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    Buying Those Cards

    DuelLegend
    DuelLegend


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    Buying Those Cards Empty Buying Those Cards

    Post by DuelLegend Sun Jul 29, 2012 12:17 pm




    Buying Those Cards BTC


    As duelists, we all need to buy cards if we ever want to play in real life. Physical cards are essential for tournaments, but those who only play online on duel systems such as DuelingNetwork don't have to worry about this. However, we can get a bit hung up on buying new cards and end up falling into scams or simply buying what we thought was something else. To begin this article, I will speak about buying the cards themselves, then the best places to look, how to grab bargains, then not how to fall into scams. I hope you enjoy the article!


    Getting into the buying game


    A word of advice before we go any further: don't buy what you don't need. You certainly do not need to buy a booster box of Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon if you're only looking for a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Be economical in your purchases and buy a Starter Deck: Kaiba deck or trade for it instead.

    There are many different types of product available. These range from Starter Decks to Structure Decks to Booster Boxes. Many of these products contain cards (well, duh) which could be useful in many situations. However, the chances of getting the card you need from these products is small (especially if it is a booster pack) and so it is often better to buy product in which the content is guaranteed, like a Starter or Structure Deck. Even then, if you need multiples of a card, it may be prudent to then instead buy the single card from a well-known single card site. Below is a listing of a few that are trusted.

    TrollandToad
    Kool Kingdom
    Ideal808

    Personally, I used to buy a lot of my cards from Kool Kingdom as they frequently have sales. However, their shipping prices are exorbitant, and can often double the cost of the total card price despite being a UK-based company. For instance, if I wanted a fat pack for £20, the shipping would easily be about £20. I stopped buying cards from KK and most sites because it was just so expensive and what you paid for the shopping offset any gains from cheap sets.

    Thus, if you are searching for singles rather than a box to fill up your collection with, it may actually be more prudent to simply trade for them, especially when the shipping cost for each stacks up and is treated as separate.


    Scouring eBay




    According to their advertising, eBay is the world's largest online marketplace. Surely then, it must be perfect for all your card needs? Well, that depends what you're looking for. There are many types of product on eBay ranging from the cheap and common to the expensive and rare. One of the most popular methods of selling bulks of useless cards is to use 'grab bag' lots. I will cover more on these grab bags in the 'it's a trap!' section.

    Cards on eBay can be variable in quality. Whilst some sellers may say their card is 'near mint' this may not turn out to be the case because their definition of 'mint' may be different from other people's. However, if you're looking for a single card for cheap and someone has it and the shipping is also cheap, then eBay can prove to be a valuable place in picking up cheap cards.

    To assist us in finding out what the best products are to buy, let us do a little exercise. You are looking for a Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. Would you rather buy a Korean Gold Series box (£17.18, free shipping) in which the seller says contains Brionac Dragon, or would you rather buy a single card for about £6-8 (10p-£1 shipping) from a top-rated seller?

    If you said you would rather buy the single Brionac, you are correct. In fact, the Gold Series box is shipping from South Korea. Upon checking the description, the item isn't sealed either, but I will explain this more in the 'trap' section. The purchase of a single Brionac from a trusted seller means you save about £7+ on what would otherwise be a purchase of a Gold Series box in which the content is not guaranteed.
    Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

    Money, money, money


    Grabbing bargains is no easy matter, especially when you have nearly thousands of stores where product can be bought from. However, don't worry too much - despite how difficult the task looks, there are many bargains to be had from sites such as eBay and even the normal trading card sites. However, if you want a bargain, you'll have to buy what you don't actually need. Sometimes you may even have to hope that at least one of what you do need is in the selected product.

    A normal booster pack easily goes for about £3.50 in the UK now, £1.50 higher than when the game first came about. A booster box isn't much better, being valued at £100+. This is often down to the scarcity of the product in the country, but could also be down to the shop's 'greed' or price inflation. My advice is to avoid this product entirely, and to be on the lookout for what you can get, for less.

    Let us use an example. If you saw a booster pack that cost £1.75 (Epic Dawn) and another booster that cost £3.50 (Generation Force), which one would you most likely go for?

    Epic Dawn contains 5 cards and Generation Force contains 9. By this logic, Epic Dawn is cheaper by one card, thus it is potentially a bargain especially if you get a good holofoil card in the pack. What's more, you could even sell the cards in the pack individually on an online site (some accept trade-ins, or people may buy them from eBay) and make your money back. If you're feeling ambitious, you could take this a step further and buy some product in which half the content is guaranteed and half not, like a Master Collection. In its day, the Master Collection was worth a lot when not bought from the store because it contained cards such as Black Luster Solider: Envoy of the Beginning. The problem with the second Master Collection though was that it contained a card (Thenien the Great Sphinx) which was already guaranteed in one of the product packs. By this logic, the second Master Collection is worse value than the first.

