Had 1 never show; trader re-sent. I had another that arrived torn in HALF. (the envelope, not the cards. ). The top loader was taped to the envelope. The envelope got eaten by a postal machine. USPS put both halves in a plastic bag and it arrived a few days later. If you're shipping top loaders in envelopes they CAN get messed up. That's probably how hwy get "lost".
That's why you should pay the $0.20 surcharge for non-machinable envelopes.
I have had packages with DC turn up MIA though. That's why I always use insurance on anything over $100.
that said, yeah, you are just paying $4 for a pack and a few other cards you most likely don't want.
Not that I actually like responding to posts that miss the point (no offense intended) but I was merely joking about his use of the word "precon", which both Event and Intro decks would qualify as.
My second paragraph just attempts to explain why an $8 price tag for the card isn't unreasonable. I assume those who buy the Intro decks aren't doing so for the cash value (i.e. those people incognizant of price trends), and that the value still isn't there for profiteers to come swooping in.
I mean seriously? How can a rare from a precon be as expensive as Phantasmal Image? Image is one of the best cards in Standard, has some playability in Legacy, and has a ton of casual appeal.
Funny you should make that comparison, because Phantasmal Image was in the M12 Event deck.
But it does make sense that the card had increased dramatically (see speculation mentions above), although there's nothing wrong logically with it being at $8 despite it being in an Intro deck. I was at Target yesterday and considered looking for the deck for $12, but even at that price I'd basically just be paying $4 for a booster. So it's not like the Intro deck is insane profits even with one of the cards it contains at $8.
He did something called Pack to Power... He bought a pack, and by only trading the cards from that pack (nothing else) in under 2 years time, he was able to get an alpha mox sapphire (a little played).
Of course, there are still many more important tips not discussed in the article, but you might learn something from it. I certainly did.
You can view all of the trades he made to get up to the sapphire status by clicking the links in the top right corner. He goes through every one and his thoughts on it, and gives tips a long the way, as well as lessons he learned.
Pack to power is the soul of evil. Plus the "what do you value this at?" traders are why I quit trading IRL completely. If you want Chas Andres' latest financial advice then you'll need SCG premium.
You're definitely right about this. I'm going to dump mine at the PTQ Costa Mesa this Saturday if I get anything over $3.50.
Fixed that for you.
It's up because people bought it. Then other people saw it was going up so they bought it too. Since 90% of those people don't plan on playing with it, in a few weeks it'll be back down. Except not to $1, since the people who weren't able to sell them at peak prices (which seems to be $7-8) won't want to let them go for less than they paid ($3-5).
I would...not speculate, since you end up in situations like this where you have to ask for advice. Or did you open 50 boxes of New Phyrexia?
But really, just find a store that pays well and ship them all. Or just wait it out if you don't need the cash, since $2 for a solid mythic is pretty low.
I've been watching the SCG prices. At 2.99 there were 6 left in stock just two days ago (I know because I bought those six). Yesterday there were 15 or so in stock, bumped at 3.99 and now they're already out of stock again. I'm curious what the ceiling is for good cards in block, because the only way I can see this card skyrocketing is if it sees serious constructed play, but isn't that very unlikely? On top of the fact that it's in an intro deck.
They were $1 a few days before that (I know because I bought 100,000). I really don't see it in Standard though, at least not until rotation. The reason it is boss in Block is because the best spot removal is basically Sever the Bloodline.
-You will have to go to the post office every day or work out a plan with your post office for shipping lots of packages. They really aren't fond of you bringing in 20 bubble mailers every day.
I'm curious about this part. When I'm selling I tend to ship 5-10 packages at a time on a busy day, but pretty much never in the quantities you mentioned. I also just drop them off at night, so I'm never around to hear any complaints. I assume you have first hand experience?
They are worth exactly what you paid for them. You established the market for a unique item by buying it at a certain price. These are great alters and should fetch an excellent premium. The only way to find out what the world thinks they are worth is to post an Ebay auction.
Not necessarily. A lot of artists' commission prices are well over what the market would pay for them, as evidenced by the vast majority of ebay auctions for altered cards. However, demonium71 is a great artist and occasionally high quality alters can achieve more than the commission rate at open auction.
I'd say either ask for exactly what you paid or take your chances on ebay auctions. There's no need to ask for more or less right off the bat. I know this is essentially what mastro80 said, but I just wanted to clarify.
EDIT: For further clarification, the fact that you are not the artist could hurt your chances at auction. Also, the recent ruling on the tournament legality of artistic modifications has hurt the value of full alters like these a bit. I'd say just offer them for sale at the price you paid and wait for the right buyer. This could take quite a bit of time though.
The problem with that though is it sounds like you were selling off just junk. Yeah, TCG prices may say that an Immortal Coil in NM condition is $.25 or so, but no one I know would even pay half that...I'd be happy if I could trade my playset for a soda. This is especially true for newer sets that just came out. Even crap rares are in the $.50-$1.00 range when they aren't worth $.25 in the end. Would you have paid $600 for the cards you were listing? Not saying your lot of cards wouldn't have been a good deal to SOMEBODY, but asking that much for chaff won't get any bites from people who know what they're looking for and beginners - the people who would most likely be more inclined to buy and benefit from the cards - aren't going to shell out that much money. When I started, spending any more than $50 on cards at a time seemed crazy to me.
