I have a fairly substantial (5k+) collection I'm looking to get rid of, just lost that spark of the game and would rather have the cash. In this board experience, how much do expensive collections tend to fetch? TCG Low -10%? TCG Low -20%? Any help on the issue would be greatly appreciated!
I would actually try the high end facebook page. Things usually move very quickly there and you can avoid paying the fees. There are actually several pages on MTG sales - there's the high end page, buy/sell/trade page, collectors, etc. If you want to sell an entire collection in 1 shot, you'll have to take less than TCG low - 20%. If you're willing to piecemeal it out, you can get close to TCG low - 10%.
Kind of a strange question, but does anyone think the upcoming MTG MMO might cause an uptick in popularity in the game as a whole, leading to overall price bumps? I'm in the process of inventorying my whole collection for possible sale, but I'm in no rush, so if something like that could raise the price of everything I'd be plenty interested in waiting.
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
Kind of a strange question, but does anyone think the upcoming MTG MMO might cause an uptick in popularity in the game as a whole, leading to overall price bumps? I'm in the process of inventorying my whole collection for possible sale, but I'm in no rush, so if something like that could raise the price of everything I'd be plenty interested in waiting.
Honestly, if Wizards didn't believe the MMO Would increase the popularity of the card game why would they do it? I do believe that the MMO will lead to increased exposure to the game - sort of a hearthstone in reverse. How much of an increase remains to be seen. However, I don't think you'll see another increase like we saw from 2010-2014 when the player base exploded.
I would anticipate some sort of growth, but card prices inflating significantly because of it? Color me skeptical. Doubly so with Wizards changing how much and how frequently they are reprinting cards. I kind of anticipate anything not on the reserve list to stagnate on prices.
Kind of a strange question, but does anyone think the upcoming MTG MMO might cause an uptick in popularity in the game as a whole, leading to overall price bumps? I'm in the process of inventorying my whole collection for possible sale, but I'm in no rush, so if something like that could raise the price of everything I'd be plenty interested in waiting.
Your Holiness, if you're considering selling, I'd go ahead with it without waiting for WOTC's latest marketing scheme.
Two possibilities:
1) The new MMO is pay-to-play
2) The new MMO will be free-to-play
If it's #1, then they're looking to get extant MTG players hooked on an MMO. Won't affect your collection.
If it's #2, they're looking to hook MMO players on MTG. That may draw some people in, but honestly, is WOTC going to make a WoW-killer? Better companies have tried and failed. This is not going to suddenly bring a huge influx of players.
WOTC will always be cooking up marketing ploys like this to try to increase the playerbase. Sell on your timetable, not theirs.
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Yeah, that's what I figured. I was just wondering if there was any sort of wild speculation that might push it one way or another; I'm not an MMO guy, so I wasn't sure if that sort of thing would tilt stuff.
I'm pretty surprised to come back after about a year or so's break and find what the values on my cards are like. I'm not too surprised Zen fetches tanked because of that reprint, but my foil shocks have nearly halved in price. The average price on my cube on CubeTutor dropped $2K. My Expeditions have tanked at least $20 per. My foil Jace is waaaay down to $300 and my poor Tarmogoyfs have nearly halved in price since Eternal Masters. Don't even get me started on the eternal masters foil printings I speculated on, Daze and Winter Orb really didn't pay off at all. The only pleasant surprise I came back to was that my foil Lorwyn Thoughtseize has gone from around $200 up to $500. It really feels like it's time to cash out before further reprints or a decline of interest in the game destroy my entire collection's value.
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
Yeah, that's what I figured. I was just wondering if there was any sort of wild speculation that might push it one way or another; I'm not an MMO guy, so I wasn't sure if that sort of thing would tilt stuff.
I'm pretty surprised to come back after about a year or so's break and find what the values on my cards are like. I'm not too surprised Zen fetches tanked because of that reprint, but my foil shocks have nearly halved in price. The average price on my cube on CubeTutor dropped $2K. My Expeditions have tanked at least $20 per. My foil Jace is waaaay down to $300 and my poor Tarmogoyfs have nearly halved in price since Eternal Masters. Don't even get me started on the eternal masters foil printings I speculated on, Daze and Winter Orb really didn't pay off at all. The only pleasant surprise I came back to was that my foil Lorwyn Thoughtseize has gone from around $200 up to $500. It really feels like it's time to cash out before further reprints or a decline of interest in the game destroy my entire collection's value.
