Biggest Four Days in Gaming

Posted on August 15, 2014

I write this upon arrival of what can only be described as the largest festival for nerd lore and activity known to man. If you enjoy anything of the fantasy or sci-fi realm, you will be right at home here in Indianapolis, Indiana once a year. Gen Con is our chance as gamers not only to explore the genres and games we have come to love, but also to branch out and enjoy little-explored facets of the industry. For me, this came years ago for another card game, and since, I have made my best effort to attend every year. Of course, that has little to do with Magic finance, but I promise I am getting there. One thing Gen Con can teach us is the major difference between our local play groups and the larger scale of Magic players.

This past week, I have received two e-mails covering this exact subject, and though both were vague in their requests, it seemed both were seeking how at adapt to their local player bases while still being able to move cards at larger events. This can be a tricky undertaking—believe me; I know. When I first started, I relied heavily on my local crowd to keep moving cards week to week while using larger events to find new homes for cards no one near me wanted. Simple enough, right? The real complicated part comes when you do not travel much—after all, how long do you have to sit on a card before even the positive value seems minimal comparatively to the money you have sunk into that stock.

I have talked about both of these subjects before, but never the transition between them. This is something I have noticed that even the most experienced of traders can find difficult. Knowing when it is okay to pick up cards you know no one in your area wants can be difficult to gauge; after all, most people have access to but a handful of larger events each year in their areas, fewer for some than for others. Knowing at the beginning of the year what events you can travel to can help you decide how much you can locally sink into cards beforehand.

I have a local area that overall detests foils outside of a few of the Commander players, and even they are rare to purchase anything. For me, this means if local players want to sell or trade me foils, I either need to have an out or large event in the immediate future—otherwise, I need to make sure I get some extra value to make sure the time I have to sit on the card is worth it. I have seen a number newer financiers move in to a foil collection thinking they had scored the jackpot, and in some ways, they had. I have also seen a number of those same people sell me the majority of those cards a few months down the road just to get rid of them. The biggest take away from this point is to make sure that while foils can make for great margins, you need to be careful how much of your Magic capital is tied up in such a slow-moving market.

Another great part of major events is the deals you can score, even with the booths that many of the major retailers set up. In many cases, I will end up spending more money at events than I sell just because of the wide variety of cards that are available with extremely competitive prices due to the number of vendors in the room. On a website, you have no competition—if someone has already found you, this means it is less relevant to be lower than other retailers. At a major event, common cards such as Standard cards or other newer releases can usually be found in someone’s showcase for nearly buy-list value. It also is relevant to mention that if you are looking to fill out a deck or buy a large quantity of cards at once, major events are perfect. Rarely are retailers willing to work out too many deals online, and even when they are, it can be a hassle. Grand Prix and events such as Gen Con can be the perfect places to put those same haggling skills you have honed when looking at collections to use.

Not only can you find cards for your own decks at these events, but when I first started in this business, I would take down lists of cards from locals and figure out what they would like to pay—yes, what they would like to pay. Once I compiled this list before a major event, I would head to the vendors first thing to seek out the deals. Anything I could find under my buyers’ values was my profit. This helped my local players obtain cheaper cards, it built my reputation both locally and abroad, and it brought more cards to my area. Most of my locals at the time cared little for condition, so whenever a vendor had a played case, that was the first place I was headed. Gen Con not only has ample of these types of buys, but it also has a number of smaller vendors that have to compete with the big dogs, which means they will typically be slashing their prices down to almost nothing.

Even through the years and the overall change to the Magic market, I have found these same things hold true. Every year, I find some of the best deals at major events such as Gen Con. What if you may not have a ton to move but you still want to seek some of the harder-to-find cards? Gen Con and other major events are also great for meeting people from areas with different interests. Not only will you meet and trade with other people from around the states, you will also find a number of international travelers, and with them come foreign cards. Unlike foils, foreign cards in my local area are usually a huge hit. This, of course, means I seek out these foreign traders, and any time I have clean, near-mint Eternal cards, I know I can usually move them to these guys for great value. Most of these gentleman have little to no boost on their cards, and as many of you know, these cards in the right areas around the states can fetch a real premium. In a market full of smart phones and even values, this is one of the last holdouts that allow those willing to travel to make some extra value off their cards.

Another great target at major events, if your local crowd is seeking them, are judge promos. Typically hard to find back home, these cards are everywhere at a Grand Prix. Due to the influx of judge packs available, you will see many of these cards for fractions of their online retail values. This can allow you to make a fair margin back home while still giving buyers a discount from the retail prices. I have spoken before on just how important it can be to form that relationship with your local area, and this is but one additional way.

Specifics

One other thing I have noticed these past few weeks through reader feedback is that though these strategy articles are helpful overall, they do not give some readers the day-to-day information they are seeking to buy or sell now. I understand that frustration, and though I have no interest in becoming a ticker of information that people can only use that week to make profit, I can understand the desire to have some more tangible information available. In this regard, on the weeks, such as this one, when most of my information is on a broader topic, I will attempt to leave room at the end for a few cards to watch that week.

Goblin Rabblemaster – A few weeks ago, I bought in at nearly bulk, and of course, that has since paid off. I have always been one to let the other guy make the last buck, and though this card certainly has potential in the coming format, I feel it may not be a bad time to move these if you still have them.

Galerider Sliver and Standard pals – Now is the time to move, as these will probably remain a few dollars after rotation, but right now, any Sliver lover is in magical dream land with a viable deck in Standard. I cannot see this price holding, and I would not be surprised to be buying these below a dollar again in the near future.

Older Slivers – Though a number of Slivers through the years have slowly crawled up in price, it is rare we see spikes such as with Galerider; that being said, I have noticed a number of these older, harder-to-find Slivers climb, even if just slightly as of late. After rotation, I expect the focus to fall away from the Standard Slivers and instead toward these older ones. It makes sense with Slivers even more so than with most tribes, as the more that are printed, the better they all become—a real hive mind, both in flavor and value.

Thank you as always for reading. If you happen to be at Gen Con this weekend, please come say hello. I should be all over the Magic hall and wandering through the exhibitor booths. If you have any questions or comments to build on this idea of the bond between local and larger vendors, I welcome them. Check in next week as I return to a decklist-focused article now that we have some more realistic Standard results. Until then, I am going to go enjoy my four days of gaming!

Ryan Bushard

@CryppleCommand