The Shadowmoor release has come and gone. I hope all of you had a great time! I certainly did, placing within our top 4. I grabbed a new shiny promo card and a handful of packs. What more could I ask for? As the night progressed, there was another exciting element that certainly made the night all the more successful.

Trading magic cards will be a great opportunity for us all to get those cards we need for decks and collections. With so many people having and looking for so many different things, we are all bound to find someone with that hard to find gem who would be happy to trade it away. Despite the number of great possibilities, there are also trading horror stories from beginners and experienced players alike. They may have either lost value on a trade because the other trader stretched the truth a bit or that trader simply nodded the ok when you unknowingly offered a deal that was a steal for him. No one wants to be taken advantage of when they are just trying to have a good time. With another FNM or maybe a major tournament in our sights; there are a few things we can keep in mind for all sorts of trading fun.

Trading Tips

1. Know your prices! - You will come across people who could count the number of trades they have participated in on one hand, others who are more interested in making money off of trading than actually playing the game, and a whole lot of people in between. I have encountered them all and seemingly the most obvious tip, is what helps me always get a great deal on a trade. You simply have to have an approximate value of what all your cards are worth and also what the values are of any card you would possibly want. No problem right? This is a lot of information to take in and if you sit in front of your computer from now till the prerelease, you won’t memorize the price of every card ever made. You can; however, start the process. In the long run, the easiest ways to gain knowledge of card prices are:

Buy cards online! More specifically, buying from eBay will help you more than anything. Why eBay? This has nothing to do with saving money, or having worse or better customer service. The reason why eBay is an ideal place for learning, is that you have to go through the trouble of looking up what the prices are worth on a site like magictraders.com (which takes eBay prices into account) to see what the average price of what other buyers are buying on eBay. Going to a “by the store price” site to sit there and memorize prices will fry your brain and your desire for knowledge. Buying on eBay will increase your interest level because there is a level of excitement that comes when buying in auction. You will then have to go to a website to find the prices of the cards, which will allow you to remember accurate card prices off the top of your head when you need to. You could also take prices from a “by the store price” website; however, most honest traders seem to use eBay prices in their values because some sites price cards that are not used in competitive magic at seemingly high prices. Would you pay $10 for Coat of Arms? Most likely if someone wants your Coat of Arms and you tell them an online store website has it at $10, they will probably say never mind.

Trade cards online! - The idea of this is quite similar to the concept of buying from eBay. With each trade negotiation, you will have to go back and forth making offers and counteroffers until you each feel as though it is fair. To do so, you will be forced to look up the prices of the cards at hand and afterwards you should have a pretty good idea of what the given set of cards is worth. The more online trading you do, the more you will know what cards are worth. Trading online will give you the knowledge so that when you have to price cards without a price guide at hand; you can still have a decent idea of what cards are worth within a dollar or two. You will at least, instantly pick up on the prices of staple cards and the chase rares of each new set. The more obscure cards will come with the amount of time you put into it.

And when in doubt… - ASK! There will always be people around during a tournament and if you are a bit hazy on the price of a card, ask someone nearby. I guarantee that someone, at any given tournament, will know their prices well besides the other guy you’re trading with. If you have a friend, ask their opinion of what a card is worth. The other trader should have no problem with this, but if he does then he/she isn’t worth your time anyway. As long as you are respectful and honest with other people, you will have a great time and have the respect of those you come into contact with.

2. Be confident! - What else would draw in traders who are looking for the deal of the century than someone who lets them push them into what they want? When I first started playing the game and trading, I would tend to feel a great deal of pressure from certain traders from time to time. The situation would kind of go like this; assuming each card is of approximate equal value to another:

Him: Well I am interested in your Card A, Card B, Card C, and Card D

Me: Well alright, I like your Card E, Card F, Card G and Card H. Would you do your pile for mine? 4 for 4?

Him: Hmm…Well, I mean…Card A is kind of a low want, Card B isn’t going to be in standard for much longer, Card C has a bit of whitening on the borders, and I guess Card D is fine. What about Your pile for my Card E and F?

Me: Well…uhh…

Him: I’m pretty sure this is more than fair. I mean, I could try to find other stuff, but once again, Card A is kind of a low want….