    Keep an eye out for any potential items that can be resold, or items priced at less than they usually are, especially if they are booster boxes.


    It's a trap!


    Scams are so common, they're almost part of life. Whilst you may lose some money to some at some point in your life, you can avoid losing hundreds or thousands by taking care over what you buy. eBay is a very well-known place where scams can occur, but by taking these steps, you are potentially saving yourself from some heartbreak, a moth-filled purse as well as an angry girl/boyfriend.

    We will jump straight into an exercise for this one, as it is easier to explain through a practical example.





    Buying Those Cards Yugi00
    FOR SALE: COLLECTION OF YU-GI-OH! CARDS

    This is the LARGEST collection on Earth of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards! You will NOT be disappointed!

    For the low, low price of ONLY £200, you get the following:
    - A fantastic collection of cards
    - Super rares, secret rares and starfoil rares!
    - Guaranteed shipping of less than £5!
    - A 100% guarantee on mint to near-mint cards!

    This collection contains ALL you need for a fantastic Yu-Gi-Oh! deck!
    By buying this, you'll get one of each: a super, secret and starfoil rare in addition to 500 commons!
    WOW! This is a deal not to be missed!

    SUPER, SECRET AND STARFOIL RARES ARE GUARANTEED IN THE COLLECTION

    £200, A BARGAIN!

    BUY IT NOW

    *The above image is for illustration purposes only, contents are not guaranteed.

    *ahem*, can you see what is wrong in the above example? I will explain each briefly.

    - Attention-grabbing titles: Watch out for these. They're designed to lure you in.
    - Adventurous claims: Saying things such as 'the largest collection on Earth' are merely designed to lure you in further. Ignore these.
    - Low price claims: Look at the product and decide whether £200 is low or not!
    - Vague guarantees: You need a guarantee for the cards included, not what else you'd get or how cool the collection is.
    - Hidden content information: Highlight the sentence hidden between the 'all you need for a fantastic...' and 'this is a deal not to be missed'. Sadly, some sellers use this ploy to deceive people. Don't be one of them, and don't fall for them.
    - The small print: Always look for small or hidden print about the picture being for illustration purposes only. As soon as you see this, click out - it's not what you're buying.


    Now for your task: since you may want to sell your own cards in order to obtain money for further cards, can you make an HONEST description of an eBay item INCLUDING the following picture: http://th02.deviantart.net/fs36/PRE/i/2008/244/8/a/Shiny_Yugioh_Collection_7_7_by_chibi22.jpg
    (imagining those cards are what you own)
    Reply to this topic with the information you will use.


    Good luck, and happy buying, selling and trading!
    Marrillian
    Marrillian


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    Buying Those Cards Empty Re: Buying Those Cards

    Post by Marrillian Mon Jul 30, 2012 12:30 am

    10/10
    Very useful article. Personally I know all this... But I know others will benefit from this.

    DuelLegend wrote:Now for your task: since you may want to sell your own cards in order to obtain money for further cards, can you make an HONEST description of an eBay item INCLUDING the following picture: http://th02.deviantart.net/fs36/PRE/i/2008/244/8/a/Shiny_Yugioh_Collection_7_7_by_chibi22.jpg
    (imagining those cards are what you own)
    Reply to this topic with the information you will use.

    Product is as shone. (I would only do this with good quality pictures.... otherwise, also a "trap")
    DuelLegend
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    Buying Those Cards Empty Re: Buying Those Cards

    Post by DuelLegend Mon Jul 30, 2012 12:52 am

    Marrillian wrote:10/10
    Very useful article. Personally I know all this... But I know others will benefit from this.

    DuelLegend wrote:Now for your task: since you may want to sell your own cards in order to obtain money for further cards, can you make an HONEST description of an eBay item INCLUDING the following picture: http://th02.deviantart.net/fs36/PRE/i/2008/244/8/a/Shiny_Yugioh_Collection_7_7_by_chibi22.jpg
    (imagining those cards are what you own)
    Reply to this topic with the information you will use.

    Product is as shone. (I would only do this with good quality pictures.... otherwise, also a "trap")

    But is 'product is as shown' all you would type in an eBay advert? Razz
    Marrillian
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    Buying Those Cards Empty Re: Buying Those Cards

    Post by Marrillian Mon Jul 30, 2012 8:04 am

    No just for the description lol
    I would say, "Foil Lot" or something. Because most of them are foils.
    DuelLegend
    DuelLegend


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    Buying Those Cards Empty Re: Buying Those Cards

    Post by DuelLegend Mon Jul 30, 2012 8:23 am

    Marrillian wrote:No just for the description lol
    I would say, "Foil Lot" or something. Because most of them are foils.

    For the task, I meant say everything you'd say on the description page and stuff. I don't think 'Product is as shown' is going to get that many bidders if you don't draw them in a little bit, or answer questions, list the cards, etc.

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    Buying Those Cards Empty Re: Buying Those Cards

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