Hey Russ,
We're going through some stuff right now transitioning the site over, but once it's up and my next column gets posted, the Jace trade will be there.

Was hoping you would do me a favor. I am trying to improve my trade game, and in the process am going back over some of the larger trades I've made. I can't remember what all was involved in the trade for jace, think you could either post it here or email me at russhenderson85@gmail.com?

Thanks man, looking forward both to reading more and trading with you again!

He's not considered a shark because different people value magic cards differently. I haven't traded with Corbin, not because I think he's a shark, but because I haven't been back playing magic long enough to have a good plan as to what cards I want or need for the decks I want to play (but if WW is going to be strong in extended, I may now have such a plan), and operating from ignorance is never good.

The fundamental point of economics that applies to any kind of trading is this: value is inherently subjective. If you are stopping by a gas station to fill up, you'll probably value a bottle of water at $1.50 and you'd pay that or less. But if you're walking through a desert and you haven't had a drink in two days, you'd be willing to pay a lot more for it. On the other side is the value it would take to pry it away from you if you had that bottle of water. At the gas station, you'd probably turn around and sell your bottle of water for $1.50 if you'd gotten the last one and someone thirsty came in behind you. But, in the desert, there may not be ANY amount of money that could get that bottle of water from you. (These two concepts are, respectively, called "willingness to pay" and "willingness to accept").

Accordingly, the outcome of a trade is based on whether each side's WTP and WTA balance out, that is if we find what we got more valuable *to us* than what we gave up, irrespective of any extrinsic value placed on it, then it's a good trade.

^^
This is the point I try to make in nearly article.
As an aside, I'll be writing a future article about translating cards in your binder to actual profit. Having an endgame in mind is extremely important when dealing with these cards, otherwise you end up with a huge binder full of cards that were worth $10 a few years ago but are bulk now.

He actually did not make any money. What he did was trade some of his square pieces of cardboard for someone elses square pieces of cardboard. Those cards are probably sitting in a binder now with no actual value. No magic card is worth any money. What's worth money is the subjective worth of a card. Why is Baneslayer worth $50 when she costs less than a quarter to print? Because that what the community decided it was worth based on all the factors we tossed at it.

Why is shop A selling Jace for $125 dollars because someone will buy it because they find value in it at that price, and personal value systems are as numerous as there are stars in the sky.

Why did the trader "trade away fetchlands and avengers for crap like Mystifying Maze and an $11 Frost Titan?" Because they were sitting in his binder doing nothing for him under his personal value system, where as the cards he was trading for had higher personal value. All the cards in a trade binder have a null value before another person sees them and assigns an expected value to it.

Keep in mind that not everyone who plays reads QuietSpeculation or even has any interest in the finance side of Magic.

Eldrazi Temple ($4)
Nantuko Shade ($3.50)
2x Volcanic Fallouts ($.50)
3x Scalding Tarn ($13)
2x Avenger of Zendikar ($8)
Total: $63.50

Mine:
Goblin Guide ($7)
Brittle Effigy ($2.50)
Frost Titan ($11)
Mystifying Maze ($2.50)
Magmaw ($1)
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre ($9)
Promo Pathrazer of Ulamog ($1)
Total: $34

Net: $29.50

I don't understand how you get away with this, and how you aren't known for a shark.
You stated you made 3 seperate piles and each one came out ahead for you by a little. You doubled your money. You made $30. Those piles came out more than a little ahead for you. How on earth did the trader agree to trade away fetchlands and avengers for crap like Mystifying Maze and an $11 Frost Titan? Who values Frost Titan at $11??

I like the article format, and at least I can take away good advice of splitting up the trades. I have had success doing that in the past. But the trades are so unrealistic in any trade situation that I've been in for 15 years that I can't imagine ppl are able to put this into practice. I mean, have your trade partners been living under a rock? It's as if they have no idea what they are trading you are hot cards and in return they get junk at half value. From what I've read, there has been very little skill involved in securing these trades. The biggest skill appears to be spotting the idiots in the room.

I'm sorry to sound harsh; you can call me the Simon Cowel of magic articles, except I don't use the word "rubbish".

Plenty of people run businesses without intimate knowledge of every possible thing applicable. I generally keep my trading (business) to more recent formats. No different than a Magic or D&D player opening up a game shop and learning WoW as they go. Just because I'm not intimately familiar with it yet doesn't mean I'm going to ignore opportunities in that area.