Post by billntwrk on Oct 31, 2005 0:54:05 GMT -5
From a Newbie, for a Newbie.
First of all, I am a Newbie to SWM. I have collected, played STCCG and SWCCG SO, I know a thing or two about how to get the best possible deal, where to look etc.
First of all, educate yourself. Post messages here and on other fan boards asking for help. More times than not, you will find the whole community greets you with open arms.
When I suggest asking for help, I don't mean for you to toss out the generic "What is #64 *The Hella Kewl Robot Killer* worth?" In fact, it's worth is what you will pay for it. A better question would be "Where can I find reliable pricing information for singles of this set."
Read trade magazines that print price guides and track trends. If it's a card based game, SCRYE seems to be industry standard. (I am still looking for a magazine that covers miniatures. Any help? Please PM me or reply). These magazines give you a yard stick but are not considered as absolute authority. However, if the magazine says a #64 Hella Kewl Robot Killer is worth 8.00 dollars in mint condition, don't pay 15 dollars for a used, Non-Mint version just because comic book guy, at your local store says that is what he wants. Know the value before hand, then negotiate. What a dealer can get in a small town is way different then what a dealer can get in L.A. Chicago or N.Y. Small town dealer knows he may be the only game in town and he applies the *Supply and Demand* rule.
Next, consider secondary market sources such as Flea Markets or Swap meets. Alot of times you have haggle room with these vendors. Usually your best deals will be towards the end of the day since the vendor may not want to repack all his stock for shipment home. Remember the golden rule. It's only a good deal if you get what you want and the guy makes a buck or two. In other words, don't expect the vendor to sell Booster box for less than he paid. He has to make a profit, even if it is a small one. This same logic applies if you attend conventions or trade shows. If you hit up the smaller vendors on the last day, towards the end of the day, you are likely to get a better deal than if you attend opening day and are there when the doors first open. I say this as a regular volunteer at San Diego Comic Con. The private vendors don't want to spend hours packing boxes for the next show. Make a reasonable offer and you might get your desired items at a price that you can afford. Note! This rule does not apply for Game Manufacturers. Don't go to the Wiz or Bandai booth expecting to negotiate. Thats corporate America and their prices are pretty rigid and as marked.
Finally, never forget the value of eBay. A personal example runs as follows. I live in San Diego, so today the wife and I hit up a few of the game shops that sell Boosters. We did not buy anything, we just went out and priced them in different shops. We hit a major retail chain, a regional chain of Comic book and Cards store and finally a Mom and Pop shop. Prices were fairly consistent. 19.99 for the Huge Universal Booster box and 14.99 for ROTS Boosters. No singles anywhere so that was a non issue. Had we made the purchase at any of these outlets, figure in 8 percent for tax.
Then, when we got home, the wife hit ebay and made the following purchases. 1 #14 "Mon Mothma (VR) for $4.41 plus 3.00 S&H. $7.41 for a single that seems to be listed for about $10.00 depending on what resource you use. I actually saw it listed for as high as $17.24 on one site. So, was the single we purchased for $7.41 a good value? In our minds it was. Next up...A "Rebel Storm" Starter Box. Wife bid on an auction version and set a max of $15.01 plus $8.50 for Shipping and Handling (S&H) if we won. Well, we won. Actual price was $12.31. Remember, I said she set a max price of $15.01. That was the most she was willing to pay when S&H was figured in. Price of the out of production box was $20.81 and it will be in our possession come Wednesday.(I think she added $1.50 for insurance and another .50 for tracking/confirmation). Next purchase was a 3 box lot of ROTS boosters. Now mind you, we had just seen these same boosters marked at $14.99 each. she bought all three for a "Buy it now" price of $29.99. So, right off the bat, we save 4.99 per box and the 8 percent tax. We do pay a rather steep 8.50 for S&H. SO we paid $38.49 total. We saved about 8 dollars.
Remember that "Huge Universal Booster" I mentioned earlier? It was listed at $19.99 no matter where we looked. There is an auction going on right now and it is a dutch auction. That means that a person is selling multiple items on the same auction. The intricacy's are a bit complicated but the basics are this. Example. Auction lists 24 boosters. A bidder submits a bid in two parts. Part A is how much we are willing to pay per box. Part B is how many boxes we want at the bid amount in Part A. Shipping is already established at $1.50 per box. So, she submits a bid of $11.00. Don't know if we will win, but at the time we placed our bid, that was what we were willing to pay.
One last thing. Never underestimate the value of a good trade. Browse these boards and you will find all the info you need on trading. How the process works, who the good and bad traders are, what the established traders are going to expect from you and what you can expect from them in return.
