I submitted a buylist this past Thursday, shipped cards to them on Friday, cards were recieved/graded//check mailed on Monday, and the check was in my hands this morning (Thursday). One week total turnaround time from buylist submission to receiving a mailed check for a roughly $700 sell order.
Great communication, friendly guys, very competitive buy prices - this transaction couldn't have gone better. Thanks again, Andrew!
I can't speak for other areas, but there are numerous copies still to be found in my metro area; the Target I was at day before yesterday had two on the shelf.. There are six at my closest Wal-mart as of this morning, they got shoved behind the Phyrexia vs. Coalition sets a couple of days ago to make room for the Scars fatpacks and decks.
The point being...these have a considerable print run, and I wouldn't think of any purchase of these as an investment. And it certainly isn't vaguely comparable to buying dual lands. Nothing in these decks (that isn't already widely available) can begin to approach the long-term potential duals represent. If you know you can flip them short-term, great, but I wouldn't expect much beyond that.
A lot of Ebay sellers also do not respond to any type of question or inquiry that suggests an off-Ebay transaction. This is not necessarily the case with your seller, but if it is, and you send him a second message, he may very well block you as a bidder. This is something a lot of long-time Ebayers do to anyone who annoys them, whether it's fair or not, as they don't want to deal with that person at all (in any capacity).
All messages sent through Ebay show up in the message folder; either he read it and chose not to respond, or he hasn't read his messages yet. Either way, since you aren't in an Ebay transaction with him, I'd let it rest. There are plenty of other people to buy cards from.
I recently made a small purchase with T&T, around $30. Cards arrived about 5 days after purchase, which is good considering I ordered on a Friday. Upon inspection, one of the two cards ordered as NM had fairly significant chipping on the bottom right corner of the card face. The other card was in perfect condition.
I contacted Tonya, as referenced by DanAtog earlier in this thread, and received a very prompt reply. She not only answered my email at length, and offered to accept a postage-paid return of the card (it was a Lotus Cobra), she forwarded the email to the buying/grading department, who also answered promptly, explained how occasional grading mistakes have occurred during buying in the past and what they have done to improve consistency in their current grading of purchases, and apologized and stated that they would like me to return the card for a replacement.
The bottom line is...I now have a replacement Lotus Cobra on the way to me via FedEx, the new card having been personally inspected before shipment, with a prepaid FedEx return pack enclosed for the original card to be returned after I receive my replacement. All of this was accomplished the same day with a single email. Mistakes can happen with any company, but I couldn't have asked for better customer service from anyone. Thanks guys!
People who can't seem to control their habit of spitting at everyone while speaking every third word during conversation at a restaurant table. This annoyance is compounded greatly when they have food in their mouth at the time.
If it's a Beta Lotus at a "very good" price, especially if you're buying based on one picture, make sure that it's from someone you trust highly. You can't exactly do a blacklite test over the internet. There are some very, very good fake Beta cards; heck, there were very good fake Beta's even in the 1990's. And you're considering buying what is probably the most frequently faked Magic card in existence. Be especially wary if the card doesn't appear to show any (or very little) playwear. And ask yourself...why are they selling it at such a great price? Good luck with it!
I have the chance to get a sealed booster box of Revised and the guy wants $600 for it.
Is that a good deal or no?
If not, what should I offer?
It isn't a bad price, but when these come up for actual bid on Ebay (not buy-it-now), they usually end around $550. A local retailer also had a box priced at "$599" that collected dust for about a year before being sold. I would offer $520'ish, and hope to end up getting it for $550 or less.
Not sure that I understand the point of that quotation? Just about every mall in the US has had a "Gold Buyers of America" or such store/kiosk pop up in it in the past year or so. EVERYONE knows the price of gold these days, it's all over the news. You'd be safer laying a stack of Black Lotus's on your table in a public venue than 8 large gold coins.
This is going to occur more and more as the hobby matures. More and more older individuals, who played Magic when they were younger, are re-entering the hobby with much larger disposable incomes than they did when they were in their teens or early 20's. This increased flow of cash results in higher prices, particularly on vintage cards, and as Magic gains some reputation for having cards that represent a large amount of easily liquidated value, crime associated with it will skyrocket.