Yep. Wizards' reprinting policies has made collecting anything that isn't RL a dangerous proposition. I don't even want to think about how much I've lost, but it has to be a similar amount to yours. It's made me not want to buy anything that isn't on the RL.
I'm preparing to sell a large portion of my collection, and am looking for advice on how best to do so. I know this question comes up often, but I think the best strategies tend to shift as well. I'll post what I've learned from my research and some outstanding questions; if anyone has extra advice I'd love to hear it.
My goals in this is to A) turn my more expensive cards into MTGO tix/packs, and B) significantly reduce the bulk of my collection. For tickets, I understand that CapeFearGame buys singles and bulk commons/uncommons at a 20% premium if you choose to take MTGOtrader bot credits instead of cash.
I've sorted my collection first into rares/mythics or common/uncommons and then by expansion, The rares I scanned into DelverLens add sorted into <$1, <$5 and >$5 categories, the latter of which I'll sell as singles. I used tcgplayer price lists to pull out the money commons/uncommons (thank you Aether Vial!), and just for fun set aside the commons/uncommons I felt had potential to be chase cards in the future; the rest of I'll sell as bulk for ~$3/1000 cards. I also removed and scanned all foil cards as Cape Fear Games offer a higher bulk-rate for those.
...Or that was my plan until I realized that the shipping costs for bulk commons/uncommons mean I'll be lucky to break even. I may do it anyway as a least it will be equivalent to just buying tix online with the added value of no longer having to store the cards, but I'm also going to see if any game store within driving distance (from Charlotte) or Craigslist is interested.
Some outstanding questions/comments:
I haven't really considered shopping around to other online stores with buylists as I read only CFG offers MTGO credit. Does anyone know of somewhere else I should consider.
Yes, I could possibly have higher profit margins on eBay, Pucatrader or other outlets; it's worth more to me not to have to deal with individual transactions and the 20% MTGO bonus goes a long way to making up the difference.
I have about ~300 foreign language cards, but I haven't seen any information about whether they are worth more/less or details on selling them.
I'm planning on just demoting surplus basic lands to my lgs, unless there's a better option. Are foil basic lands worth selling?
I have lots of non-game paraphernalia from pre-release/older sets, e.g. (empty) Onslaught Tournament Pack boxes, "pro tour player" trading cards, extra pre-release inserts, etc. I assume not, but is there a market for any of that stuff?
Don't have too much time right now, so I'll try and spit out a few quick pieces of advice.
You're pretty much dead-on with regards to selling Common/Uncommon bulk; Craigslist or a LGS is the way to go because shipping costs are brutal. You might be able to thrown in some of your bulk rares with the bulk (un)commons and sell them to someone, via Craigslist, as a "starter collection" with a little bit of markup over what a store/dealer might give you. It's worth a try at the least.
Foreign language cards are rarely worth more unless they are Foreign Black Border of old staples (think Bolts, Swords Demonic Tutor), scarce printings (i.e. old Korean/Russian), or have goofy names (German Wild Nactl is Wilder Nactl).
Basics might be worth something if they are high-demand arts, like Odyssey Plains #333 or Alara Swamp #238. This goes double for foils, with some of the arts in high demand for Cubes/EDH. I assume you don't have any Promo, ABU, or Portal # Kingdoms basics mixed in, but if you do, those could be worth something to the right buyer.
Lots of collectors are interested in some strange Magic paraphernalia. For instance, old fat pack Player's Guides can sometimes sell for $10 or more and some of the spindowns or life counters can fetch a bit as well.
As it says, ive been playing for 5-6 years, and now that im out of college and looking to do adulting, I had to get a jump start on my loans, so im looking to rid an entire collection, does anyone have any good success stories on how to do it? its alot of high end cards and completed edh with plenty of bulk Merged -knickm
As it says, ive been playing for 5-6 years, and now that im out of college and looking to do adulting, I had to get a jump start on my loans, so im looking to rid an entire collection, does anyone have any good success stories on how to do it? its alot of high end cards and completed edh with plenty of bulk
Look up to one of the stickied threads in this subforum...
