Here's a link to one of his articles- http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/trade-routes-making-money-where-you-can/

(I'm not trying to advertise or anything, this is just for reference. If this is against forums rules, please let me know and I'll take it down immediately.)

So...who is this guy? And maybe I'm just a terrible trader and don't know anything, but I feel that it's kind of sad that soooo many (ok so maybe not THAT many but still) people follow his advice almost religiously when he might not even be right.

Maybe I'm just too new to the trading community to know everyone here, so he might be a respected trader in the trading community. But what do you guys think of him?

I don't know much about him or much of what he writes, but I'm sure he means well and he is trying to help new players with their hobbie's costs, But apparently he's very bad at it. I remember he mentioned about throwing Commons/Uncommons in the trash. You should never do something like that, There is always people less fortunate that will gladly love to take them.

quote:

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Originally posted by Skwirlnutz:
From what I hear people love to hate the guy, see: stu55.

I don't know much about him or much of what he writes, but I'm sure he means well and he is trying to help new players with their hobbie's costs, But apparently he's very bad at it. I remember he mentioned about throwing Commons/Uncommons in the trash. You should never do something like that, There is always people less fortunate that will gladly love to take them.

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quote:

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Originally posted by SageShadows:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Skwirlnutz:
From what I hear people love to hate the guy, see: stu55.

I don't know much about him or much of what he writes, but I'm sure he means well and he is trying to help new players with their hobbie's costs, But apparently he's very bad at it. I remember he mentioned about throwing Commons/Uncommons in the trash. You should never do something like that, There is always people less fortunate that will gladly love to take them.

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[/QUOTE]

Oh I never read the article. That's just what I heard.

quote:

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Originally posted by Skwirlnutz:
From what I hear people love to hate the guy, see: stu55.

I don't know much about him or much of what he writes, but I'm sure he means well and he is trying to help new players with their hobbie's costs, But apparently he's very bad at it. I remember he mentioned about throwing Commons/Uncommons in the trash. You should never do something like that, There is always people less fortunate that will gladly love to take them.

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I can't wait till Stu55 sees this then.

I have no idea of what MOTLers think thats why I'm so curious.

shouldnt have even clicked the link.. gah..

shoulda titled it next level noob card exchanger

©

__________________
Since it is obviously inconceivable that all religions can be right, the most reasonable conclusion is that they are all wrong.
-Christopher Hitchens

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Originally posted by CoupDeGrace:
lol! If i am not wrong, he is the Salvation Moderator ?

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go figure.. that'd explain a lot..

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__________________
Since it is obviously inconceivable that all religions can be right, the most reasonable conclusion is that they are all wrong.
-Christopher Hitchens

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Originally posted by Zakman86:
Grewe=Caselogik on MTGSalvation for those of you who didn't already know.

That being said... I've never really been impressed with his articles. A lot of them seem like common sense types of things and even then sometimes they seem shaky.

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The basic to becoming a trader is to buy at $X and sell at $X+ 10-30% markup. 10% markup is low and you will get tired pretty fast due to high volume but next to nothing profits. 30% markup is a bit high. 20% markup seems right.

To be able to command that 20-30% markup, you need to have demand for cards and not too many supply (other traders). More traders will push down card prices as everyone lower prices to move stock. Bear in mind, customers are not dumb. The upper limit of what they are willing to pay will be Ebay BIN auctions OR SCG prices.

Among Ebay BIN and SCG prices, SCG prices tend to be more generous --> stingy customers will want to pay Ebay BIN prices or in a bad case, they will pick the odd outlier auction where an Underground Sea ended up at $55 and told you thats what an Underground Sea is worth! For cheap customers, remain firm on your price, but tell them politely that they can buy from ebay if they wish.

People buy from local dealers instead of Ebay/SCG for 1 big reason: CONVENIENCE

That is why EDH is a local dealer's best friend. A customer who wants 30 different cards will find that a well-stocked local dealer will serve them better than Ebay, where auctions are usually for playsets, and where each additional auction can cost $1 shipping.