Point is this...Educate yourself, show a little patience and look everywhere. If you do these things, you will complete your collection before you know it
First of all, I am a Newbie to SWM. I have collected, played STCCG and SWCCG SO, I know a thing or two about how to get the best possible deal, where to look etc.
First of all, educate yourself. Post messages here and on other fan boards asking for help. More times than not, you will find the whole community greets you with open arms.
When I suggest asking for help, I don't mean for you to toss out the generic "What is #64 *The Hella Kewl Robot Killer* worth?" In fact, it's worth is what you will pay for it. A better question would be "Where can I find reliable pricing information for singles of this set."
Read trade magazines that print price guides and track trends. If it's a card based game, SCRYE seems to be industry standard. (I am still looking for a magazine that covers miniatures. Any help? Please PM me or reply). These magazines give you a yard stick but are not considered as absolute authority. However, if the magazine says a #64 Hella Kewl Robot Killer is worth 8.00 dollars in mint condition, don't pay 15 dollars for a used, Non-Mint version just because comic book guy, at your local store says that is what he wants. Know the value before hand, then negotiate. What a dealer can get in a small town is way different then what a dealer can get in L.A. Chicago or N.Y. Small town dealer knows he may be the only game in town and he applies the *Supply and Demand* rule.
Next, consider secondary market sources such as Flea Markets or Swap meets. Alot of times you have haggle room with these vendors. Usually your best deals will be towards the end of the day since the vendor may not want to repack all his stock for shipment home. Remember the golden rule. It's only a good deal if you get what you want and the guy makes a buck or two. In other words, don't expect the vendor to sell Booster box for less than he paid. He has to make a profit, even if it is a small one. This same logic applies if you attend conventions or trade shows. If you hit up the smaller vendors on the last day, towards the end of the day, you are likely to get a better deal than if you attend opening day and are there when the doors first open. I say this as a regular volunteer at San Diego Comic Con. The private vendors don't want to spend hours packing boxes for the next show. Make a reasonable offer and you might get your desired items at a price that you can afford. Note! This rule does not apply for Game Manufacturers. Don't go to the Wiz or Bandai booth expecting to negotiate. Thats corporate America and their prices are pretty rigid and as marked.
Finally, never forget the value of eBay. A personal example runs as follows. I live in San Diego, so today the wife and I hit up a few of the game shops that sell Boosters. We did not buy anything, we just went out and priced them in different shops. We hit a major retail chain, a regional chain of Comic book and Cards store and finally a Mom and Pop shop. Prices were fairly consistent. 19.99 for the Huge Universal Booster box and 14.99 for ROTS Boosters. No singles anywhere so that was a non issue. Had we made the purchase at any of these outlets, figure in 8 percent for tax.
Then, when we got home, the wife hit ebay and made the following purchases. 1 #14 "Mon Mothma (VR) for $4.41 plus 3.00 S&H. $7.41 for a single that seems to be listed for about $10.00 depending on what resource you use. I actually saw it listed for as high as $17.24 on one site. So, was the single we purchased for $7.41 a good value? In our minds it was. Next up...A "Rebel Storm" Starter Box. Wife bid on an auction version and set a max of $15.01 plus $8.50 for Shipping and Handling (S&H) if we won. Well, we won. Actual price was $12.31. Remember, I said she set a max price of $15.01. That was the most she was willing to pay when S&H was figured in. Price of the out of production box was $20.81 and it will be in our possession come Wednesday.(I think she added $1.50 for insurance and another .50 for tracking/confirmation). Next purchase was a 3 box lot of ROTS boosters. Now mind you, we had just seen these same boosters marked at $14.99 each. she bought all three for a "Buy it now" price of $29.99. So, right off the bat, we save 4.99 per box and the 8 percent tax. We do pay a rather steep 8.50 for S&H. SO we paid $38.49 total. We saved about 8 dollars.
Remember that "Huge Universal Booster" I mentioned earlier? It was listed at $19.99 no matter where we looked. There is an auction going on right now and it is a dutch auction. That means that a person is selling multiple items on the same auction. The intricacy's are a bit complicated but the basics are this. Example. Auction lists 24 boosters. A bidder submits a bid in two parts. Part A is how much we are willing to pay per box. Part B is how many boxes we want at the bid amount in Part A. Shipping is already established at $1.50 per box. So, she submits a bid of $11.00. Don't know if we will win, but at the time we placed our bid, that was what we were willing to pay.
One last thing. Never underestimate the value of a good trade. Browse these boards and you will find all the info you need on trading. How the process works, who the good and bad traders are, what the established traders are going to expect from you and what you can expect from them in return.
Point is this...Educate yourself, show a little patience and look everywhere. If you do these things, you will complete your collection before you know it