As it says, ive been playing for 5-6 years, and now that im out of college and looking to do adulting, I had to get a jump start on my loans, so im looking to rid an entire collection, does anyone have any good success stories on how to do it? its alot of high end cards and completed edh with plenty of bulk Merged -knickm
Depending on what you have, I'd advise you to keep the good stuff and dump the bulk. Nobody quits Magic for good (especially with a weak reason like "looking to do adulting"), and you'll wish you never sold out. Your MTG collection won't make any real difference in your student loans, or anything else for that matter. This is coming from an almost-40 year old dude that is very much an adult - house, family, career, etc. I've sold out a few times and I retrospectively regret each instance. Just put the cards in a box in the back of the closet and focus on your life. MTG will be there when you come back.
As it says, ive been playing for 5-6 years, and now that im out of college and looking to do adulting, I had to get a jump start on my loans, so im looking to rid an entire collection, does anyone have any good success stories on how to do it? its alot of high end cards and completed edh with plenty of bulk Merged -knickm
Depending on what you have, I'd advise you to keep the good stuff and dump the bulk. Nobody quits Magic for good (especially with a weak reason like "looking to do adulting"), and you'll wish you never sold out. Your MTG collection won't make any real difference in your student loans, or anything else for that matter. This is coming from an almost-40 year old dude that is very much an adult - house, family, career, etc. I've sold out a few times and I retrospectively regret each instance. Just put the cards in a box in the back of the closet and focus on your life. MTG will be there when you come back.
I would likely suggest keeping a couple of edh decks that you particularly like, you should also be able to safely keep any reserved list cards you have. But honestly the rest if you aren't going to be using them anytime soon, you should sell. The rate of reprinting with wizards these days is at a significantly faster pace than in previous years. Between Commander products, Masters sets, vaults, anthology box sets, and the occasional reprinting in other sets, to hold non-reserved list cards can end up being a net negative to the value of ones collection. In the short term for the cards that don't get reprinted the values can certainly increase, but in the longer term, I fully expect pretty much every non-reserved list card to get a decent reprint which will bring their values down from where they currently are.
Check out this thread though (that these posts were moved to), there is some great advice on how to best monetize a collection depending upon how much effort you want to put into it.
I would likely suggest keeping a couple of edh decks that you particularly like, you should also be able to safely keep any reserved list cards you have. But honestly the rest if you aren't going to be using them anytime soon, you should sell.
I'll echo this advice - if your student loans are anything like mine, your decks won't put a dent in them. And if you find yourself in a new job, in a new state, and you're looking for a way to get a social life off the ground, you'll be glad that you've got those decks in your back pocket. If you can move the rest, that's great (I'd just keep the decks and move the rest - I wouldn't even bother holding the RL cards unless you have truly irreplaceable stuff like power or A/B duals). Sure, holding RL cards is generally the best financial move if we're talking MTG cards, but if you're leaving the game then there are other investment opportunities that become available that don't tie up your attention keeping tabs on mtgfinance.
Hey guys. I have a fairly substantial collection I'm looking to sell and would like some advice if possible. TCG mid is ~$10,800 and low is ~$7,600. This does not include any bulk rares, uncommons, or commons of which I probably have ~15k; though does include some bulk foils. Its mostly staples and in-demand stuff. Currently all cards are in custom-made binders -
no constructed decks. http://store.tcgplayer.com/collection/view/509782.
Circumstances as they are demand that I sell as a whole - and quickly - lest I be living in a van down by the river. My landlord passed and the beneficiary(s) of her estate take possession of the house 1st week of October. I found out about this a week ago. So, yeah. Goodbye pretty collection, as much as it pains me to do it. It is literally my only option.
I included details only to demonstrate my urgency and seriousness. All of that being said: what can I realistically expect to get? Im in the Pacific NW - so its not like there is a shortage of potential buyers.
Hey guys. I have a fairly substantial collection I'm looking to sell and would like some advice if possible. TCG mid is ~$10,800 and low is ~$7,600. This does not include any bulk rares, uncommons, or commons of which I probably have ~15k; though does include some bulk foils. Its mostly staples and in-demand stuff. Currently all cards are in custom-made binders -
no constructed decks. http://store.tcgplayer.com/collection/view/509782.
Circumstances as they are demand that I sell as a whole - and quickly - lest I be living in a van down by the river. My landlord passed and the beneficiary(s) of her estate take possession of the house 1st week of October. I found out about this a week ago. So, yeah. Goodbye pretty collection, as much as it pains me to do it. It is literally my only option.
I included details only to demonstrate my urgency and seriousness. All of that being said: what can I realistically expect to get? Im in the Pacific NW - so its not like there is a shortage of potential buyers.
That is incredibly unfortunate and I'm sorry for your loss.
