Huge number of Reserved List Cards-Sell or hold?
Economics forum
Posted on May 8, 2018, 6:50 p.m. by Phaetion
Lately, the cards on the Reserved List have been spiking like crazy, and a number of cards in my collection are $50+, if not $100+. I could easily hit the thousands were I to sell all of them.
The question though is should I wait until they spike even higher, knowing they'll never get reprinted? I have plans to move but the only thing really holding me back is money. I still want to remain active in the game, and I know should I dump everything, I'll probably never have the means to reacquire them.
Should I unload everything now, or should I wait for the RL cards to spike even higher? Thanks in advance.
PhthisisClock says... #3
Any investment is a huge risk... you never really know when to let it go and will inevitably kick yourself over some decisions. But if you need the cash, and it's easily sellable, I say go for it. You need the money and you'll get over it if it does go up. I sold my entire collection of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor a few years back... before they spiked. I wish I'd kept them, but I really needed the money back then and realize that the need was more important than the desire to hold-out. Best of luck!
May 8, 2018 10:17 p.m.
You could sell half and keep half. I'd look at market trends all most all reserved list cards have been steadily going up in price for a very long time. Mtg gold fish is a good source for data.
And imo if they reprint reserve list cards the prices will only go down for a bit then spike like crazy once all the low price cards are off the market
May 8, 2018 10:59 p.m.
Rabid_Wombat says... #5
I sold nearly all of my Arabian Nights and Antiquities cards a few months ago due to the fact that they spiked in price and I feared a re-print of the Reserved List ;)
May 8, 2018 11:01 p.m.
My arbiter deck has gone up 600 or so over the past month. It's insane. Reserve list silliness everywhere.
Sell if you need to get money for a worthy cause. I sold a revised NM underground sea on ebay 3 years ago for 320 because I needed the money to move. It hurts but that kind of stuff is sometimes necessary. I know I'm going to end up buying one at some point I the future too...
May 9, 2018 12:38 a.m.
The simple decision is based on three truths:
1/ RL cards will go up in price as long as the RL exists.
2/ If you need the money for something else, it is a lot better to invest it in something other than cardboard.
3/ Old MTG cards rise steadily in value, but lose liquidity at an equal rate. Even though The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale may cost 2k now compared to 1k several months ago, finding someone to buy it at that price is time-consuming, difficult to arrange and also difficult to execute properly. It gets progressively worse the more expensive a card is.
May 9, 2018 8:24 a.m.
The only benefit of MTG cards investing I see over other financial assets is their independence from other factors - barring any other changes, if the Dow Jones value is halved in a day, MTG card prices will not be affected. MTG prices are determined largely by supply and demand.
However, since your own buying power and that of others is reduced, you will not be able to liquidate your collection at full value easily; thus, your effective collection value will have decreased. If weather the storm and wait for PPP of others to rise, you will be quite ahead.
I love MTG economics!
May 9, 2018 8:34 a.m.
So, were I to hold onto them, they would only go higher in the future, despite what dips in prices they might experience?
May 9, 2018 11:49 a.m.
Well, it's likely they'll only go up assuming you have card with actual demand behind them. Take something like Grim Monolith. It's not at all necessary for EDH decks, but it's a core ramp option in some high level decks. That price tag it holds doesn't really translate to its power, but idiots like me are willing to pay lots of money to get optimized ramp packages for their decks. It will retain value as it has real demand.
On the other hand, you have reserved list cards like Exorcist. It's not really played anywhere and it is only worth its price tag to people who want to own complete sets. Sometimes these types of cards spike like crazy. Someone might acquire all copies of the card they can buy online overnight and artificially cause the price of the card to skyrocket. Good luck trying to find 50 people who are willing to pay $80 for your copies of Exorcist. A lot of old (Alpha, Beta, Antiquities, etc.) and reserved list cards like this are currently spiking for no reason. These aren't nearly as good to old onto as cards that have real demand.
Still, it's likely your reserved list cards will retain value. MtG prices actually remained relatively stable or increased during the 2008 depression, which is something I don't think even Gold managed to do initially (even though it boomed back huge afterward). That speaks to the stability of card prices overall.
May 9, 2018 1:07 p.m.
Dont sell unless it's going to save your life. These dumb cards will be better than Mickey Mantle rookies one day.
8vomit says... #2
If you need the money for a house, then unload. A home is a worthy cause.
the fact is that the demand for these cards is just going up as more and more people get into the game. Wizards has always made a point of listening to the needs and wants of the players.
I firmly believe theyre going to change their rules on the reserved list eventually. Theyre going tp put more of these cards out there in some masters set.
At the same time, Wizards will also listen to the players who hold reserved staples. Theyll make a set that has a very limited print run, and wont ruin peoples investments.
Another thing they could do is legalize the collectors edition gold boarderd cards. Then theyre still not reprinting and cam keep their word.
May 8, 2018 7:45 p.m.