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This is the first article from my new series, MTG Questions. You might be familiar with the Hold ‘Em & Fold ‘Em series (rebranded as MTG Metagame Finance), which takes a tournament-oriented perspective. I decided to start this series to focus on more general aspects of MTG finance. The two series will work together, as when interesting categories pop up when I write for the MTG Metagame Finance series, this series will give me a chance to go a little deeper on those topics.
For example, in Hold ‘Em & Fold ‘Em #21, I featured another buylist order to Card Kingdom. However, this buylist was a bit different than previous buylists because the process I used changed. First off, my first buylist order to Card Kingdom was featured in Hold ‘Em & Fold ‘Em #16. As a result, some people in the Quiet Speculation’s Discord channel asked why I didn’t use something like Trade Routes from Quiet Speculation’s Trader Tools to find the best buylist prices on some of the cards. But as I mentioned in the article, I didn’t want to go through the hassle of trying to sell through multiple channels because my time is limited. Many of you probably know about the time value of money. However, the money value of time is just as important, if not more.
And although I knew I was leaving some money on the table, I told myself that I would eventually dive into Quiet Speculation’s Trader Tools, and I recently had a chance to do so.
I can’t quite remember, but I think I started doing some research on Magic apps and stumbled across MTG Manager. It looked like something that I could use to keep track of my collection digitally and also help me with creating a spreadsheet for Quiet Speculation’s Trader Tools to use in order to help me not leave so much money on the table.
I quickly fell in love with MTG Manager. The interface and user experience is nice. And as I was using the app to catalog my collection/inventory, I noticed some areas of potential improvement. I jotted all those notes down and contacted the company. They got back to me right away saying a new version will be coming out soon as they’ve been working on a lot of the notes I jotted down. Awesome!
Once I cataloged most of my cards, I tried using the export function to send myself a spreadsheet of the bulk folder I created. It worked very nicely. From there, I was able to easily start using Trade Routes from Quiet Speculation’s Trader Tools by importing the spreadsheet I downloaded from MTG Manager.
The process was pretty easy too. I just had to format the spreadsheet a little bit and – BOOM! – I could suddenly see which companies had the best buylist prices for my bulk. Awesome!
Next, I went to Card Kingdom and created my buylist order. And within a few minutes, my next buylist order was done. Awesome!
I’m looking forward to possibly doing this again with some of my speculation folders and cards. But for now, I’m interested in learning if this article was helpful for you or if you have any questions.
Reach out to me in the comments below. You can also connect with me on Twitter at @edwardeng. I’m also open to suggestions on how to make this series more valuable. Hit me up. Thanks!
Have fun,
Eddie
In your mindset, how do you define bulk?
This is a great question!
I think my definition of bulk is different from the general definition of bulk. I usually classify a card as bulk if it doesn’t see a lot of tournament play.
Now, that bulk might not be bulk in the eyes of something considering something like EDH/Commander. So I have to be careful to make sure I cross-reference a sight like edhrec.com to see if there’s a decent amount of demand coming from there with respect to the card I’m looking at.
I think this is where MTG Stocks or MTG Goldfish really comes into play too. The graph helps me figure out why a card is worth more than 8 or 10 cents; usually upwards of a $1 or more.
What about you?
1. What do you consider bulk?
2. How do you organize your bulk?
title misleading – “bulk” makes it sound like you have bulk COMMONS, not better-than-bulk rares. even “bulk rares” implies cards that buylist for way, way less than the stuff presented here.
Good feedback.
What do you suggest for a title?
I classify bulk first by running it through some filters based on qualities it meets. To me, my bulk is seldomly worth going through unless there is a break in the meta (Example. Dark Salvation, Gerry Thompson won a Pro Tour with it. It went from ~0.1 to $4 overnight).
BL = Buylist
Mythic Rare BL <$0.5
Rare BL <$0.25
Common/Uncommon = Does it see constructed play
Foil Mythic BL <$1
Foil Rare BL <$0.75
Foil Common/Uncommon <$0.25 (sees constructed play) <$0.5 (not played)
I organize my bulk based on Rarity and Foil, not sorted, in BCW 5000 Count boxes (hold 7000 mtg cards) with the exception of foil mythic rares which are store in a BCW 800 count box. So at anyone time have a Mythic Rare box, Rare box, C/U box, basic land box, Foil Mythic rare box, Foil Rare Box, Foil C/U box, and Foil Basic land box. As soon as I fill a box, I offload it as soon as a big event come around.
I responded to your article for two reasons:
1.) Show support and let you know that people are reading your articles.
2.) It seemed odd to me that you view some cards as bulk such as: Sunbird's Invocation, Thaumatic Compass, and Splendid Reclamation.
Thank you for the quick reply.
Awesome response! Thank you. =)
I like how you laid out how you organize your cards.
Regarding 2, yeah…anything that doesn’t see a lot of tournament play is considered bulk to me.
So to play on that, I’d like to lay out how I organize my cards…
1. I have long boxes of tournament staples (playsets) sorted by color and alphabetically.
2. I have short and long boxes of ‘bulk’ rares (cards that don’t see tournament play) sorted by color.
3. I have 5000 count boxes of bulk commons and uncommons sorted by color.
4. I have short boxes of ‘almost tournament playables’ sorted by color.
5. I have some cards in spec piles sorted by color.
6. I have bulk foils in boxes sorted by color.
7. I have deck boxes of tournament playables that I don’t have playsets of yet.
I don’t know if that’s helpful, but that’s how I currently have my cards organized.
I might try to consolidate even further. Not sure yet.
So what do you do with the lowest of the low?
Since the crash of the bulk market, I believe this is not a subject that hasn’t been covered all that well.
Currently, I just store them. I believe that I’ll have an outlet for those cards sometime next year; possibly around summer. If that’s the case, I’ll reach out to you as well as others regarding an option to get rid of the true bulky bulk.
Yeah, the true bulky bulk is probably better given to kids in your family or the community. Get that next generation started early on the greatest game in existence! Its like giving kids their first crack rock free!
Agree with you, Ben. However, ‘crack rock’ might be a bit extreme. LOL.
Anyhow, as I mentioned, I’m currently working on something that should be an option for us to give back and grow the Magic community. Definitely stay tuned. And as usual, I’ll do my best to update everyone when things happen.
I’ve actually been going through and sorting my bulk commons and uncommons since I’m sure I can sell a chunk of them on buylists. Right now I’m sorting by set, color, and alphabetical. It’s a slog but cathartic.
Wow! I used to do that when I was a kid. No time for that anymore. :S
Wishing you happy discoveries tough. 🙂