Holy crap! Who would buy from SCG?
Economics forum
Posted on Nov. 14, 2013, 10:16 p.m. by zandl
Just browsing through their store and noticing that their prices seem more inflated than ever.
Anger of the Gods is posted as $4.99 while tcgplayer's mid price sets it at $3.50 (and you can buy a set from a certain dealer for $1.50/card).
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is posted as $19.99 while tcgplayer's mid price sets it at ~$14.
lol
It frustrates me to no end when people consider SCG to be the premium store to buy cards from. Selling? Sure. Their prices are so high that they wind up giving you more value for your cards overall. But purchasing cards from them? You're doin' it wrong.
And don't give me that schpiel and them having a "superior selection". You can find anything, anywhere on the internet.
Food for thought; a conversation starter.
Interesting feedback. What about cool stuff, mtgmadness
November 14, 2013 10:26 p.m.
ThatOneMfer says... #4
Yup, both LGS in my area go by SCG prices. But if I order singles, troll n toad or coolstuffinc are my main suppliers. And will remain to be.
November 14, 2013 10:29 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #5
I enjoy TCGPlayer's optimizer tool. It goes out of it's way to assemble the cheapest cart possible given a few conditions. Also, my LGS uses TCG average (Since they do all their credit card business through an iPad they have the iMTG app which uses TCG prices.)
November 14, 2013 10:34 p.m.
HarbingerJK says... #7
I buy from SCG for the cool tokens they give you ; )
November 14, 2013 10:41 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #8
The truth is that SCG does have a superior selection. It has the single most expansive collection of printings, including foreigns, foils, and special releases, of any retailer.
Also, their prices aren't always inflated. They have many cards available at a reasonable price, and they have fantastic service and support to accompany it.
November 14, 2013 10:41 p.m.
deathtouch_roadrunner says... #10
If you were pro it might be worth going through them just to have an easy to work with single source since the service and selection and time savings would outweigh the $$$$ a year spent on MTG. But as a much more casual player I must agree TCGPlayer and the other cheap options are much preferable for buying cards.
November 14, 2013 11:34 p.m.
If you were pro, your cards would be paid for. That's what becoming a "professional" means; you get paid to do it.
November 14, 2013 11:39 p.m.
Another cool place to look into that has a decent selection is ABU games. It was my LGS when I lived in Idaho. They get great reviews from people both in the state who buy in the store and all over the world who get stuff shipped. The trade in policy is pretty good with the store credit as well. Searching for individual cards from specific sets and large groups of cards at one time is easy and efficient on their site. Some of the prices might more might not be the cheapest but is good to find those gems that can save you a few bucks rather than if you bought somewhere else. They have a good selection of other supplies as well if you are into that. (i.e. sleeves, playmats, dice, binders, boxes, etc.)
November 14, 2013 11:42 p.m.
deathtouch_roadrunner says... #13
I guess I don't know these things, but I sort of assumed you got paid in cash and not sealed packs of Portal Three Kingdoms or something.
November 14, 2013 11:44 p.m.
I like the 25% bonus you get for store credit when you sell SCG cards, it helps a lot. Ill sell them like around 120$ worth of cards at a time and thats a considerable bonus you get. Plus like epoch said, they always have great service. Ive noticed that their prices tend to be high for things in standard.
November 14, 2013 11:44 p.m.
IAmKingTony says... #15
I don't understand why anyone would use anything but TCG to buy singles unless you need them asap on the spot, then I can understand getting them from your local store.
November 15, 2013 12:01 a.m.
Every time I've thought of buying something on SCG, I took two minutes to look and found it cheaper somewhere else. They don't need my money though as it seems there are plenty of other people willing to overpay for things.
November 15, 2013 1:22 a.m.
Some1TookMyName says... #17
i mostly use tcg or I really try to support my local shop. but i found a really great site you can get some steals for singles. many cards are less than tcg prices. shop.strikezoneonline.com. free shipping too if youre just grabbing some singles. located in TX.
November 15, 2013 1:38 a.m.
@MadDreams: Damn. That site is cheap. I'm scrolling down the Theros page and every single card is lower than tcg's mid-price. I'll definitely bookmark it. Good find!
November 15, 2013 2:22 a.m.
VinylScratch says... #19
I just buy a ton of packs/boxes. The only singles I ever bought was 4x Kalonian Hydra when they just came out for like $200. Never buying singles again.
November 15, 2013 8:52 a.m.
UncleJackNasty says... #20
I always use tcg to check prices for trades and what not, regularly, i just go to the local stores that carry magic stuff and buy the singles if i need them, or ill trade for playsets/however many i need
November 15, 2013 8:56 a.m.
Well, pre-order pricing a different beast. About 85% of desirable cards (beyond commons and whatnot) come out at a higher price than what they will eventually settle into. Obvious exceptions for Theros are things like Master of Waves and Hero's Downfall , both of which either were or still are at 500% their pre-order prices.
But I have noticed about SCG's (un)competitive pricing on pre-orders, as well. When I emailed them a few sets ago to ask if they would price-match their competitors, they said they wouldn't. Sucks for them, because they could've had mah dollarz.