If you only have a week, I'd say that you're probably going to be looking closer to the $7k mark, possibly even less. I glanced at your list, and while you have some pretty awesome stuff, the fact that your most expensive card is an Island (one of the best Islands, but still an Island) really hurts you. You have a lot of stuff in the $50-$200 range, which is great, but since most of that is newer you run the risk of people going "Meh, I've got half of this, so it's only worth $(7500-N) to me", where N is any number they made up. That really limits your number of potential buyers - I know that if I'm going to be laying out that kind of cash (which is wayyyy more than I have in my bank account), I want to see power, or at least a big pile of revised duals. Realistically, you'll be selling this not to a player to use but to a collection flipper (who, to be fair, maybe plays as well), who will make you an offer of about 50% TCGMid, especially since you'll be asking for cash.
I'd probably pull out the judge foil lands, maybe even the shocks, and the Blood Moon. They're unlikely to significantly impact the price that you get from a bulk flipper (couple hundred bucks on a few-thousand dollar collection), and you should be able to sell them quickly as singles. So, very relevant question: are you willing to ship a few cards/deal with online sales? Or is this a strictly cash-only operation?
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Hey guys. I have a fairly substantial collection I'm looking to sell and would like some advice if possible. TCG mid is ~$10,800 and low is ~$7,600. This does not include any bulk rares, uncommons, or commons of which I probably have ~15k; though does include some bulk foils. Its mostly staples and in-demand stuff. Currently all cards are in custom-made binders -
no constructed decks. http://store.tcgplayer.com/collection/view/509782.
Circumstances as they are demand that I sell as a whole - and quickly - lest I be living in a van down by the river. My landlord passed and the beneficiary(s) of her estate take possession of the house 1st week of October. I found out about this a week ago. So, yeah. Goodbye pretty collection, as much as it pains me to do it. It is literally my only option.
I included details only to demonstrate my urgency and seriousness. All of that being said: what can I realistically expect to get? Im in the Pacific NW - so its not like there is a shortage of potential buyers.
That is incredibly unfortunate and I'm sorry for your loss.
If you only have a week, I'd say that you're probably going to be looking closer to the $7k mark, possibly even less. I glanced at your list, and while you have some pretty awesome stuff, the fact that your most expensive card is an Island (one of the best Islands, but still an Island) really hurts you. You have a lot of stuff in the $50-$200 range, which is great, but since most of that is newer you run the risk of people going "Meh, I've got half of this, so it's only worth $(7500-N) to me", where N is any number they made up. That really limits your number of potential buyers - I know that if I'm going to be laying out that kind of cash (which is wayyyy more than I have in my bank account), I want to see power, or at least a big pile of revised duals. Realistically, you'll be selling this not to a player to use but to a collection flipper (who, to be fair, maybe plays as well), who will make you an offer of about 50% TCGMid, especially since you'll be asking for cash.
I'd probably pull out the judge foil lands, maybe even the shocks, and the Blood Moon. They're unlikely to significantly impact the price that you get from a bulk flipper (couple hundred bucks on a few-thousand dollar collection), and you should be able to sell them quickly as singles. So, very relevant question: are you willing to ship a few cards/deal with online sales? Or is this a strictly cash-only operation?
Thank you for your response. I actually have been buying and selling on eBay since ~2000 or so and earlier this year sold off a small portion of my collection when my ex lost her job. Truth be told I rarely play anymore and really have done a bit of collection buying myself lately - though nothing nearly in this price bracket. My issue with eBay is Paypal. I hate Paypal with an all-consuming fiery passion. Every time Im forced to bend over and take it up the tailpipe from those bastards a little piece of my dignity dies. But I digress.
The reason I need a large sum at once is because I have no time - I am literally in my car homeless with no posessions if I cant come up with the cash to move into another place - an undertaking that is very costly.
I think Im going to put it up on eBay tonight under a new account so if it sells for $1k I my feedback wont get dinged when I obviously dont follow through. I'll explain as much and being that I will only sell this collection face to face, money exchanged in person after whomever is satisfied that the collection is as stated with regard to condition and everything listed in included, my lack of feedback shouldnt hurt. I figure the people with the means to buy this probably factor in travel expenses if necessary when assessing what theyre willing to pay.
I was expecting I could get around $5-6k. We shall see. If eBay doesnt work out, I may see if one of the more popular LGS in thr area has any interest. Im just hoping my desperation isnt immediately obvious.
