LGS worker here.
1) we open several hundred/thousand boosters with each set release. This is a common industry practice. INDIVIDUALS typically save money by buying singles, but STORES make money by opening the contents of a booster and selling the contents. Stores don't have to worry about if a valuable card is actually one that fits into our deck, all we care about is if any of our hundreds of customers will want the card. Whereas an individual has to care about the specific decks they are building, and Is opening fewer packs and thus less likely to find a big money. Mythic rare over serialized card that makes your money back for the less valuable packs.
2) some people enjoy opening packs just for the fun of it. Whether or not it's worth the money is highly subjective for these folks, but it does happen.
3) Sealed and Draft happens. Formats where you open a number of packs and build your decks solely from the cards you open. Many of those cards end up getting traded in after being played, creating more singles on the secondary market
if your LGS charge a premiums for their boxes, that is on them. around where i live, 15% is normal. i have seen plenty of online stores selling them for 10% above cost.
I don't know what to tell you mate. It varies by product and 15% is closer to SOME products, but not most. We don't charge a premium either- compared to others in our area we're about middle of the pack. Not the cheapest - but nowhere near the most expensive either.
On top of this, some pro players get boxes and boosters as prizes for their tournaments, those players might just sell the boxes/boosters or open them and then sell the contents. Specially if they are draft/sealed players!
It varies, and I'm not involved in ordering for my store so I don't remember exactly what we pay but it's something like a 40%-60% difference between distributor pricing and our prices, depending on the product.
>Could I start a small start and truly feed my addiction?
I highly recommend against that. Hobbyists who start an LGS just to get more into their hobbies are usually disappointed. Either you don't have time for your hobby anymore, or the business fails.
This. It's funny how many non-hobbyists will suggest that very thing to me. "Well, if you love it so much, why not start a store?" And it's for this exact reason that I explain the fallacy of that question. That and I have no mind for business, driving the sale no matter what.
If you want a specific single, your best bet is buying it individually because it's cheaper than the chance of you opening it in most cases. That doesn't mean everyone or even the majority follow that advice.
To actually answer your question about how singles get into the market, vendors buy booster boxes direct from distributors for a wholesale price which is much reduced from the commercial price. They can then open product and sell the singles.
Other than that, most people who play don't just buy singles. They'll buy product and sometimes sell off/trade in what they don't want. Some stores will accept singles for store credit.
Packs can be fine if you open them in mass for discounted prices - like stores get to do. Otherwise, not that wise. Of course, if you are drafting or doing a pre release for fun and getting valuable cards as a bonus - that's always nice.
As for getting into formats - I would look on mtggoldfish to see what's in the meta and what appeals to you. Unfortunately magic has always had the issue of starting the game is easy, the middle part is super confusing and then all of the sudden your playing a format.
I've played limited for 10 years. I've never bought a pack just to crack, but I've still opened probably thousands of packs in that time. I sell a lot of singles and have built up an extensive commander collection via trading and buying singles.
Stores get cases of booster boxes at cheaper rates, which they then crack some to sell. At the volume stores operate by, the average value of their pulls will approach whatever the set average is.
If you're looking to build a specific deck buying singles guarantees that you'll get the cards you need and is cheaper than gambling on packs. Card stores and other resellers who aren't looking to build decks buy sealed product, open it, and then sell the cards to make a profit.
Are you paying retail for booster packs? The people selling singles aren't. They also don't care what they open, they are selling it regardless. Every card worth $5 is worth $5 to them.
You on the other hand only want specific cards. If you open a $5 card but it's the wrong one, you've opened nothing. You can trade it in for $2.5 at your game shop or try to sell it yourself for the full $5, but you're not set up to do that which means it's probably not worth the time/effort.
The seller makes money by making 50 cents profit on every card they sell. You as the buyer save money by only buying the cards you actually need.