November 15, 2013 8:59 a.m.
UncleJackNasty says... #22
amazon is always a good back up choice #amazon4life
November 15, 2013 9:01 a.m.
Some1TookMyName says... #23
I'm just going to make a guess at this, but it's probably because they don't NEED to make money by selling the cards or even need to be competitive because of how well known they are, it's just nice (for them) that certain people will (& no offense to anyone) pay for their items regardless of what benefits or store credit or whatever they have. Reselling on ebay or tcg yourself is the best bang for returns, and buying elsewhere is too. Just so I'm not bashing anyone, I have purchased from SCG once before.
November 15, 2013 9:10 a.m.
GreatSword says... #24
I think the real reason their prices are so high is simple: they can get away with it.
They have such a high brand recognition and visibility in the market that even if most people don't buy from them, the slim percent that do is worth so much more than their competitors. They've got so many people coming to their site everyday for articles, videos, news, and (perhaps most importantly) upcoming events that they can charge whatever they want and someone is going to buy a thing they need.
November 15, 2013 9:11 a.m.
Some1TookMyName says... #25
Amazon can be, it's a hit or miss. I've spent a lot of time ordering cards lately and visiting a lot of sites (over 50 purchases in the past 2 months) and the site I mentioned earlier has been the best so far, I'm sure plenty of small business sites like it will have equally competitive pricing
November 15, 2013 9:13 a.m.
Hallowed_Titan says... #26
I have done a few orders from SCG and their prices were right on the money. Equal to ebay and usually less than other stores. Heck, I got a Liliana of the Veil for $20 they had marked as MP but it was only SP.
November 15, 2013 2:55 p.m.
AlexanderAlekhine says... #27
SCG is too expensive for me- so are all the other magic retailers, I buy all my cards on e-bay, and craigslist. Y'know why? Because people are easier to go through. I traded some dude three mutavaults for three Promo-Emrakuls, he knew their value and had a few tournaments under his belt- but he simply didn't want them anymore and was interested in standard cards. Talk about an awesome deal? What was better is he comes out and plays at my local FNM sometimes, he taught me all sorts of stuff about the game too. I got a lot better at it after talking to him, and he helped me build my Urza-tron deck.
November 16, 2013 5:42 p.m.
@ cakrause86, That another thing I really like about SCG, things listed as MP would definitely be considered SP elsewhere. I got a MP lowryn thoughtseize off tcgplayer, and it was in horrid condition, the back more so than the front. I got what I paid for, but it definitely made me appreciate SCG a little more.
November 16, 2013 11:01 p.m.
Hallowed_Titan says... #30
Their customer service is top notch too, I ordered 2 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon once, recieved one english and one french. I called them and they swiftly sent another english copy no problem. Told me to keep the other.
November 16, 2013 11:12 p.m.
Hallowed_Titan says... #31
I mostly use ebay for singles and playsets. They are generally the best priced all around. If I plan on doing a bulk order of non standard stuff, SCG is the way to go.
November 17, 2013 9:24 a.m.
I'd like to note that their customer service is great. A few years ago, I was placing orders with them once a month or so. They sent me a playset of Myr Battlesphere in Japanese when I asked for English, and they were more than happy to pay for return shipping and the replacement product.
On another occasion, I bought 2 packs of sleeves from SCG at an Open Series tournament. They split while shuffling for the first game I used them. I emailed SCG explaining the situation, and they immediately credited my customer account to purchase any sleeves totaling up to the split ones' value without me needing to send the split ones back. The sleeves I bought then were also crap, but those were all third-party sleeves and I was already impressed with their customer service.
Does the quality of the customer service ameliorate the inflated prices of their cards? No. Would it be too much to ask for great customer service and competitive prices? No.
They undoubtedly have more selection of Magic cards found in one place anywhere, but I'm not looking to buy a complete graded set of Beta Power 9 everyday.
November 17, 2013 12:23 p.m.
I feel like SCG is more of a control for the market, Hero's Downfall is selling for $6 then if they start selling at 12, people that use SCG for decklists wont hesitate to pay $4/5 other sites, which get an increase in sales, and bump prices up to match demand, but still stay below SCG, now theyre selling at $8/9, and so on. Especially if you have a shop that gives 1/2 cash from SCG prices
when it comes to cash i just go straight to ebay, and if its cheaper, days of waiting and shipping are worth another $1/2 in store
i think also as far as trade values it depends on your community, if shops are selling at SCG prices, people tend to trade as SCG prices, shops using other sites for prices tend to trade at those sites, at least in my experience
November 18, 2013 2:19 p.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #34
I managed to find some decent deals on SCG. Just small stuff like $.25 Simian Spirit Guide s and a $6 Sunken Ruins not too long ago.
Devonin says... #2
I don't buy singles, I only trade for them, unless I absolutely have to, and I can't buy sealed product from SCG because I'm outside the US. So their prices only matter to me because most LGSs set their prices to "Whatever SCG has"
November 14, 2013 10:19 p.m.