfer. As US wants to make living harder for it's population (:sunny:) and doesn't use the IBAN-banking codes, you have to use PayPal. There are quite stiff fees for moving money into the MCM system, which you can read from the MCM FAQ-page. This was the reason I haven't been dealing on eBay, as the fees on each end eat up to 28% of the money and most profit margins are much lower than that. The easy solution is to transfer money to your brothers european bank account, if he gets one, and let him move the money to MCM (for free), but there might be some fees involved from your bank in the US. Just don't write checks, as those can really have big fees involved in cashing them, as does companies like Western Union etc.
Hopefully this didn't scare you too much, as MCM is a great market place, but if it was that easy to make money out of, several of the larger dealers would already have done it. Currently only SCG and (I think) CoolStuff have active buyers on MCM, and both have been slowing down in the last year and mostly getting cards that do not rock the market trends. But things like german Commander precon mythics, Italin Legends rares and random P3K and Starter-99 cards that they have a buyer for do sell every now and then.
Set to default
All great things to know, thanks for the heads up and info.
I see him occasionally, so perhaps the best options is to just give him cash in person? If Paypal fees are going to be that bad it doesn't seem worthwhile at all to take that route. I also have relatives who visit him periodically, so I can use them as pseudo-couriers to avoid the whole shipping process.
Living End Contributor and Enthusiast
Come Pucatrade with me
Rules Advisor
Modern: BRGLiving EndGRB
Legacy: UBGShardless BUGGBU
BRGProssh, Tokenmaker of KherGRB
WURNarset NostalgicRUW
UBR"I like your deck better" JelevaRBU
UBlue BraidsU
GAzusa, Lost but RampingG
WBRAleshacratsBRW
UBRGrixis Pew PewRBU
URGYasova the ThreateningGRU
BGGlissa the ArticiferGB
WUSygg MerfolkUW
RSquee, Value NabobR
Cash in person seems like the easiest route. That way he can also just bring your cards when he comes to visit.
Marath, Will of the Wild
Friendly Kess Twin Combo
Tatyova - Sir Bounce A Lot
Gonti's Luxury Pie
Prime (Eldrazi) Speaker Zegana (Retired)
BUWGRChilds PlayGRWUB
BUWGR Highlander GRWUB
UBSquee's Shapeshifting PetBU
BW Multiplayer Control WB
RG Changeling GR
UR Mana FlareRU
UMerfolkU
B MBMC B