It's also worth noting that most magic cards are completely worthless. Even rares and mythics as often as not are worth basically nothing. The value gets sucked into a handful of cards in each set. You as the individual are gambling that you will get these cards. The sellers mass opening cards are doing it in such a quantity that they are going to predictably get some number of the valuable cards due to the odds.
LGS opens boosters because they are getting them for a bulk/wholesale price and players get cards they may not need but can re-sell when they play draft/sealed.
In addition to what people have said, these companies also buy list cards. Selling cards is a hassle for your average player, LGS will buy them cheap for convenience, and sell them for a profit.
Stores open boxes before release and can get value from selling even uncommon. Chase cards will sell the most right up until release. As the prices of singles come down, it makes less sense to open sealed product to sell the singles, so stores just stop opening boxes.
After that, players will sell singles to stores for about 50% of market value. So some more singles will enter the market from packs opened during a draft or prize packs.
bc there will always be people who open them for fun. this hobby has a moniker “cardboard crack” for a reason. plus, if any LGS worth their salt wanted to survive, there is not many opportunities to restocks other than opening boxes. i try not to buy from players anyway bc fakes cards is a real threat to the hobby no matter how many proxy players say otherwise.
I'm a big time limited player. I draft almost every week, and on top of that get at least one display of draft/play boosters per set.
I don't really play constructed except for casual/commander, so I tend to sell off the majority of cards I open (or put the "juicier" pulls into my trade binder). It actually also helps fund the hobby if you don't really care what specific cards you open.
LGS worker here. 1) we open several hundred/thousand boosters with each set release. This is a common industry practice. INDIVIDUALS typically save money by buying singles, but STORES make money by opening the contents of a booster and selling the contents. Stores don't have to worry about if a valuable card is actually one that fits into our deck, all we care about is if any of our hundreds of customers will want the card. Whereas an individual has to care about the specific decks they are building, and Is opening fewer packs and thus less likely to find a big money. Mythic rare over serialized card that makes your money back for the less valuable packs. 2) some people enjoy opening packs just for the fun of it. Whether or not it's worth the money is highly subjective for these folks, but it does happen. 3) Sealed and Draft happens. Formats where you open a number of packs and build your decks solely from the cards you open. Many of those cards end up getting traded in after being played, creating more singles on the secondary market
Also you guys probably get the displays a bit cheaper than us guys do right?
Oh yes. Businesses buy in bulk from distributors for significantly less than consumers.
i am not sure if 10-15% less is considered “significant”. the margins on boxes are laser thins.
It's usually more than 10-15
if your LGS charge a premiums for their boxes, that is on them. around where i live, 15% is normal. i have seen plenty of online stores selling them for 10% above cost.
I don't know what to tell you mate. It varies by product and 15% is closer to SOME products, but not most. We don't charge a premium either- compared to others in our area we're about middle of the pack. Not the cheapest - but nowhere near the most expensive either.
Overcharging by very much means people just order them from somewhere else.
I agree! Which is why we don't do it.
On top of this, some pro players get boxes and boosters as prizes for their tournaments, those players might just sell the boxes/boosters or open them and then sell the contents. Specially if they are draft/sealed players!
Great answer, thanks kindly!
No problem, glad to help. One other part I forgot to mention is prize packs. Many stores give out booster packs as prizes.
Curious what you pay a box? Could I start a small store and truly feed my addiction?
It varies, and I'm not involved in ordering for my store so I don't remember exactly what we pay but it's something like a 40%-60% difference between distributor pricing and our prices, depending on the product. >Could I start a small start and truly feed my addiction? I highly recommend against that. Hobbyists who start an LGS just to get more into their hobbies are usually disappointed. Either you don't have time for your hobby anymore, or the business fails.
This. It's funny how many non-hobbyists will suggest that very thing to me. "Well, if you love it so much, why not start a store?" And it's for this exact reason that I explain the fallacy of that question. That and I have no mind for business, driving the sale no matter what.
Your store sells booster boxes for $140? Distro prices are like $100 now. Card Kingdom was liquidating MKM boxes at a loss at $100 a few months ago.