This is the typical situation of a seasoned trader, looking for the best possible steal, and trying to use his confidence to push you into doing what he wants. I haven’t run across too many traders like this guy, but they are easy to pick up on if you half a decent grasp on the prices. They will use every inch of leverage they can possibly use. They will play up the need of card quality when they need your cards, and then act as though the card is hardly damaged at all when trading it away to the guy behind you. They will ask straight out what you value your cards at so that they can compare their knowledge and analyze what they can get. If your answer, is “uhhh…I really have no idea”, then you just became their #1 target. Every once in a while I use this response just to see what kind of ridiculous offer I can get. The best way to combat these kinds of traders is by being confident. If they ask you what you value your cards at and you can look them right in the eye and ramble off fairly accurate prices, then they may settle for a fairly even trade or may possibly walk away.

3. Don’t trade away a $20 for a $10, just because you have an extra - I come across so many people who hear that someone is looking for a chase rare and get a hold of him because they have an extra. There is nothing wrong with this and actually if you can find out what people need then you can usually get a fantastic deal from them. The problem here is when people figure they already have their playset of Mutavault and therefore, trade it away for the price of some random card they want for half the price. The best metaphor for this is: If you had a random $20 bill laying around and someone offered to give you their $10 bill for it, would you pounce on that since the $20 bill is an extra? If you needed change for a $20 bill and someone just had a $10 bill or maybe a $10 bill and a $5 bill, would you say who cares and take the $10 or $15? I would like to hope that you wouldn’t. Magic cards are expensive and you should look at your cards as not only a fun hobby, but also as the money that was used to acquire them.

4. When trading down, make sure you are getting the better deal. - Sometimes in trading online and in real life, I come across a genuinely nice guy who knows what he wants and could care less how many times I tell him the trade is terribly shifted in my favor. One trade that comes to mind is an online trade in which I expressed my desire for his 2 copies of Taiga and asked him to look over my list of cards. He responded and gave me a list of what he wanted. As I looked over the list, I noticed that almost all the cards were $3 casual cards. I wrote back to him saying that I didn’t mind giving any of the cards up and that I would give him the cards he listed and some other stuff from my list. What essentially happened afterwards is that he told me that he was very interested and offered my pile of about twelve Lorwyn rares for his 2 copies of Taiga. I told him that I would give him more, but he said he was getting everything he wanted and therefore the trade was more than fair. Take the example of the $10 Coat of Arms. You could also find Tolarian Academy as a $20 on such an online store website. Would you trade your Tolarian Academy for 2 copies of Coat of Arms? As a more extreme example, lets use the Taiga story. Would you trade your Revised edition Taiga (pricing at about $32) for the following: four copies of Thoughtweft Trio at $2 a piece, Mirror Entity at $4, three copies of Arbiter of Knollridge at $1 a piece, two copies of Brion Stourarm at $2 a piece, four copies of Boggart Mob at $1.50 a piece, and four copies of Dread at $1.50 a piece? The prices add up to about the same and although you are trading one card for possibly 16 rares; you aren’t really getting a fair deal. Arguably, none of the cards for the Taiga are going to be used much, besides the Mirror Entity perhaps, yet the Taiga will be a staple need in various formats for years to come. The need for revised dual lands is still very high and the price is unlikely to drop much. To purchase a playset of Taiga, you would probably be shelling out a decent amount of money from a paycheck. To obtain the other cards, you could probably give someone about $5 for the lot. It all goes back to the idea of looking at your cards as money - as your investment.

5. When in doubt, trade for staples - You will frequently be approached for a trade in which you realize that they don’t have the deck needs you are looking for. You should never feel like you have to commit to a trade and you should never feel as though you cannot walk away from a trade. However, if you have cards that the other trader needs, you can probably get a good deal in trading for his staples or chase rares. A staple card is a card that is in high demand because it is a necessity for several decks in various formats. An example of such a card is Birds of Paradise. This card is used in just about every green deck in every format. A chase rare is generally defined as a card that is in high demand because it is one of the top cards of the latest set. If the other trader is willing to trade you these cards because he needs something that you have - why not trade for them? At least, you can entertain the trade negotiation to see what he is willing to offer. The good thing about obtaining chase rares and especially staple cards, is that there is a high demand for them, and therefore; you will have a better chance of having something to offer the trader who actually does have the cards you need. In the magic world, staples are like the common currency that can be given to any other magic player to get the cards that you need.

If you need anything to walk away from after reading this article, just keep in mind these “Six Trade Commandments”

1. Know your prices.
2. Be honest and be respectful.
3. Treat your cards as the money that they are worth.
4. Be confident!
5. When in doubt, trade for staples or chase rares.
6. Relax and have fun.

In the end, the two most important things to remember when trading really are to be respectful and have fun. With plenty of events coming up for you in the near future; I’m sure there will be plenty of epic trades and a few horror stories, but hopefully these tips will help you walk out with a sound mind and some nice cards.

-- Aaron