The reason I need a large sum at once is because I have no time - I am literally in my car homeless with no posessions if I cant come up with the cash to move into another place - an undertaking that is very costly.
I think Im going to put it up on eBay tonight under a new account so if it sells for $1k I my feedback wont get dinged when I obviously dont follow through. I'll explain as much and being that I will only sell this collection face to face, money exchanged in person after whomever is satisfied that the collection is as stated with regard to condition and everything listed in included, my lack of feedback shouldnt hurt. I figure the people with the means to buy this probably factor in travel expenses if necessary when assessing what theyre willing to pay.
I was expecting I could get around $5-6k. We shall see. If eBay doesnt work out, I may see if one of the more popular LGS in thr area has any interest. Im just hoping my desperation isnt immediately obvious.
Get a quote from your LGS first. Get a couple quotes, if you're in range of several stores. Then, if you still want to try the eBay route, I'd set a reserve at 115% of the highest quote - that lets you recoup the eBay and PayPal fees. But for a new account, they may hold the money for a little bit. If you truly need the money this week, I'd say LGS-it up.
Best of luck; let us know how it works out.
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The reason I need a large sum at once is because I have no time - I am literally in my car homeless with no posessions if I cant come up with the cash to move into another place - an undertaking that is very costly.
I think Im going to put it up on eBay tonight under a new account so if it sells for $1k I my feedback wont get dinged when I obviously dont follow through. I'll explain as much and being that I will only sell this collection face to face, money exchanged in person after whomever is satisfied that the collection is as stated with regard to condition and everything listed in included, my lack of feedback shouldnt hurt. I figure the people with the means to buy this probably factor in travel expenses if necessary when assessing what theyre willing to pay.
I was expecting I could get around $5-6k. We shall see. If eBay doesnt work out, I may see if one of the more popular LGS in thr area has any interest. Im just hoping my desperation isnt immediately obvious.
Get a quote from your LGS first. Get a couple quotes, if you're in range of several stores. Then, if you still want to try the eBay route, I'd set a reserve at 115% of the highest quote - that lets you recoup the eBay and PayPal fees. But for a new account, they may hold the money for a little bit. If you truly need the money this week, I'd say LGS-it up.
Best of luck; let us know how it works out.
One other thing you may want to consider doing is go onto the facebook MTG page. It'll take a day or so to get yourself admitted in but having spent a significant amount of time there, you will find that several moderate to large store fronts have people with accounts on there. For Example, Joe Steet is a representative of Dave & Adam's Card World out of New York. If you post information about an entire collection you may get a hit or two there. I will also echo what KnickM said. They'll likely make an offer that is 50% of TCG low. You may be able to negotiate a bit on that, but more importantly you'll be able to find more store fronts quickly that way.
Barring that, I'd also hit up Star City Games, Channel Fireball, Coolstuffinc, Troll and Toad, etc and see if you can get an offer for what you've got. It'd be worth the effort.
The reason I need a large sum at once is because I have no time - I am literally in my car homeless with no posessions if I cant come up with the cash to move into another place - an undertaking that is very costly.
I think Im going to put it up on eBay tonight under a new account so if it sells for $1k I my feedback wont get dinged when I obviously dont follow through. I'll explain as much and being that I will only sell this collection face to face, money exchanged in person after whomever is satisfied that the collection is as stated with regard to condition and everything listed in included, my lack of feedback shouldnt hurt. I figure the people with the means to buy this probably factor in travel expenses if necessary when assessing what theyre willing to pay.
I was expecting I could get around $5-6k. We shall see. If eBay doesnt work out, I may see if one of the more popular LGS in thr area has any interest. Im just hoping my desperation isnt immediately obvious.
Get a quote from your LGS first. Get a couple quotes, if you're in range of several stores. Then, if you still want to try the eBay route, I'd set a reserve at 115% of the highest quote - that lets you recoup the eBay and PayPal fees. But for a new account, they may hold the money for a little bit. If you truly need the money this week, I'd say LGS-it up.
Best of luck; let us know how it works out.
One other thing you may want to consider doing is go onto the facebook MTG page. It'll take a day or so to get yourself admitted in but having spent a significant amount of time there, you will find that several moderate to large store fronts have people with accounts on there. For Example, Joe Steet is a representative of Dave & Adam's Card World out of New York. If you post information about an entire collection you may get a hit or two there. I will also echo what KnickM said. They'll likely make an offer that is 50% of TCG low. You may be able to negotiate a bit on that, but more importantly you'll be able to find more store fronts quickly that way.
