I am about to reveal to you the key that separates a good trader from a truly great grinder; without mastering this skill, you will be doomed to mediocrity at the trade tables. What I am talking about is creating a network of players and other grinders. There are many parts to a good network, but the key to having a perfect network overall would be to know that you can pick up any card and at least know someone who would be willing to take that card off your hands for a good price.

Allow me to illustrate my point: If you are faced with the situation to pick up a foil Japanese Goblin Welder (approximate cost is between $250 and $300), and both you and the owner know this price, but for whatever reason this guy feels like giving you a deal and wants $230 of your prime Standard cards, this would be a hard deal to pass up. However, the question you have to ask yourself is, How long will it take me to move this Goblin Welder for more than I picked it up for?

You have to remember, he is taking $230 of your prime Magic real estate that you know you can move day in and day out in most any setting, for a very specific card that caters to very specific people, and if you don’t immediately know someone who would want it, it may take you years to finally move it for a decent price. Even if you put it up on eBay, you would have to take into account the fees that eBay and PayPal charge to see if it would be worth the transaction.

However, if you know someone who would want this Welder, picking it up for $230 would be a steal! In fact, you would probably run it over to this person to get your prime Standard cards back and then some.

The Players

So how does one go about building one of these networks? First and foremost, it’s about meeting people and knowing their Magic-related interests. It doesn’t have to be as specific as “I know this guy likes big Japanese foils,” and it could be as general as “I know Person X is trying to build the new Puresteel Paladin deck.”

The best way to do this is know what the people in your area are playing and trying to build in the popular formats in your area. If everyone in your area is playing Modern, it would be a good idea to go out and start picking up Ravnica shock lands and other format staples, but having a binder full of duals will only get you so far in that group of players.

The way people perceive you as a trader is just as important as what is in your trade binder a good deal of the time. If you are the guy whom everyone perceives as someone who is always trying to get an edge in every trade, people will be less likely to deal with you. However, if you are someone whom people like to trade with, people will actively seek you out to trade with you.

There is no correct way to go about creating this perception, and in fact it can be done several ways. Personally, I like to give cards to people who are building new decks or are new to the game, and I also recently started playing Commander, which usually allows you to have other players’ undivided attention for half an hour or more. When it’s not your turn, you can spend that time talking about cards people may need or are looking for.

Generally, if you are pleasant to interact with and realize that you can’t get value in every trade with every individual, and can concede occasionally, you will have a leg up on the other sharks in the area.

The Other Sharks

Once you have been grinding for a while, you will begin to recognize other people who do what you do, and having a good working with relationship with these people can pay off in dividends. While you will most likely not gain value on other grinders very often, knowing them and their trade stock can be useful when someone approaches you and asks you for a hard-to-find card. You can either connect the two dots, which both parties will appreciate (and favors have a high trade value), or you could acquire the card from your contact and trade it to the third party yourself.

When interacting with other grinders, you need to make sure that you are not taken for a ride while also being able to build a relationship. Don’t insult them by trying to lowball them; they know the prices just like you do. Instead of trying to trade at all, you could just exchange information, such as what is moving well at the tournament, what cards you think will be hot, cards that are being bought at a higher price than normal, and other such information.

The Dealers

I would say that a lot of grinders view the dealers in the wrong light. Dealers are the way we can make money with the least amount of effort, since they are always buying. If you are able to get in good with a dealer by either helping them fill an order or finding out where they are short for an event and getting them some inventory, they may begin to seek you out and give you a little bit of a better rate than they give everyone else.

Having a good reputation with the dealers is key, and should not be overlooked. If all we do is grind cards continually, we aren’t getting anywhere beyond having a huge collection of Magic cards (and if that is your goal, that’s fine), but for me, I want to be able to have Magic pay for some of the expenses of traveling, entry fees, nice things for my girlfriend, etc. So because of this, I need a way to quickly get rid of large amounts of inventory that I accumulate. I mean, where else would I be able to move thirty Captivating Vampires if it weren’t for my friendly neighborhood Magic dealer?

I agree that I could take the time to sell these cards on eBay, but when we are talking about selling a card worth $3 to a dealer for $1.50 to $2, I will gladly give up that dollar for the convenience of moving a lot of cards all at once and avoid the eBay fees on top of the PayPal fees plus the time and effort I am saving. So rather than saying the dealers are ripping you off, or you aren’t getting full value out of your cards, think about the services they provide, rather than that dollar they are getting from you.

Happy grinding!

JR Wade

JohnRobertWade at gmail dot com

@THEJRRR on Twitter