I can't tell you the times I've seen this same thing on eBay and Craigslist where people are expecting face value for their junk. Every week or so, the same listing gets reposted because no one wants it.
That wasn't actually the point I was trying to make, but I do appreciate the advice. Although to play devil's advocate for myself, Immortal Coil's TCG low is $0.09, and is an uber crap rare the kind of which I didn't bother listing. And TCG low is often right around ebay/MOTL values anyway.
I was mostly just bringing light to the fact that a collection with everything out in the open gets well below retail value, while something shrouded in mystery that could be (and likely is) as "bad" or worse in terms of value, could likely get bid over it's full retail.
Yeah, it's funny; I tried to sell the chaff in my collection (mostly $0.50-$2 rares) in one lot on ebay last year. It was only about $1,000 worth (roughly TCG Player low values) so I set a reserve of $600. The bidding ended at something like $400.
I had every single card that was included listed in the auction, which must have been frustrating for bidders. I imagine if I had just taken some blurry pics with a few of the better cards conveniently in sight and said "hey, look what I found" (ignoring my extensive MTG-related feedback) I could have easily gotten the $1,000.
No offense to the OP, but that was pretty funny. Being upset enough about paying $24 for 10 boosters (a fair price) to call it a "huge mistake" and meanwhile the seller is blatantly scamming people by selling opened packs as sealed.
Check his feedback. He was accused of opening packs and resealing them. If you have not paid, don't because you are likely to get a lot of really bad Phyrexian artifacts.
After reading your post again, go to eBay help and type retract bid and follow the instruction.
OP: I'd suggest talking with the owner to see the reasoning behind the prices. Maybe a healthy dialogue will promote change.
That's why you should pay the $0.20 surcharge for non-machinable envelopes.
I have had packages with DC turn up MIA though. That's why I always use insurance on anything over $100.
Not that I actually like responding to posts that miss the point (no offense intended) but I was merely joking about his use of the word "precon", which both Event and Intro decks would qualify as.
My second paragraph just attempts to explain why an $8 price tag for the card isn't unreasonable. I assume those who buy the Intro decks aren't doing so for the cash value (i.e. those people incognizant of price trends), and that the value still isn't there for profiteers to come swooping in.
Funny you should make that comparison, because Phantasmal Image was in the M12 Event deck.
But it does make sense that the card had increased dramatically (see speculation mentions above), although there's nothing wrong logically with it being at $8 despite it being in an Intro deck. I was at Target yesterday and considered looking for the deck for $12, but even at that price I'd basically just be paying $4 for a booster. So it's not like the Intro deck is insane profits even with one of the cards it contains at $8.
Pack to power is the soul of evil. Plus the "what do you value this at?" traders are why I quit trading IRL completely. If you want Chas Andres' latest financial advice then you'll need SCG premium.
Fixed that for you.
It's up because people bought it. Then other people saw it was going up so they bought it too. Since 90% of those people don't plan on playing with it, in a few weeks it'll be back down. Except not to $1, since the people who weren't able to sell them at peak prices (which seems to be $7-8) won't want to let them go for less than they paid ($3-5).
But really, just find a store that pays well and ship them all. Or just wait it out if you don't need the cash, since $2 for a solid mythic is pretty low.
They were $1 a few days before that (I know because I bought 100,000). I really don't see it in Standard though, at least not until rotation. The reason it is boss in Block is because the best spot removal is basically Sever the Bloodline.
I'm curious about this part. When I'm selling I tend to ship 5-10 packages at a time on a busy day, but pretty much never in the quantities you mentioned. I also just drop them off at night, so I'm never around to hear any complaints. I assume you have first hand experience?
Not necessarily. A lot of artists' commission prices are well over what the market would pay for them, as evidenced by the vast majority of ebay auctions for altered cards. However, demonium71 is a great artist and occasionally high quality alters can achieve more than the commission rate at open auction.
I'd say either ask for exactly what you paid or take your chances on ebay auctions. There's no need to ask for more or less right off the bat. I know this is essentially what mastro80 said, but I just wanted to clarify.
EDIT: For further clarification, the fact that you are not the artist could hurt your chances at auction. Also, the recent ruling on the tournament legality of artistic modifications has hurt the value of full alters like these a bit. I'd say just offer them for sale at the price you paid and wait for the right buyer. This could take quite a bit of time though.
That wasn't actually the point I was trying to make, but I do appreciate the advice. Although to play devil's advocate for myself, Immortal Coil's TCG low is $0.09, and is an uber crap rare the kind of which I didn't bother listing. And TCG low is often right around ebay/MOTL values anyway.
I was mostly just bringing light to the fact that a collection with everything out in the open gets well below retail value, while something shrouded in mystery that could be (and likely is) as "bad" or worse in terms of value, could likely get bid over it's full retail.
I had every single card that was included listed in the auction, which must have been frustrating for bidders. I imagine if I had just taken some blurry pics with a few of the better cards conveniently in sight and said "hey, look what I found" (ignoring my extensive MTG-related feedback) I could have easily gotten the $1,000.
Here's the official thread that no one ever sees:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=361234