This has been happening in hobbies such as coin, stamp, and sportscard collecting for decades now. Most of you are probably not coin collectors; but even so, would you walk into a large crowded room with very light security, full of strangers that you do not know, and openly show off $10,000 in gold coins on a table in the middle of them? Of course not. You'd expect someone to bash you over the head and run off with them. Why expect any different with Magic cards? After all, you're at an event where most of the players there can easily identify P9 and Beta duals.
I feel very bad for the guy whose cards were stolen, but this crime didn't have to occur. Common sense dictates that you don't walk into an unprotected public venue in a major city with $10K in assets on you. This isn't SCG's fault, there has to be some presumption of common sense on the part of the people attending. Learn from what happened to him, and don't be the next subject of a similar thread.
Got 2 Survivals for 20$ each, were advertised as played but arrived in what i'd call "good" condition.
4 Days from payment to delivery and all this while living in germany
ABU has a broad range of what they consider "played", but their visual grading guide makes that very clear. Anything from relatively minor wear to just short of worn-out falls within the played category there; in other words, any card that is legally playable in a sleeve, and doesn't have actual damage to it (warping, tears, water-damage, writing, etc).
The plus side to that is that they buy cards in the same condition and state that "played" buy price up front. While their buy prices aren't the highest, you know the price you'll get for a pretty worn card, as opposed to getting cards sent back for being too low of a grade (Strikezone, MTGFanatic) or marked down to a very low grade and get paid only a small percentage (Card Kingdom, for example).
I have ordered NM cards from them and they came as just that...NM. So you get what you pay for. And, as you mentioned, shipping was VERY fast (and I'm across the country from them).
You know, Kijin, I've found that nearly every time you reply to another poster--that is, if you so deign--your post is so teeming with sarcasm and misanthropic rhetoric the OP can barely distinguish whether your words are intended to help or hinder. Given people typically evaluate others in terms of what qualities they identify in themselves as most important, if the vocabulary one uses to describe themself is predominately positive it will show in their conduct and disposition; if negative, exactly the opposite. Should that be the case, I fear for what must be your severe self-flagellation. I recall quite a few instances when, in lieu of directly addressing the OP's concerns, you instead took more time and expended more effort attempting to uncover their "hidden motivations," your insightful (sic), cynical pasquinade almost always a total departure from the conversation leading up to it. Whatever brandishing of bride or bonus you perceived in jaxmagic's introductory post is, quite frankly, a figment of your insecure imagination. I'll refrain from performing further dissection of my own, justified though it may be. At the very least: You seem quite unhappy and self-conscious (which you'll know to be true if you think more than a couple times of this post after you read it).
I find it curious that such an individual as Kijin represents MTGSalvation's admin. No matter how great their contribution, such an inimical interpersonal style sets a bad precedent for other moderators and leads posters to believe such dialogue, if not necessarily encouraged, is the status quo in MTGS' forums; I very much hope it's not.
To OP (jaxmagic): Urza's Saga--really, anything from the Urza block--is a terrific choice. There are so many great rares and uncommons in that block that one stands a good chance of pulling at least a few useful cards. And if you can't utilize them, you'll have some great trading fodder! Congrats on the bonus, and good luck with wifey!
It didn't really faze me, to be honest. While a relatively new "member", I've been lurking here more than long enough to know that Kijin has his own "unique"/dry sense of humor. I'm 36, been married for 12 years, and have four kids, the oldest of which is 11. It would take a lot more than a passing comment to get my ire up on a subject like that, especially since his reply was dry, not really insulting. My reference to my wife was mostly intended as humorous to begin with, so it's only fair that someone retort in a humorous/sarcastic manner themselves.
I also have no wish to see my own thread degrade into any kind of sparring match over something petty (and off-topic). As the original topic has long-since been resolved (the last previous post was in August), I'd appreciate it if this thread would be closed by a mod.
