Just to be clear... I'm not selling anything here.
I was wondering if anyone has gone into the "business" of buying boxes and selling most of the cards in it. I was thinking how much "profit" will you get as opposed to buying singles.
Essentially, how much value do I get from buying boxes? Will I get double the value in singles? Just 1.5?
I did the maths for AVR at prerelease prices and I estimated that the average value of a box would be somewhere around $120-130, not counting foils and commons/uncommons.
That figure is somewhat misleading because you will have a hard time selling many of the rares in the set. People tend to be interested in the power rares and mythics and everything else gets passed over and turns into bulk that's near-impossible to move.
I don't think that buying boxes to sell singles is economical on a small scale (as in a one-man operation). You are unlikely to walk away with any notable profit (if any profit at all) unless you can get the boxes for half of retail or less.
Being a smart and effective trader/investor will net you more in the long run and is much more fun (in my opinion, anyway).
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Epochalyptik from http://tappedout.net/ EDH isn't about what you play, it's about who you play with.
frozen_braskamin brought up another good point. It depends on how one funds the project. One of my LGSs offers store credit as a reward for winning events, so when I play in EDH tourneys there I can store all my winnings on a store gift card that I use to continue buying in. If I accumulate enough money on that card I could theoretically buy a box and sell the singles, but I think it would be more worthwhile to buy product cheap and sell it sealed. Packs have more value sealed than opened, so it'd be hard to justify cracking them if you're trying to turn a profit. I occasionally buy boxes at a discount from a friend who gets them for judging and I just sell/trade the packs at MSRP. It nets you more with little risk of losing on investment.
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Epochalyptik from http://tappedout.net/ EDH isn't about what you play, it's about who you play with.
Buying boxes and intending to resell the singles for profit is rarely, if ever a viable option. If you were to try, however, the third set of a block is generally the worst time to do so. It definitely depends on the hype for a set and the quality of the individual cards, but generally speaking the core set and the first set of a block tend to have the best ROI (return on investment).
If you were to buy a case of product at a time (6 boxes @ $530 or so), and you could find a consistent buyer for the cards (not *just* the money rares, but everything), you could likely turn a profit. But, is it worth all the trouble in the end? Unless you're also a card shop, it's not very likely.
Thanks for the quick input... it more or less confirms my hunch. I bought a box of Rav before (for drafting, not for profit) and ended up just breaking even, including the money duals, because I have to sell all the other crap for cheap.
I was actually wondering because there seems to be people doing this here locally, carring binders and selling them around FNMs and other hangouts. I guess it must have taken a lot of effort and time to sell, not to mention the inventory accounting and maintaining the cards.
What he said. Unless youre buying boxes at wholesale (youre probably not) and have the quantity of cards that people can buy their rares and their non rares from you (you dont), the likelyhood of you just breaking even is very unlikely, to say nothing for actually turning over a profit consistently. If youre going to put time and effort in to trading cards thats one thing, but if you could reliably buy sealed product, crack it, and make money, then everyone would be doing it.
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Just to be clear... I'm not selling anything here.
I was wondering if anyone has gone into the "business" of buying boxes and selling most of the cards in it. I was thinking how much "profit" will you get as opposed to buying singles.
Essentially, how much value do I get from buying boxes? Will I get double the value in singles? Just 1.5?
That figure is somewhat misleading because you will have a hard time selling many of the rares in the set. People tend to be interested in the power rares and mythics and everything else gets passed over and turns into bulk that's near-impossible to move.
I don't think that buying boxes to sell singles is economical on a small scale (as in a one-man operation). You are unlikely to walk away with any notable profit (if any profit at all) unless you can get the boxes for half of retail or less.
Being a smart and effective trader/investor will net you more in the long run and is much more fun (in my opinion, anyway).
EDH isn't about what you play, it's about who you play with.
[EDH]
BUG Combo/Control:
BUG Dominus - Dreamcrusher Edition GUB
EDH isn't about what you play, it's about who you play with.
[EDH]
BUG Combo/Control:
BUG Dominus - Dreamcrusher Edition GUB
If you were to buy a case of product at a time (6 boxes @ $530 or so), and you could find a consistent buyer for the cards (not *just* the money rares, but everything), you could likely turn a profit. But, is it worth all the trouble in the end? Unless you're also a card shop, it's not very likely.
Commander/EDH Decks:
BRG The Blood of Jund - Kresh the Bloodbraided BRG
WR The Blades of Goldnight - Gisela, Blade of Goldnight WR
I was actually wondering because there seems to be people doing this here locally, carring binders and selling them around FNMs and other hangouts. I guess it must have taken a lot of effort and time to sell, not to mention the inventory accounting and maintaining the cards.
Here's the official thread that no one ever sees:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=361234
What he said. Unless youre buying boxes at wholesale (youre probably not) and have the quantity of cards that people can buy their rares and their non rares from you (you dont), the likelyhood of you just breaking even is very unlikely, to say nothing for actually turning over a profit consistently. If youre going to put time and effort in to trading cards thats one thing, but if you could reliably buy sealed product, crack it, and make money, then everyone would be doing it.