Behind the Booth at US Nationals

by Justin Meyer | posted at 2010-09-02 01:43:00
tagged: MTG, Magic, Magic the Gathering, Justin Meyer, Tacky Games

 

“What should we name our store?” was a question I asked time and time again on Facebook. I offered free lunch to anyone who could give me a name that wasn’t embarrassingly bad. Unfortunately for me, most Magic players lack creativity. So at 5 p.m. on a Wednesday, I decided to throw together a very tacky, and very ugly sign. Hence, Tacky Games was born!

 

Before I jump into the meat of the article, a little bit about myself and my store: I’m Justin Meyer, formerly of the nickname “Googs.” I’m your average PTQ Grinder who has played in a handful of Pro Tours, though so far I've failed to Day 2. Tacky Games was originally “Tacky Cards” for our first event, the Minnesota M11 Prerelease.

 

Yeah. We’re young. But being young has its advantages…

 

U.S. Nationals was held in Minneapolis over the weekend of August 19-22nd. Minnesota being my home state, I couldn’t resist trying to set up shop. Unfortunately, it takes a hefty sum to be able to jump into the world of dealing. Our plan for Nationals was to show up with a little less than $3,500 to buy things, pay for the room, and food for the weekend. That’s not very much, and some scary purchases for the weekend really made me worried we would run out of money.

 

When someone walks up with 16 MINT Force of Wills, and wants $35 each on them, that’s almost $600. What about buying a bunch of foil Dazes for $400? That’s a third of the stack gone instantly. When the supply of cash starts to run low, what do you do when you need new cards? Trade!

 

My business partner Sean and I both absolutely love to trade, and let me tell you, trading from a dealer’s perspective is an experience I will never forget. Say you buy an Obstinate Baloth for $4, and put it for sale at $8. Now someone comes over with a Mutavault, which you buy at $8 and wants to give it for the Baloth. Mutavault now goes in the case for $15, and quickly becomes a Baneslayer Angel from a guy finishing his Faerie deck. An Obstinate Baloth and a little bit of time turned into a Baneslayer Angel, which we couldn’t keep in stock at $25. Net gain: $21.

 

It’s easier for people to let go of their cards when it’s for a trade. The thought of selling your Mutavault for only $8 is harder to deal with than turning that Mutavault into an Obstinate Baloth you need for your deck. Even though it’s the exact same thing for a dealer, it’s easier for the player. Being a pair of young new dealers, we haven’t come to the ruthless point that most other dealers have. Sean and I both are still very willing to trade, cut deals and do whatever it takes to make you walk away happy.

 

There have been so many articles about how to bolster your collection lately on various Magic sites, how to trade up and make large sums of money from people. The problem with this is that you may end up burning some bridges. If you trade with someone and see an easy $50 you can profit from them, but they don’t seem happy doing it - back off! If you can trade with this person for a net gain of $10 every time you trade, and you keep them happy, they'll come back to you time and time again. In the long term, $50 now is nothing compared to $10 every time for the future. Some people call this “planting the seed.” Here are some examples of such:

 

A local kid walked up to me, clearly very new to the game, and needed to build up his Vampire deck. I was sitting on 40 Kalastria Highborns with no one wanting to buy them, though I normally charge $3 each. He only had $5 in rares with him, but we got to chatting and I found out he lives about an hour north of Misty Mountain North, where I set up shop for dealing. I made him a “gentleman’s agreement” that I would straight up give him 4 Kalastria Highborns for his $5 worth of cards if he would attend the prerelease at Misty. That’s not profit for me. The chat took 10 minutes of my time and I’m really not netting any money out of the deal. Yet, I will do this time and time again. If he shows up to Misty, he’ll likely bring friends. If he brings friends, he’ll have told them how I gave him a sweet deal. He will come back, and his friends will follow!

 

A grown man from Minneapolis came to my booth looking for an Ajani Goldmane, another card I charge $3 for. As I had a lackey look for it, I took a peek through his collection and saw nothing that I wanted. He also didn’t have the cash required, as he spent it all at other booths. Sad day? No way. I tell him for his word that he’ll go to the Prerelease at Misty, I will just give him the Ajani. Give? ARE YOU CRAZY? Yeah, I am kinda loopy, but he had already told me that he has money. He’s willing to spend money. I’m out $1 on the thing, but again if he shows up he’ll be much more likely to buy cards from me!

 

I’m running low on time here, for after my haircut that I have in less than an hour I’m off to Minneapolis to play in both of the StarCityGames Open events, then to Amsterdam to win (?) The Pro Tour! I will leave you guys with some various stories from Nationals and a little bit of Magic Economics…

 

Conley Woods came to my booth and asked me for Serra’s Ascendants. I had them marked at $3 each, and were selling them somewhat regularly. He bought a set, clearly with the intention of playing them in Nationals. How did I respond? I RAISED THE PRICE! Conley is such an influence on the Magic community that anything he plays, the price of cards included will increase.

 

Zvi Mowshowitz made his way to our booth on Friday morning with a card name written on the back of a card, saying he needed it. Sean had thought it was a proxy, and told our lackey to grab a War Priest of Thune. Zvi instantly scolded him and explained that it was not a proxy, but instead that he didn’t want people knowing about him playing it. Silly Sean!

 

Primeval Titan’s price fluctuated more than any card I’d ever seen at Nationals. It started the weekend at $50 at my table after I saw them at $55 at various dealers. I soon heard reports of it being $65 at other booths, and dealers were buying them at $45. Naturally I raised my price to $60. Mid-day through Friday I was told of dealers selling them at $55; so I lowered mine back down to $50. I bought a couple at $35 and lowered my price to $45. Sunday afternoon, I saw dealers were all charging $60-65 on them.

 

Japanese language cards are just crazy. On Sunday afternoon I sold a playset of Cunning Sparkmages at $3 each, when I was selling normals for $1. I bought a foil Japanese Spell Snare for $60 from another dealer, and reselling it for $100 shouldn’t be too big of an issue.

 

Yeah, a foil foreign uncommon from a set that has just rotated out of Extended: $100. Crazy stuff.

 

Thanks for reading, guys! We have officially launched our eBay store, and have a ton of Judge foils and other sweet things being posted!

 

eBay seller: betterthenandrew

Twitter: www.twitter.com/TackyGames

 

I’ll be happy to answer any questions in the forums, assuming that the internet exists in Amsterdam!

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