Everyone has their own trading strategies and I certainly don’t disagree with yours. I would think you’d run into some issues when their suggested price source and yours differ greatly, hence my example with Obzedat (that as of recently has already become incorrect..thanks to TCG catching up)

I don’t blame you at all..here in South Carolina we suffer similar environmental conditions. I use Monster binders exclusively, which helps a lot. If you put your cards in sleeves and then in the pages, they are very well protected. I have 1 ultra-pro I won as a consolation prize in a tournament and I only keep my modern/legacy commons/uncommons <$4 in it as I don't like how "loose" the sleeves are in there.

One comment: I don’t like the idea of ever leaving my trade binder(s) in a car. This opens me up to theft or environmental damage (I live in Florida so humidity can ruin cards, foils especially). If I’m not planning to use it or bring it in to the LGS, I just leave it at home. It may be slightly less convenient but I prefer the cautious approach in order to avoid disaster.

There…now it’s magically gone…Thank you Edit option…

Ya, I can see it being in that grey area between shark and trader, but my definition of Shark was the person who is actively trying to rip someone off…trading 3x $2 cards for a $20 card, because no matter where you look it’s an unfair trade. This strategy is more about leveraging your “need” vs their “need”. Many of our competitive players know I’m more difficult to trade with because I rarely “need” your card, but you often “need” mine. Therefore, if I’m trading for something I don’t need I expect to get value out of it. But as long as you aren’t confrontational about it, people tend to accept it. It also helps to be very willing to work with people. I often get a lot of trades in when someone comes to me asking for help building a deck…and yes, I’ve steered people AWAY from my own trade stuff in order to maximize the quality of their deck…but that makes me far more trustworthy than someone clearly trying to pawn their wares on someone else and it allows me to get good trades in down the line because people remember kindness almost as much as they remember “asshole-ness”.

That’s a great question. To be honest, I had a lot of help from facebook….I was already friends with a lot of the players in our area, so I created the group..invited all my MTG friends and the store owners…and then other members invited people I wasn’t friends with. It greatly benefits everyone to have a large # of active members to a group like that…Store Owners can use it to gauge which cards are the hottest and as a platform to submit their “hot list” or whatever they need to get in stock. Players can easily compare what each store is buying and what other players are buying/selling at. It’s more of a less structured TCG player (where you have lots of individuals selling items) to maximize competition. Sure it sucks when people look at my buylist and offer slightly above it..but then that’s Capitalism for ya.

While I agree that most of their value does stem from the fact that they are used to play games, the difference is what viewpoint you see them at Collector/Trader/Player…most of the time I view them from the trader view point (as I don’t play standard as much anymore)..but the point is that I acted on a whim in this instance and made a poor trade. I could likely have gotten the Thoughtseize from someone else for less.

And again, if they want more things from you than you want from them, it’s better to reverse it and use the SCG price guide.

Kinda sharky I admit, but I’d say I’m just trying to maximize my value….

No! No it isn’t! Well, it’s irrelevant to the point you were making in that paragraph, sure. But it’s not irrelevant to the trade. The fact that cards can be used to *play games of Magic: the Gathering* is where 99% of their value comes from.

How did you go about getting the world out on your trading group through social media? I quick search turns up there is nothing in my area.

Doh! Pretend that $20 card isn’t there…..the main point is that they will pick cards that make sure the piles are over or under the agreed to amount and then will do their best to make sure you just relent and give up an over pile.

But…one thing has been bugging me since I read this. Its insignificant, but my brain just won’t let it go.

…With high dollar guy, couldn’t you just do the $20 card and the $80 card?