Part 1 of Brian's article discussed the preliminary work you should put in when planning to sell to dealers at a large event. If you haven't gotten a chance to read that yet, check it out here.

Once you've done your homework onsite and have decided which dealers you want to sell to, it comes time to actually sit down and do the deal. Being informed about the value of your cards is an absolute must, but how you conduct yourself can also have a tremendous impact on negotiating the best possible deal.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, If You Want to Buy From Me

The first and most important thing is to be respectful, pleasant, and polite to the buyer at all times, under all circumstances. He or she is there to do a job and is providing you with a service that is beneficial, so remember that and behave accordingly. Not only is being nice and respectful the "right" thing to do as a good human being, it also works in your best interest for getting yourself the best possible deal. Who do you think a buyer is more inclined to quote better prices to: a person they like or a person who is being condescending?

Respectfulness and pleasantness is a sword that cuts both ways. The buyer should always be treating you in a manner that is courteous and correct as well. Keep in mind that if they are not doing that much, something is probably wrong and you are probably getting a bad deal.

If you ever encounter a buyer who is acting annoyed, bored, gruff, unpleasant, etc., I would not trust that individual. Typically, the "annoyed buyer" is a trick that some people will use in order to strong-arm others into accepting bad prices. It's basic psychology. If two people are doing a deal and one is constantly acting upset, the other person will assume they are doing something wrong and to compensate and resolve the tension they will accept lower prices.

The key thing that everybody needs to understand about buying and selling Magic cards is that it isn't the buyer or the seller's job to make the other "happy." Rather, the point of the interaction is for both parties to come to terms on an agreeable business deal regarding the sale of merchandise.

If a vendor is giving you the "upset buyer" song and dance, thank them for their time and get up and sell to somebody else. Don't ever sit down and try to do business with somebody who is acting unprofessional or disrespectful because only bad things can come of it.

Keep in mind that finding a happy buyer is yet another reason why you want to be onsite early. Being a buyer is a tough gig. At a Grand Prix a booth buyer is working a really long day--often 7 am to 11 pm. That is a 16-hour shift of doing the same redundant thing over and over again!

If you are trying to do a deal after somebody has been working for 14 hours already, they are bound to be a little bit tired and not as enthusiastic as they were two hours in.

There is certainly a big difference between a disrespectful buyer that is trying to browbeat you into accepting bad prices and an exhausted one who just wants to go to bed. Either way, to maximize your chances of dealing with an individual who is at the top of their game and in the best possible mood you really want to be one of the first people in line at the start of the first day.

One last thing on this topic before I move on: when you sit down at the table to sell cards, always make a proper introduction, shake their hand, and make eye contact. "Hi. I'm Brian and it's nice to meet you. Where are you from?"

I know it sounds hokey and old fashioned but it is important because it demonstrates that you are a person with character and confidence. People respect others with those qualities and will be more likely to deal with you favorably if you carry yourself in that manner.

Negotiating a Price

After a proper introduction the buyer will usually ask to see what you have for sale and whether you are after cash or store credit. The ratio between cash and store credit varies from vendor to vendor but typically a dealer will quote cash prices, with an option to take between a 20%-30% bump in store credit.

For instance, if you got done selling cards and the dealer owed you $100.00 cash, if they had a 25% bump for store credit, you would also have the option to receive $125.00 trade credit instead. It is useful to keep this in mind if you are planning on buying cards anyway since you are essentially getting a discount to take the trade.

One thing I advise is not to offer a direct answer to the question, "Do you want cash or trade?" I typically say, "I'm not sure, it'll depend on how much stuff you find." There is a good reason to do this. Some singles have much higher buylist-to-retail price ratios than others.

For instance, on high-end cards like dual lands dealers typically pay a higher percentage of the retail cost in order to acquire since it is actually worth their time to eBay them. On the other hand lots of Standard rares get bought for a quarter and sold for two bucks. The bread and butter of the card store is to buy low slash sell high on Standard singles, and a vendor loves it when you trade for Standard cards but not as much when you trade for duals or power.

The reason you don't want to tell your buyer that you are trading for an Underground Sea is that he or she may suppress the offers in order to compensate for the 25% trade bump in relation to the small buy-to-sell price ratio. They will be thinking about the trade in terms of "What do I want to get in order to give up an Underground Sea for 25% off" instead of just making you fair offers on your cards.

Saying something like, "I'm not exactly sure, it will depend on what you find," leaves the door open and also suggests that if they find lots of stuff you might spend lots of money with them.

Another thing you can do to make life easier for yourself is to be well organized. For starters, if you have cards that you don't want to sell they should not be present or visible when you are dealing with a buyer. It might be cool to show off your playset of foil Daze to your friends, but the purpose of sitting down with a buyer is not to impress him or her with your swanky collection. It wastes everybody's time, including your own.

Typically, the way that negotiating prices works is the buyer will go through your cards and offer you a price on each one, which you can accept or turn down. The ideal way to negotiate is coming from a position where you know what you want. As I stated earlier I'm always looking to get a price for my cards that is greater than the SCG buylist price. In advance, I know what the buylist price is on all of the cards I have for sale, and I will accept offers that meet my standard and reject offers that don't.

If you don't already have a strong familiarity with online buylist prices I have a couple of tips to help your experience go smoothly. You can bring your own iPad or smart phone with you and simply look up the online buylist prices as the buyer makes their offer. If you don't have access to those resources or don't want to look everything up on the spot, you can look up all of the cards ahead of time and organize them by price point in your binder so that you'll know how much you want for each.

Never feel bad about saying 'no' to an offer. You are not sitting across the table to make a new best friend--you are there to sell your wares. If the price is too low, politely say, "No, thank you," and move on to the next card.

Another thing you should always do when possible is have a copy of the vendor's buylist in your hand while they are quoting you prices and check the list to make sure they are giving you the listed price. If you are not being vigilant you open the door for a buyer to slip a few low-ball prices past you. For the most part buyers don't want to deal with the embarrassment of getting called on misquoting you a price but chances are that if you act like a sucker it will open up the opportunity for somebody to treat you like one.

One last curve ball that I'd like to prepare you for is the SP condition gag. I have encountered some dealers who post and advertise very high buylist prices onsite but when you actually sit down with them they will tell you that all of your cards are slightly played and therefore only worth some lesser percentage of their advertised price.

You'll have to make a judgment decision in this situation to determine whether or not you think your cards are actually played enough to justify the price decrease. Websites tend to be pickier than storefronts because they advertise NM and people can technically return cards if they are unsatisfied with condition.

If your cards are actually in noticeably played condition you can expect a lesser price, but I've definitely gotten up from a deal because I disagreed with the buyer's definition of NM and SP. It is, after all near mint and not PSA 10-graded mint condition!  Sometimes people will use the guise of "condition" unfairly to justify offering a lesser amount on a card than they ought to.

Shake on It

The purpose of this article  isn't to paint all dealers and vendors as opportunistic crooks. I've gotten to know many dealers over the years, some of them bad, some of them good, and some of them great. The great ones care about their reputation and it means everything to them to conduct their business in a fair, honest and respectable manner.

The point is that Magic finance is a business and as is the case whenever money enters the equation it can make people behave strangely. The overarching theme of my advice is that the best possible way to conduct your business is to be organized, prepared, and courteous. If you know what you have and what you want to sell it for, it does not matter who the buyer is or what they say because you are informed and capable of making the decision that's in your best interest.

And remember that after every deal well made you should always shake your buyer's hand, and thank them for taking the time to sit down with you.