Solid investments?
Economics forum
Posted on Jan. 17, 2014, 6:37 a.m. by ChiefBell
Every week I spend about $20 on Magic. I've finished deckbuilding and so I'm looking for more general investments / useful cards for future building / trade fodder.
I'm looking for overall price stability here - I don't want crazy speculation about value increases, I just want some good, reliable purchases. Things that can sit in decks or my binder for a year or two and when I next check they'll be worth the same or about +$5 (nothing crazy).
I have two questions about some basic assumptions that I'm looking to work on:
I assume that legacy / vintage or modern staples are good, stable investments. Basic assumption - old, useful, played cards are likely to stay the same in price or slightly increase. Is this true?
Foil cards are rarer cards and are therefore more likely to be stable or slightly increase in price over time. Again, is this true?
NobodyPicksBulbasaur says... #3
The prices of eternal format staples, in general, have stabilized over the years that they have been legal to play. Especially in the case of the older cards like Force of Will or Taiga that won't be reprinted, you're going to get a good return on your investment. Cheaper, more available cards that will (probably) follow the same logic in time are Thoughtseize and Mutavault . Both are played in eternal formats, and should be expected to hold their value, if not raise in price.
Other cards currently in Standard to look for are Abrupt Decay and Deathrite Shaman .
January 17, 2014 7:44 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
Foils are alright; they take longer to decline than the nonfoils, and they're harder to find. However, the market for them kind of evaporates after they rotate (assuming they are only viable in Standard). The nonfoils will be more moveable.
Stick to the eternal and Modern stuff. If you must invest in Standard, pick up Standard cards only if they are viable in other formats. You can also invest in sealed product, but that's an entirely different discussion.
January 17, 2014 10:13 a.m.
No, I'm not interested in standard or sealed product particularly. I'd rather just buy singles that are staples in modern etc, OR are widely played In EDH, OR are highly sought after. I see it as less of a gamble in the long term because I'm obtaining cards that people have proven that they want for a few years.
I was just thinking about doing this tactically because I managed to pick up a ton of foils for low low prices (vigor for $15, wurmcoil engine for $5, craterhoof behemoth for $15) and I knew that I could trade these away easily for SCG prices in my local shop and therefore 'make money' or rather - end up with more valuable product than I started with.
I therefore think that investing in high quality, old, sought after, foil cards is a good idea?
January 17, 2014 10:27 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #7
It's iffy. The problem with investing in older foils is that they tend not to change in price. If you're buying them at market value, you're basically just buying the cardboard equivalent of a gift card. If you're buying them for under market value, you need to make sure you can turn enough of a profit to justify the fact that you spent money. It doesn't make sense to buy a $3 card for $2.50 just to get that $0.50 "profit," especially if you're trading for $3 instead of selling for $3.
January 17, 2014 11:47 a.m.
Im buying at 75% of the average between tcgmid and starcity.
For example - if a card is listed at $30 on tcgmid and $35 on SCG, then I buy at 75% of $32.50, which is $24.30.
The way I figured it out was that I'm buying cards for 75% of market price AND given that they're old foils, they're going to retain value. I can then use, trade or sell those cards locally. I want to fill up my binder with strong, interesting cards.
January 17, 2014 12:03 p.m.
I would completely agree with you if I was buying at market value - but I'm not.
I'm using online to buy cards at 75% value then I'm taking them to my local shop and trading or selling according to full scg prices (because that's how everyone does things in there).
I'm kind of a bad person but I can choose to buy all these cool cards for cheap and play them in edh etc (Yay!) or sell for a few dollars. Or just fill up my binder. Whatever.
January 17, 2014 12:07 p.m.
SharuumNyan says... #10
Foils are more likely to warp and lose value if you don't take good care of them. It's a bit more of a risk.
The shocklands are pretty cheap right now, and they're going to be staples forever. Might be a good time to pick up a playset of each.
If you can open Mutavault in a pack it's something to hold on to, but now is definitely not the time to buy singles. SCG currently has them at $40, but were selling them around $15 during their summer sale (I'm still kicking myself over that one).
Snapcaster Mage might be a good investment. The expectation is Snappy will rise in value over the next couple of years. He didn't go down in value once he rotated out of standard, which is a good sign of steady value.
You might save your money for the highly anticipated reprinted fetch lands, which may or may not be printed again this year. If they come back in Standard (probably after M15) the price will dip a little as the market is flooded, and then go right back up again pretty soon after.
January 17, 2014 1:20 p.m.
All my cards are sleeved in the tight kmc sleeves and in a binder. I look after my collection. Im not interested in any cards in standard due to frequent price fluctuations (as you mentioned). Snapcaster is a good shout though.
January 17, 2014 1:26 p.m.
SharuumNyan says... #12
Even in double sleeves, foils can be at risk in humid environments. If you have money in foils, and you don't live in a naturally dry climate, it's best to store them in a waterproof container with silica gel packs or rice at the bottom to wick moisture out of the air.
Even if a card is currently in Standard, I wouldn't exclude anything played in Modern or Legacy.
January 17, 2014 1:39 p.m.
Very true. Thanks for the advice. Perhaps it would be easier to go for non foils then. The reason I initially went for them was simply because I thought their rarity would lead to fewer price fluctuations - just a slow but steady increase.
January 17, 2014 1:52 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #14
I'm going to disagree with some of the posters above. I find it pretty hard to screw foils up, and I live in a place with varying winters and humid, shitty summers. So long as you keep them properly (sleeves and a tight container are usually enough), they should stay flat and unblemished.
It's the foil market that's really tricky. Some people will always demand foils. Others are content to stick with the nonfoils because they're comparatively cheap. You can usually find a buyer, though.
January 17, 2014 2:15 p.m.
Thanks for all the help everyone! I feel confidant that I can find buyers and traders for my collection so I feel like this is a solid investment that should hold value as long as I continue to play.
ChiefBell says... #2
Tagging Epochalyptik for extra knowledge power.
January 17, 2014 7:14 a.m.