Barring that, I'd also hit up Star City Games, Channel Fireball, Coolstuffinc, Troll and Toad, etc and see if you can get an offer for what you've got. It'd be worth the effort.
I would only sell to one of the big stores if I had no other options, or was desperate to get rid of my collection for low dollar but you will get your money fast. I would also recommend avoiding PucaTrade. For those interested, I do buy entire collections.
I had to make a new account as I forgot my old one. It's been a few years (I was here wayyy back).
Anyhow, I've been thinking on selling my RV Duals playset (40 cards) as a whole as I could do with some cash. Plus I fear Wastelands, basic lands rule ;).
I looked over the forums what would be the best place to post this. If this isn't the right place, apologies and please redirect me.
The problem is, I keep reading that the prices are just going up but I can't seem to find a good price for them. I really just don't know. I've checked MTGcardmarket, TCGplayer, Ebay but prices are quite far apart. As this community is quite solid perhaps you guys might have a good estimate for me, and what place best to sell it? (I dislike Ebay for its fees) Condition wise they are all in good condition. Not all of them are NM but I'd say they hover between VG to EX to NM. So a realistic price for a (condition-wise) fair playset. I hope you can help me out.
Thanks in advance
Hi there 1punchdragons, and welcome (back) to MTGS.
Pricing is going to depend on a few things. First, where you are geographically. If you're in a city, you can probably find someone to buy them in-person and not have to pay eBay/TCGp/MKM fees. Second, if you're selling them as a set you're going to take more of a haircut than selling them individually. I know people who'd be willing to buy a few individuals but I know very few people who have the spare cash to drop on a full set of 40. So you limit your audience, ergo less competition.
As with most things, it's work vs reward. If you're willing to do more work, you can get more for them. Instead of giving you a number, I'll tell you how I'd get the number (because these things are easy to look up, but take some time). Go to TCGp (or MKM if you're in Europe) and look up the lowest price for MP copies. That's the very most that people will pay you.
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I would actually try the high end facebook page. Things usually move very quickly there and you can avoid paying the fees. There are actually several pages on MTG sales - there's the high end page, buy/sell/trade page, collectors, etc. If you want to sell an entire collection in 1 shot, you'll have to take less than TCG low - 20%. If you're willing to piecemeal it out, you can get close to TCG low - 10%.
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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
Honestly, if Wizards didn't believe the MMO Would increase the popularity of the card game why would they do it? I do believe that the MMO will lead to increased exposure to the game - sort of a hearthstone in reverse. How much of an increase remains to be seen. However, I don't think you'll see another increase like we saw from 2010-2014 when the player base exploded.
I would anticipate some sort of growth, but card prices inflating significantly because of it? Color me skeptical. Doubly so with Wizards changing how much and how frequently they are reprinting cards. I kind of anticipate anything not on the reserve list to stagnate on prices.
Your Holiness, if you're considering selling, I'd go ahead with it without waiting for WOTC's latest marketing scheme.
Two possibilities:
1) The new MMO is pay-to-play
2) The new MMO will be free-to-play
If it's #1, then they're looking to get extant MTG players hooked on an MMO. Won't affect your collection.
If it's #2, they're looking to hook MMO players on MTG. That may draw some people in, but honestly, is WOTC going to make a WoW-killer? Better companies have tried and failed. This is not going to suddenly bring a huge influx of players.
WOTC will always be cooking up marketing ploys like this to try to increase the playerbase. Sell on your timetable, not theirs.
I'm pretty surprised to come back after about a year or so's break and find what the values on my cards are like. I'm not too surprised Zen fetches tanked because of that reprint, but my foil shocks have nearly halved in price. The average price on my cube on CubeTutor dropped $2K. My Expeditions have tanked at least $20 per. My foil Jace is waaaay down to $300 and my poor Tarmogoyfs have nearly halved in price since Eternal Masters. Don't even get me started on the eternal masters foil printings I speculated on, Daze and Winter Orb really didn't pay off at all. The only pleasant surprise I came back to was that my foil Lorwyn Thoughtseize has gone from around $200 up to $500. It really feels like it's time to cash out before further reprints or a decline of interest in the game destroy my entire collection's value.
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Yep. Wizards' reprinting policies has made collecting anything that isn't RL a dangerous proposition. I don't even want to think about how much I've lost, but it has to be a similar amount to yours. It's made me not want to buy anything that isn't on the RL.