I think customers wanting to do "outside" sales in their shop becomes an issue for every store owner/manager at some point. In a way, it's a good sign; customers have become so comfortable in visiting the store that they feel like they're a part of it, and feel entitled to participate in the buying/selling activities of the shop itself. It's the responsibility of the owner/manager to (gently) deal with that, in a manner that doesn't chase one of your core customers away. If I knew that someone was also bringing tons of business into my store (i.e. his friends), then I'd be much more likely to let it slide, especially on something I didn't have in stock myself.
That said, store owners notice what you are, or more specifically are not doing in their stores. As in, if you're one of the guys who is always at the shop, chatting away and spreading your "knowledge", but very rarely actually buying anything...then store owners are going to have a very short patience level with you. You see yourself as a "regular"; they see you as an annoying loiterer. Every established store has that kind of "customer". By his own account, it doesn't sound like the OP falls into that category, though. The owner needs to learn to do a better job of not alienating his core customer base. Period.
It's bad form for you as a customer to sell merchandise of (any) kind in another person's retail location, irregardless of what it is, because they are paying all of the overhead. Most people have no concept of the razor-thin line many retail locations walk between being in the red or black. If the owner is known for specifically encouraging/allowing transactions like this, no problem. But if not, it would be at least courteous to let the owner know what you intend to do before completing the deal. That, or just step out to your cars and do it there.
That said, most brick and mortars these days can't afford to treat a customer in the manner you described. When I was part-owner in a comic store, we didn't allow that kind of language in our store, much less use it ourselves and direct it at a customer. He handled it very poorly, and should have just calmly let you know that he would really prefer you not sell cards in his shop in the future; he is powerless to stop the sale itself, since you could just walk outside or go elsewhere. Which leads to the question others posed; why get so upset, since he didn't have any Titans in stock himself?
I agree with the poster above. Unless you live in a rural area that has doesn't have an active Craigslist following, Craigslist is definitely your best way to go. I find that they sell best in 5K count monster boxes or more (which actually hold well more than 5K Magic cards).
That said, make sure that you list them honestly. You don't have to advertise that they're all commons as a selling point, but resist the temptation to make up a story to go along with them. It's really irritating to see all of the "I just found this huge collection of Magic cards in a storage shed, I have no idea what they are worth!" ads; these almost always have a few shivan dragons, serra angels, et cetera on top in the pictures to make new collectors think that there may be a ton of good stuff lurking inside (which there of course isn't). Caveat emptor to the buyers, but just don't be the guy baiting them.
My wife will play as long as I hand her a deck and say "Here, let's play." She isn't about to construct anything herself, and generally gets annoyed if I don't take it (very) easy on her. However, she does help me sort box breaks without complaining, so she's a winner in my book.
Great communication, friendly guys, very competitive buy prices - this transaction couldn't have gone better. Thanks again, Andrew!
The point being...these have a considerable print run, and I wouldn't think of any purchase of these as an investment. And it certainly isn't vaguely comparable to buying dual lands. Nothing in these decks (that isn't already widely available) can begin to approach the long-term potential duals represent. If you know you can flip them short-term, great, but I wouldn't expect much beyond that.
All messages sent through Ebay show up in the message folder; either he read it and chose not to respond, or he hasn't read his messages yet. Either way, since you aren't in an Ebay transaction with him, I'd let it rest. There are plenty of other people to buy cards from.
I contacted Tonya, as referenced by DanAtog earlier in this thread, and received a very prompt reply. She not only answered my email at length, and offered to accept a postage-paid return of the card (it was a Lotus Cobra), she forwarded the email to the buying/grading department, who also answered promptly, explained how occasional grading mistakes have occurred during buying in the past and what they have done to improve consistency in their current grading of purchases, and apologized and stated that they would like me to return the card for a replacement.
The bottom line is...I now have a replacement Lotus Cobra on the way to me via FedEx, the new card having been personally inspected before shipment, with a prepaid FedEx return pack enclosed for the original card to be returned after I receive my replacement. All of this was accomplished the same day with a single email. Mistakes can happen with any company, but I couldn't have asked for better customer service from anyone. Thanks guys!
