– People actually seem to find me on my own magic forum, through others that sold to me and through clubs totally unrelated to Magic where I’m known as the guy who plays.

– I always explain that they could certainly make more than I offer them, but that that would also take significant amount of work and time for them. I also always explain that they are never going to find a buyer who really wants everything they have, but that they are more likely to find someone who really wants parts and will sell or trade the rest. If it’s a more expensive collection I will explain that only few buyers have deep enough pockets, which will depress the price they can get.

– Understanding your seller needs emphasis. My most recent collection buy was from a guy told me he used to work market stalls, he knew all about having to make profits and he was actually worried that I wouldn’t make enough. He actually proposed to ignore everything under 5 euro himself and was very quick to accept that the webshop we were looking at from time to time would likely be very high with its prices. In general I always talk with the seller about playing and stuff and I will point out cards I will likely keep. Make them want to sell to you.

– Regarding checking cards for fakes, for me this would depend on the age of the collection and how I feel about the seller. Some sellers might get offended and if they clearly had the cards for a very long time there is very little chance of them being fake. This of course all depends on how I would judge the seller and whether I see anything weird. Really checking also takes time that you might not want to waste.

– On larger deals I do not bring cash. I tend to agree upfront with the seller that I will make a bank transfer while I’m there if everything works out. I’ll let them watch along and usually that’s good enough, or they check their bank account to see it arrive. Most sellers will understand that you do not want to bring a lot of cash if you can avoid it and many actually prefer to have the cash in their bank accounts anyway.