My goals in this is to A) turn my more expensive cards into MTGO tix/packs, and B) significantly reduce the bulk of my collection. For tickets, I understand that CapeFearGame buys singles and bulk commons/uncommons at a 20% premium if you choose to take MTGOtrader bot credits instead of cash.
I've sorted my collection first into rares/mythics or common/uncommons and then by expansion, The rares I scanned into DelverLens add sorted into <$1, <$5 and >$5 categories, the latter of which I'll sell as singles. I used tcgplayer price lists to pull out the money commons/uncommons (thank you Aether Vial!), and just for fun set aside the commons/uncommons I felt had potential to be chase cards in the future; the rest of I'll sell as bulk for ~$3/1000 cards. I also removed and scanned all foil cards as Cape Fear Games offer a higher bulk-rate for those.
...Or that was my plan until I realized that the shipping costs for bulk commons/uncommons mean I'll be lucky to break even. I may do it anyway as a least it will be equivalent to just buying tix online with the added value of no longer having to store the cards, but I'm also going to see if any game store within driving distance (from Charlotte) or Craigslist is interested.
Some outstanding questions/comments:
You're pretty much dead-on with regards to selling Common/Uncommon bulk; Craigslist or a LGS is the way to go because shipping costs are brutal. You might be able to thrown in some of your bulk rares with the bulk (un)commons and sell them to someone, via Craigslist, as a "starter collection" with a little bit of markup over what a store/dealer might give you. It's worth a try at the least.
Foreign language cards are rarely worth more unless they are Foreign Black Border of old staples (think Bolts, Swords Demonic Tutor), scarce printings (i.e. old Korean/Russian), or have goofy names (German Wild Nactl is Wilder Nactl).
Basics might be worth something if they are high-demand arts, like Odyssey Plains #333 or Alara Swamp #238. This goes double for foils, with some of the arts in high demand for Cubes/EDH. I assume you don't have any Promo, ABU, or Portal # Kingdoms basics mixed in, but if you do, those could be worth something to the right buyer.
Lots of collectors are interested in some strange Magic paraphernalia. For instance, old fat pack Player's Guides can sometimes sell for $10 or more and some of the spindowns or life counters can fetch a bit as well.
Merged -knickm
Look up to one of the stickied threads in this subforum...
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/market-street/market-street-cafe/769262-selling-a-whole-collection-thread
Most everything about how to best do this basing it off of how much work you want to put in versus maximizing your profit is listed in this thread
Depending on what you have, I'd advise you to keep the good stuff and dump the bulk. Nobody quits Magic for good (especially with a weak reason like "looking to do adulting"), and you'll wish you never sold out. Your MTG collection won't make any real difference in your student loans, or anything else for that matter. This is coming from an almost-40 year old dude that is very much an adult - house, family, career, etc. I've sold out a few times and I retrospectively regret each instance. Just put the cards in a box in the back of the closet and focus on your life. MTG will be there when you come back.
I would likely suggest keeping a couple of edh decks that you particularly like, you should also be able to safely keep any reserved list cards you have. But honestly the rest if you aren't going to be using them anytime soon, you should sell. The rate of reprinting with wizards these days is at a significantly faster pace than in previous years. Between Commander products, Masters sets, vaults, anthology box sets, and the occasional reprinting in other sets, to hold non-reserved list cards can end up being a net negative to the value of ones collection. In the short term for the cards that don't get reprinted the values can certainly increase, but in the longer term, I fully expect pretty much every non-reserved list card to get a decent reprint which will bring their values down from where they currently are.
Check out this thread though (that these posts were moved to), there is some great advice on how to best monetize a collection depending upon how much effort you want to put into it.
I'll echo this advice - if your student loans are anything like mine, your decks won't put a dent in them. And if you find yourself in a new job, in a new state, and you're looking for a way to get a social life off the ground, you'll be glad that you've got those decks in your back pocket. If you can move the rest, that's great (I'd just keep the decks and move the rest - I wouldn't even bother holding the RL cards unless you have truly irreplaceable stuff like power or A/B duals). Sure, holding RL cards is generally the best financial move if we're talking MTG cards, but if you're leaving the game then there are other investment opportunities that become available that don't tie up your attention keeping tabs on mtgfinance.
no constructed decks.
http://store.tcgplayer.com/collection/view/509782.
