Inherited old cards
Economics forum
Posted on March 1, 2014, 3:11 a.m. by Kizmetto
Hey, so i inherited two shoeboxes full of unsorted old cards ranging from 4th edition up to Theros.Theres simply too much to sort, and i've skimmed through it and pulled out iconic cards (like zenikar lands, Swords to Plowshares , Birds of Paradise and other modern staples) but that barely scratched the surface!
I wish to part with the full two boxes, and i don't know whats 'good' so its kind of like the lottery.
How much would you pay/should I ask for to part with the two absolutely full boxes? (I have two people interested) I dont want to simply give them away, but i dont want to rip them off either.
What do you think?
There is just absolutely so many, There is a reason why i haven't gone through and priced them all individually.
March 1, 2014 3:19 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #4
When I acquire a collection, the first thing I do is go through it and pull all the cards I know are worth at least $3 or more. I comb over the collection one more time, then start pricing everything out. It's a pain, but it's definitely worth it.
March 1, 2014 3:22 a.m.
Ahh...that sounds like such a nightmare. But it seems like I am just going to have to take a day to sort it out and price it. I almost feel like pricing the box @ 5c per card. I wish i were familiar with cards prior to Zendikar haha.
Thank you for commenting by the way Epoch.
March 1, 2014 3:26 a.m.
The problem often with unsorted collections is that one of you will almost always end up feeling ripped off. The simple fact is that a single magic card, or a handful of them, can be worth more than the entire 2 boxes. And vice versa, the whole 2 boxes might not be worth much more than the bulk price of ~$3.00 for 1,000 unsorted commons. This tends to make folks wary of buying boxes like these unless they are priced low enough to be worth the risk, which almost always means little value for yourself.
If you don't want to look up that many prices by hand, the most fair method would likely to be to set aside the known valuables and then figure out the bulk rate for the rest.
March 1, 2014 3:32 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #7
You can spend a little while going through MTGTop8's Modern and Legacy sections. They list the most popular cards in each format by frequency of occurrence, so you can get a decent idea of what it played in older formats.
Also, don't hesitate to look up a price on a card you think might serve a purpose or have some value.
March 1, 2014 3:35 a.m.
blackmarker90 says... #8
If you aren't willing to go through the boxes I will buy them minus what you have removed already.
March 1, 2014 5:22 a.m.
nighthawk101 says... #9
Honestly, I would look up all the prices and then decide what you want to do. I didn't do that, and have regretted it ever since.
March 1, 2014 9:37 a.m.
Sort it.
If you give away a box containing something crazy, you'll regret it. I and I'm sure many people have done this.
March 1, 2014 2:28 p.m.
CastleSiege says... #12
Sort them by rarity first and then price them. However, don't dismiss all cards that appear to be common because of a black symbol. I pulled an Intuition out of a bag of old cards I bought for $10. Intuition is a rare from before they were differentiated by colour and is worth ~$30.
March 1, 2014 4:24 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #13
Take a couple of hours, and plug them in to the trade binder. Then you can see the low/med/high prices. Maybe you can trade for stuff you need, or work out a fair price. Then you can negotiate with someone, and have enough information.
Most of the time these things seem very scammy to me. Especially if it is someone who has been on this site for a year or more, and is talking like they have no clue. Just red flags there.
March 1, 2014 4:46 p.m.
two shoeboxes worth of cards isn't all that much. I would have fun sorting them. That's about 1/10th of the fun I have with Magic cards.
March 1, 2014 6:20 p.m.
From my experience it is about 3500 cards in each if they are actually full.. With that in mind- I would recomend taking the time. I sold some of mine a few years ago now and i wish i would have taken the time to add them all in to get a price range. Some of the cards that i sold were pack remands, tops, as well as some other well priced commons and uncommons that i didnt know were worth quite a bit. So i guess i would say- Take the time, do it right, and who knows- you might get a deck idea out of the cards!
March 1, 2014 9:12 p.m.
Alright! I sorted the whole lot out and was quite pleased in the result. Thanks for encouraging me!I found some Alpha...Shatter? and a playset of Remand and Lord of Atlantis (revised version but still) and lots of other neat goodies!
March 4, 2014 8:21 a.m.
SharuumNyan says... #17
That's awesome Kizmetto. Glad you took the time to do it. I know a guy who bought a box of commons off someone last year for $10, and there was a Mishra's Workshop in it!
Epochalyptik says... #2
It's hard to say without an actual list of what those boxes contain.
March 1, 2014 3:15 a.m.