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Originally posted by Speed Demon:
So basically the days of getting a draft set off of people for $6 is over, correct?

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But the 28% margin is not meaningful as I saw booster boxes on the internet here at $104 shipped. So people here buy booster boxes on the internet instead of LGS. LGS only get draft business or loose pack business......

Wonder how they survive. Does WOTC give its retailers such wafer thin margins?

Btw, $3.60 here can buy 3 normal meals. If the guy is thrify enough, 4 simple meals........So the number of people buying packs are not high to begin with in the first place.

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Originally posted by dwiz:
In Europe, $6us is nearly the price of a booster. $9 a set is a good price for a set now in the US. You can pull off a draft (with re-draft afterwords as prizes) still, without buying at wholesale price.

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Originally posted by Volcanon:
I've never seen $6 draft sets anywhere, anywhen. And I've been playing since 2003. Cheapest was $9.

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Originally posted by MTDetermine:
Currently in China. Went to check out the MTG scene here. Nearly fainted when the shop told me their cost is $2.80 per pack or $100.80 per box......They are supposed to sell at $3.60 per pack to earn 28% margin.

But the 28% margin is not meaningful as I saw booster boxes on the internet here at $104 shipped. So people here buy booster boxes on the internet instead of LGS. LGS only get draft business or loose pack business......

Wonder how they survive. Does WOTC give its retailers such wafer thin margins?

Btw, $3.60 here can buy 3 normal meals. If the guy is thrify enough, 4 simple meals........So the number of people buying packs are not high to begin with in the first place.

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Originally posted by Volcanon:
I've never seen $6 draft sets anywhere, anywhen. And I've been playing since 2003. Cheapest was $9.

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I used to do $8 drafts back in the day (no prizes though, and around when Onslaught was legal) for my friends and I. I was buying at online vendors, CoolStuffInc, CardKingdom, etc. So it doesn't seem too impossible that somebody was getting $6 draft sets.

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Originally posted by lickaneye:
What sucks about China is that there is one distributer and they control the market. Like many other forms of business there, it is still quite corrupt. I couldn't believe it at first, but after hearing it from two dealers and a local... I believe.

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I heard that the distributor promised WOTC 2 things that WOTC like:

1) minimum sales volume
2) Strict adherence to "price stability" by restricting ability of shops to undercut prices

Well, it seems the distributor maintain "Price stability" by giving the shops high costs, which restrict the shops' ability to give discount.

And those booster boxes on the Chinese internet that goes for $105 shipped (shop's cost is $101, so thats 4% to cover profits and shipping), I believe it must be linked to "Minimum Sales Volume".

So like all things chinese, the China distributor managed to put on a facade of price stability on the surface while dumping booster boxes on the internet, becoming competitors with their own retailers.

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Originally posted by lickaneye:
What sucks about China is that there is one distributer and they control the market. Like many other forms of business there, it is still quite corrupt. I couldn't believe it at first, but after hearing it from two dealers and a local... I believe.

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I wouldn't say it is corrupted (possibly, though), but things definitely go worse when there are only one supplier in a country, and that supplier tries to exploit a huge profit.

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Originally posted by Phyrexian Angel:
I wouldn't say it is corrupted (possibly, though), but things definitely go worse when there are only one supplier in a country, and that supplier tries to exploit a huge profit.

Similar case in Hong Kong. Distributor sells boosters to retail stores at a cost around $2.5 each pack. Retailers sell booster packs at around $3.25 each.

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High cost of booster pack is only the start of the story......Normally, players could recoup that via higher price for cards as high cost is supposed to drive down supply, making cards more expensive. And foreigners wanting Chinese cards will have to pay a premium. As players get more for their singles, they can buy more boosters.

BUT BUT BUT BUT

From what is happening on the market, there is ground to believe that some sources with large supply of Chinese cards are dumping the cards on ebay at prices that only make sense if the cost of boosters are ~$2.

Once, a Singapore dealer told me he can get me tonnes of Chinese T2 to resell. When I tell him that I dont like to spend time opening packs, he told me that if the volume is big enough, he can deliver part of the print run to me with cards all nicely sort out based on what a print run is supposed to have, instead of individual boxes/cases.........

In China, you get worst of both worlds where cost of booster packs is high, but prices for singles are lower than world market prices.

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Originally posted by jshields:
I pay about $500 per case, buying them from my friend at the wholesale price + about 20% of the wholesale price so he earns money too.

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Also, I know a vendor in NY that sells boxes for $85 all the time, even online. It's not *that* rare in the USA.

We have $7.50 drafts in my garage all the time.

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Originally posted by echo part 4:
i can buy INS boxes for 87

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Originally posted by Volcanon:
I've never seen $6 draft sets anywhere, anywhen. And I've been playing since 2003. Cheapest was $9.

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The last time I saw draft sets for $6 was pre-Mirrodin box MSRP spike. Mirrodin forced us to hike to $7, eventually $8 around Ravnica. Now it's 8-9 depending but usually $9.