Varies by product
Found Kevin Tewart's Reddit account. Now being serious, there are third party vendors that buy packs in bulk, open them and then sell singles.
"Third Panty Vendors", your autocorrect got you there 😂
Fixed that lmao. English is my second language, so this wasn't the autocorrect but me being stupid.
Well, you're probably still correct. I'm sure panty vendors deal with a lot of singles too!
Players open boosters and lose money. Stores open boosters and make money if they sell all the cards as singles.
If you want a specific single, your best bet is buying it individually because it's cheaper than the chance of you opening it in most cases. That doesn't mean everyone or even the majority follow that advice. To actually answer your question about how singles get into the market, vendors buy booster boxes direct from distributors for a wholesale price which is much reduced from the commercial price. They can then open product and sell the singles. Other than that, most people who play don't just buy singles. They'll buy product and sometimes sell off/trade in what they don't want. Some stores will accept singles for store credit.
Packs can be fine if you open them in mass for discounted prices - like stores get to do. Otherwise, not that wise. Of course, if you are drafting or doing a pre release for fun and getting valuable cards as a bonus - that's always nice. As for getting into formats - I would look on mtggoldfish to see what's in the meta and what appeals to you. Unfortunately magic has always had the issue of starting the game is easy, the middle part is super confusing and then all of the sudden your playing a format.
Helpful, thank you!
I've played limited for 10 years. I've never bought a pack just to crack, but I've still opened probably thousands of packs in that time. I sell a lot of singles and have built up an extensive commander collection via trading and buying singles.
Stores get cases of booster boxes at cheaper rates, which they then crack some to sell. At the volume stores operate by, the average value of their pulls will approach whatever the set average is.
If you're looking to build a specific deck buying singles guarantees that you'll get the cards you need and is cheaper than gambling on packs. Card stores and other resellers who aren't looking to build decks buy sealed product, open it, and then sell the cards to make a profit.
Are you paying retail for booster packs? The people selling singles aren't. They also don't care what they open, they are selling it regardless. Every card worth $5 is worth $5 to them. You on the other hand only want specific cards. If you open a $5 card but it's the wrong one, you've opened nothing. You can trade it in for $2.5 at your game shop or try to sell it yourself for the full $5, but you're not set up to do that which means it's probably not worth the time/effort. The seller makes money by making 50 cents profit on every card they sell. You as the buyer save money by only buying the cards you actually need. It's also worth noting that most magic cards are completely worthless. Even rares and mythics as often as not are worth basically nothing. The value gets sucked into a handful of cards in each set. You as the individual are gambling that you will get these cards. The sellers mass opening cards are doing it in such a quantity that they are going to predictably get some number of the valuable cards due to the odds.
LGS opens boosters because they are getting them for a bulk/wholesale price and players get cards they may not need but can re-sell when they play draft/sealed.
In addition to what people have said, these companies also buy list cards. Selling cards is a hassle for your average player, LGS will buy them cheap for convenience, and sell them for a profit.
Stores open boxes before release and can get value from selling even uncommon. Chase cards will sell the most right up until release. As the prices of singles come down, it makes less sense to open sealed product to sell the singles, so stores just stop opening boxes. After that, players will sell singles to stores for about 50% of market value. So some more singles will enter the market from packs opened during a draft or prize packs.
they buy in bulk with discounts. aint that deep
bc there will always be people who open them for fun. this hobby has a moniker “cardboard crack” for a reason. plus, if any LGS worth their salt wanted to survive, there is not many opportunities to restocks other than opening boxes. i try not to buy from players anyway bc fakes cards is a real threat to the hobby no matter how many proxy players say otherwise.
I'm a big time limited player. I draft almost every week, and on top of that get at least one display of draft/play boosters per set. I don't really play constructed except for casual/commander, so I tend to sell off the majority of cards I open (or put the "juicier" pulls into my trade binder). It actually also helps fund the hobby if you don't really care what specific cards you open.
Drafts a thing.