It isn't a bad price, but when these come up for actual bid on Ebay (not buy-it-now), they usually end around $550. A local retailer also had a box priced at "$599" that collected dust for about a year before being sold. I would offer $520'ish, and hope to end up getting it for $550 or less.
Not sure that I understand the point of that quotation? Just about every mall in the US has had a "Gold Buyers of America" or such store/kiosk pop up in it in the past year or so. EVERYONE knows the price of gold these days, it's all over the news. You'd be safer laying a stack of Black Lotus's on your table in a public venue than 8 large gold coins.
Just saying.
This has been happening in hobbies such as coin, stamp, and sportscard collecting for decades now. Most of you are probably not coin collectors; but even so, would you walk into a large crowded room with very light security, full of strangers that you do not know, and openly show off $10,000 in gold coins on a table in the middle of them? Of course not. You'd expect someone to bash you over the head and run off with them. Why expect any different with Magic cards? After all, you're at an event where most of the players there can easily identify P9 and Beta duals.
I feel very bad for the guy whose cards were stolen, but this crime didn't have to occur. Common sense dictates that you don't walk into an unprotected public venue in a major city with $10K in assets on you. This isn't SCG's fault, there has to be some presumption of common sense on the part of the people attending. Learn from what happened to him, and don't be the next subject of a similar thread.
ABU has a broad range of what they consider "played", but their visual grading guide makes that very clear. Anything from relatively minor wear to just short of worn-out falls within the played category there; in other words, any card that is legally playable in a sleeve, and doesn't have actual damage to it (warping, tears, water-damage, writing, etc).
The plus side to that is that they buy cards in the same condition and state that "played" buy price up front. While their buy prices aren't the highest, you know the price you'll get for a pretty worn card, as opposed to getting cards sent back for being too low of a grade (Strikezone, MTGFanatic) or marked down to a very low grade and get paid only a small percentage (Card Kingdom, for example).
I have ordered NM cards from them and they came as just that...NM. So you get what you pay for. And, as you mentioned, shipping was VERY fast (and I'm across the country from them).
It didn't really faze me, to be honest. While a relatively new "member", I've been lurking here more than long enough to know that Kijin has his own "unique"/dry sense of humor. I'm 36, been married for 12 years, and have four kids, the oldest of which is 11. It would take a lot more than a passing comment to get my ire up on a subject like that, especially since his reply was dry, not really insulting. My reference to my wife was mostly intended as humorous to begin with, so it's only fair that someone retort in a humorous/sarcastic manner themselves.
I also have no wish to see my own thread degrade into any kind of sparring match over something petty (and off-topic). As the original topic has long-since been resolved (the last previous post was in August), I'd appreciate it if this thread would be closed by a mod.
That said, store owners notice what you are, or more specifically are not doing in their stores. As in, if you're one of the guys who is always at the shop, chatting away and spreading your "knowledge", but very rarely actually buying anything...then store owners are going to have a very short patience level with you. You see yourself as a "regular"; they see you as an annoying loiterer. Every established store has that kind of "customer". By his own account, it doesn't sound like the OP falls into that category, though. The owner needs to learn to do a better job of not alienating his core customer base. Period.
That said, most brick and mortars these days can't afford to treat a customer in the manner you described. When I was part-owner in a comic store, we didn't allow that kind of language in our store, much less use it ourselves and direct it at a customer. He handled it very poorly, and should have just calmly let you know that he would really prefer you not sell cards in his shop in the future; he is powerless to stop the sale itself, since you could just walk outside or go elsewhere. Which leads to the question others posed; why get so upset, since he didn't have any Titans in stock himself?
That said, make sure that you list them honestly. You don't have to advertise that they're all commons as a selling point, but resist the temptation to make up a story to go along with them. It's really irritating to see all of the "I just found this huge collection of Magic cards in a storage shed, I have no idea what they are worth!" ads; these almost always have a few shivan dragons, serra angels, et cetera on top in the pictures to make new collectors think that there may be a ton of good stuff lurking inside (which there of course isn't). Caveat emptor to the buyers, but just don't be the guy baiting them.