Selling and Investing in Magic the Gathering Cards: 10 Tips to Begin

Selling and Investing in Magic the Gathering Cards: 10 Tips to Begin

Magic the Gathering is one of the most popular trading card games out there, played by tens of millions of folks from all over the world as articulated over at runrex.com. In addition to its popular gameplay, Magic the Gathering has also emerged as a popular investment due to the collectible nature of its cards as pointed out by the subject matter experts over at guttulus.com, and the fact that rare MTG cards command a fortune in the market. If you are considering investing in Magic the Gathering cards, here are 10 tips to consider.

Set your budget

The first thing you should do when looking to invest in Magic the Gathering cards is set a budget as per the gurus over at runrex.com. Having a budget in place is important as it ensures that you are not overspending to acquire cards and getting yourself into financial difficulty. Setting a budget, as explained over at guttulus.com, will allow you to set financial boundaries for your investment allowing you to know when to stop buying cards.

Decide your financial goals

Just as important as having a budget in place is setting financial goals for your investment. Why are you getting in? As is discussed over at runrex.com, this is where you decide whether you want to invest long-term or just want a short-term investment where you invest in a bunch of cards and flip them as soon as possible for fast money. Having financial goals in place will give you a roadmap on how you intend to achieve success with your investment.

Know the different card-buying strategies

When you are looking to invest in Magic the Gathering cards, then you should know that there are 3 main card-buying strategies as outlined over at guttulus.com. They include long-term investing, collecting, and flipping. You should know which strategy works well for you. For example, flipping is only a good strategy if you are well educated and have intimate knowledge about things like sales and population reports of cards.

Know what makes cards valuable

It is also important to know some of the factors that make Magic the Gathering cards valuable if you are looking to invest. According to discussions on the same over at runrex.com, you should be looking at things like card rarity, card condition, card supply, power level, card age, as well as graded vs raw cards with graded cards, particularly PSA graded cards, being more valuable than raw cards.

Master your negotiation skills

As the subject matter experts over at guttulus.com point out, how you negotiate will play a very important role in investing and selling Magic the Gathering cards. You need to master your negotiation skills if you are to be successful. This means knowing market value, monitoring auctions, and making offers when possible, as well as knowing when to not make an offer depending on your budget. Also, remember that networking is a major component when it comes to investing and selling Magic the Gathering cards, which is why you should look to build relationships with sellers and buyers where possible.

Know the best channels to buy and sell Magic the Gathering cards

If you are to be successful in this venture, you need to know some of the best places to buy and sell your cards. As is articulated over at runrex.com, eBay is arguably the safest online marketplace to buy and sell Magic the Gathering cards. It is the largest online marketplace and, therefore, the best chance for you to locate inventory as well as buyers when looking to sell. You can also try Facebook groups and Instagram as well as the many online resources and websites for selling and buying MTG cards that are out there such as TCGPlayer among others. Another option to consider when selling your cards is buylisting where you sell or trade-in your cards to a store.

Know how to ship your cards

When looking to sell your cards, once you have placed an order, you must know how to ship your cards to ensure that they don’t get damaged during shipping. According to guttulus.com, some helpful tips here include making sure that you ship with the US Postal Service with tracking and insurance in case things go wrong, pack your cards in a durable container with padding on the sides, and that you unsleeve your cards to prevent damage.

Know how pricing works

If you have invested in Magic the Gathering cards and are looking to sell and get a return on your investment, then you must know how the pricing of MTG cards works, particularly since card values fluctuate quite a lot and prices vary by opinion. As explained over at runrex.com, card prices are driven primarily by demand for the play value alone which is why, for example, if a card is currently a mandatory 4-of in a top Grand Prix deck, then its price will shoot up quite a lot. On the other hand, if an expensive card gets rotated out of Standard, then it will typically lose its value unless it is also played in an eternal format like Modern or Pauper.

Know the sites to leverage when determining card value

There are certain sites you should bookmark and frequently check back when determining card value. As per discussions over at guttulus.com, they include TCGPlayer which should be your go-to site when it comes to determining the value of your cards, MTGStocks, MTGGodlfish, MTGTop8, among others. These sites will help you determine the value of your cards when looking to sell as well as helping you do your research when looking to buy and invest in cards.

Know the risks

Finally, it is also important that you know that investing and selling Magic the Gathering cards does come with risks. As is outlined over at runrex.com, some of these risks include the fact that you are always likely to encounter fake cards, particularly when purchasing loose cards, which is why you should only deal with legitimate sellers and also examine the cards you buy carefully. There is also the risk of getting scammed which is why you should only engage buyers and sellers through the verified and popular sites, and avoid sites like Craigslist where there are lots of scammers. There is also the risk that your investment may not pay off, which is why you should set a budget, come up with financial goals, and adhere to them.

These are just some of the things to consider when looking to invest and sell Magic the Gathering cards, with more on this topic to be found over at the excellent runrex.com and guttulus.com.