Comments on: Insider: Whose Value Are We Talking About, Again?

By: @torerotutor

@torerotutor — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 21:58:30 +0000

In reply to JC Cunningham. Yeah the SDCC events were sweet, i highly reccomend checking out the magic stuff next time. prizes were sick, like foil sheets and such. Also a majority of players were first time players, and tons of judge ringers were winning events while they weren't on shift.

By: @torerotutor

@torerotutor — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 21:57:13 +0000

In reply to yorib. Thanks for the feedback dude. This is essentially the conversation we had had prior to meeting that day (as i had expected to be receiving the card he desperately wanted). I even had a discussion again with my friend when this article went up, and told him,, "Had you specifically asked your friend to help you make a decision, that's totally cool. But him just blurting out prices from various sources just wasn't helping what we were trying to do." I acknowledge that it may have been awkward the way I handled it and wanted to make sure to smooth things over.

By: JC Cunningham

JC Cunningham — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 21:19:49 +0000

As a guy who sticks up for noobs getting taken advantage of and says hey man u r getting taken check ur values, I do understand looking out for a friend. That being said the way the friend handled it was poorly on his side. Assuming someone would trade at scg buy prices vs retail ever, unless it was stated by the parties trading, is crossing the line. Love the article very interesting. I was at sdcc but didn’t attend any magic events now I wish I had sounds like they had some great prizes and a lot of fun

By: @steveexplosion

@steveexplosion — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 18:35:54 +0000

You weren't wrong in telling the friend to butt out. Even if $30 was the "right" buy price for Command Tower, he's asking you to cash out your card at dealer buy prices to buy his friend's Ajani at $30 cash. Did he think you're a moron?

By: yorib

yorib — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 17:33:21 +0000

For better or worse, as a guy who writes about mtg finance, you are going to have a repuation as someone who knows what he is doing. Your friend likely just wants to make sure that he's getting a fair deal and solicited his friend for help. I've found in cases like this that you need to make sure to be able to easily demonstrate why you need to get $X for a card.

In the future, it might help if you have written down the buy prices at a couple different stores (CoolStuff Inc is paying $45) along with the minimum you could get (net of fees/shipping) from eBay. In this case you could have said, "Wow, I guess SCG has easier access to judge foils than these other stores I found. Turns out that CoolStuffInc is paying $45 and I could get $65ish from ebay since they are selling for $80ish there. Look, I just want a deal that we can both be happy with. I figure if you give roughly $55 in cards that I can sell to a store, then we both win. Honestly, I don't even care what they are."

By: Sigmund Ausfresser

Sigmund Ausfresser — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:39:12 +0000

Great article! Your example really resonated with me, and I get frustrated trying to trade with people who fixate on a number rather than broader transaction. This highlights why blindly looking up card prices is not always a good idea.

Also, I agree it may be nearly time to sell Thragtusk. It's $15 on SCG…do you really think people are going to trade Snapcaster Mages for Thragtusks? I know I wouldn't, which means I shouldn't be buying them at prices near Snappy's right now.