There are many many other stuff that you need to know to be a trader. Just remember the basics:

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Originally posted by coolio:
damnit.. even glancing a bit of that article, i feel my brain is leaking out of my ears...

shouldnt have even clicked the link.. gah..

shoulda titled it next level noob card exchanger

©

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Cept the problem with titling it like that is I wouldn't have the honor of you commenting on how bad that guy is.

Besides, I don't want to be like "this guy is terrible!" and then have all of MOTL on my back telling me how great of a trader he is. :P

So I guess no one respectable actually listens to this guy right?

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Originally posted by MTDetermine:
People buy from local dealers instead of Ebay/SCG for 1 big reason: CONVENIENCE

That is why EDH is a local dealer's best friend. A customer who wants 30 different cards will find that a well-stocked local dealer will serve them better than Ebay, where auctions are usually for playsets, and where each additional auction can cost $1 shipping.[/B]

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I am agree with this but to a very certain extent. Well, I will rather pay a bit more to hook up couple of small stuff for Commander Format(That is why i purchased from people like MTDetermine and other cards dealers.) than wasting my time to source at online. Cards like Time Stretch/Kor Haven/High Market/Doubling Cube and so on are no longer be found at the crap rares pile anymore at here. For stuffs like legacy staples/vintage stuffs, i will rather hook up from various sources.

Commander Format:
Money > Time

Legacy/Vintage:
Time > Money

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Originally posted by stu55:
Next Level Idiot- IMO

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Agreed. How hard is it to come up with that idea? Let's put all our junk in a binder and go rip off casual players. I guess if you have no conscience and can sleep at night, go for it. There is a definite line between trying to come out ahead in trades and just ripping people off. It's one thing when someone asks you for rares that happen to be junk. It is another to say to people that I want your money cards and I'm only going to give junk for them. I see his type all the time. They generally hand me their binder and then as soon as they open mine up, they reach for their real binder if they really want to trade.

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Originally posted by MTDetermine:
Asia is different from USA. In most Asian shops, you can pretty much buy/sell cards in the shops or nearby. Just don't hawk sealed MTG products!

The basic to becoming a trader is to buy at $X and sell at $X+ 10-30% markup. 10% markup is low and you will get tired pretty fast due to high volume but next to nothing profits. 30% markup is a bit high. 20% markup seems right.

To be able to command that 20-30% markup, you need to have demand for cards and not too many supply (other traders). More traders will push down card prices as everyone lower prices to move stock. Bear in mind, customers are not dumb. The upper limit of what they are willing to pay will be Ebay BIN auctions OR SCG prices.

Among Ebay BIN and SCG prices, SCG prices tend to be more generous --> stingy customers will want to pay Ebay BIN prices or in a bad case, they will pick the odd outlier auction where an Underground Sea ended up at $55 and told you thats what an Underground Sea is worth! For cheap customers, remain firm on your price, but tell them politely that they can buy from ebay if they wish.

People buy from local dealers instead of Ebay/SCG for 1 big reason: CONVENIENCE

That is why EDH is a local dealer's best friend. A customer who wants 30 different cards will find that a well-stocked local dealer will serve them better than Ebay, where auctions are usually for playsets, and where each additional auction can cost $1 shipping.

There are many many other stuff that you need to know to be a trader. Just remember the basics:

1) Serve the needs of customers
2) Be price competitive (your prices should not exceed online stores, or better still, ebay BIN)

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quote:

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Originally posted by Skwirlnutz:
... I remember he mentioned about throwing Commons/Uncommons in the trash. You should never do something like that, There is always people less fortunate that will gladly love to take them.

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And I'm pretty sure I picked up a foil japanese Sisay from him for 20 bucks in trade a few events ago.

The question is, was anyone ripped off?

__________________
#1 in posts from Brazil!

#3 in Refs from Brazil;

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Originally posted by Mr.C:
Last week at FNM, I did a trade with a friend that was fairly even on MOTL. People who use SCG think I was ripped off. By MOTL I "lost" $1. By SCG, I "lost" $15.

The question is, was anyone ripped off?

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