Circumstances as they are demand that I sell as a whole - and quickly - lest I be living in a van down by the river. My landlord passed and the beneficiary(s) of her estate take possession of the house 1st week of October. I found out about this a week ago. So, yeah. Goodbye pretty collection, as much as it pains me to do it. It is literally my only option.
I included details only to demonstrate my urgency and seriousness. All of that being said: what can I realistically expect to get? Im in the Pacific NW - so its not like there is a shortage of potential buyers.
That is incredibly unfortunate and I'm sorry for your loss.
If you only have a week, I'd say that you're probably going to be looking closer to the $7k mark, possibly even less. I glanced at your list, and while you have some pretty awesome stuff, the fact that your most expensive card is an Island (one of the best Islands, but still an Island) really hurts you. You have a lot of stuff in the $50-$200 range, which is great, but since most of that is newer you run the risk of people going "Meh, I've got half of this, so it's only worth $(7500-N) to me", where N is any number they made up. That really limits your number of potential buyers - I know that if I'm going to be laying out that kind of cash (which is wayyyy more than I have in my bank account), I want to see power, or at least a big pile of revised duals. Realistically, you'll be selling this not to a player to use but to a collection flipper (who, to be fair, maybe plays as well), who will make you an offer of about 50% TCGMid, especially since you'll be asking for cash.
I'd probably pull out the judge foil lands, maybe even the shocks, and the Blood Moon. They're unlikely to significantly impact the price that you get from a bulk flipper (couple hundred bucks on a few-thousand dollar collection), and you should be able to sell them quickly as singles. So, very relevant question: are you willing to ship a few cards/deal with online sales? Or is this a strictly cash-only operation?
Thank you for your response. I actually have been buying and selling on eBay since ~2000 or so and earlier this year sold off a small portion of my collection when my ex lost her job. Truth be told I rarely play anymore and really have done a bit of collection buying myself lately - though nothing nearly in this price bracket. My issue with eBay is Paypal. I hate Paypal with an all-consuming fiery passion. Every time Im forced to bend over and take it up the tailpipe from those bastards a little piece of my dignity dies. But I digress.
The reason I need a large sum at once is because I have no time - I am literally in my car homeless with no posessions if I cant come up with the cash to move into another place - an undertaking that is very costly.
I think Im going to put it up on eBay tonight under a new account so if it sells for $1k I my feedback wont get dinged when I obviously dont follow through. I'll explain as much and being that I will only sell this collection face to face, money exchanged in person after whomever is satisfied that the collection is as stated with regard to condition and everything listed in included, my lack of feedback shouldnt hurt. I figure the people with the means to buy this probably factor in travel expenses if necessary when assessing what theyre willing to pay.
I was expecting I could get around $5-6k. We shall see. If eBay doesnt work out, I may see if one of the more popular LGS in thr area has any interest. Im just hoping my desperation isnt immediately obvious.
Best of luck; let us know how it works out.
One other thing you may want to consider doing is go onto the facebook MTG page. It'll take a day or so to get yourself admitted in but having spent a significant amount of time there, you will find that several moderate to large store fronts have people with accounts on there. For Example, Joe Steet is a representative of Dave & Adam's Card World out of New York. If you post information about an entire collection you may get a hit or two there. I will also echo what KnickM said. They'll likely make an offer that is 50% of TCG low. You may be able to negotiate a bit on that, but more importantly you'll be able to find more store fronts quickly that way.
Barring that, I'd also hit up Star City Games, Channel Fireball, Coolstuffinc, Troll and Toad, etc and see if you can get an offer for what you've got. It'd be worth the effort.
I would only sell to one of the big stores if I had no other options, or was desperate to get rid of my collection for low dollar but you will get your money fast. I would also recommend avoiding PucaTrade. For those interested, I do buy entire collections.
Hi there 1punchdragons, and welcome (back) to MTGS.
Pricing is going to depend on a few things. First, where you are geographically. If you're in a city, you can probably find someone to buy them in-person and not have to pay eBay/TCGp/MKM fees. Second, if you're selling them as a set you're going to take more of a haircut than selling them individually. I know people who'd be willing to buy a few individuals but I know very few people who have the spare cash to drop on a full set of 40. So you limit your audience, ergo less competition.
As with most things, it's work vs reward. If you're willing to do more work, you can get more for them. Instead of giving you a number, I'll tell you how I'd get the number (because these things are easy to look up, but take some time). Go to TCGp (or MKM if you're in Europe) and look up the lowest price for MP copies. That's the very most that people will pay you.