(Part 2) Top products from r/mtgfinance

First class mail package/thick envelope works absolutely fine with 4x8 bubble mailers. It costs about $2.67 if you purchase the postage through eBay, and you get the added bonus of free tracking and delivery confirmation. When you're shipping more valuable cards, you might want to spring for insurance (pay out of your own pocket if the buyer didn't request it specifically). It's pretty cheap and is a good way to play it safe.

 
Here's the method I've used for shipping hundreds of cards on eBay, with absolutely no problems whatsoever. You'll need the following supplies:

 
#000 4x8 Bubble Mailer
Penny sleeve
Toploader
Team bag
Scotch tape
Packing tape

 

1. Place the card you want to ship upside down in the penny sleeve, then fold the excess bit of plastic back up from the open end of the sleeve. This will keep the card from sliding out of the penny sleeve.
    
   
   
2. Slide the penny-sleeved card into the toploader, starting with the folded end of the penny sleeve. Be sure to keep the penny sleeve folded while you do this. It might be a bit tricky to get the card into the toploader, but it won't fall out of the penny sleeve once you do.
    
   
   
3. Tap the bottom of the toploader against a hard surface a couple times if need be to make sure the card is all the way inside and level. Then, tape a piece of scotch tape and tape up the open end of the toploader. Make sure to use a bit longer piece of tape than you need, and fold on end over itself to make a tab on one side of the toploader. This will ensure that the card won't fall out of the toploader during shipping while making it easier for your buyer to get the card out.
    
   
   
4. Place top toploader inside a team bag and seal it. In the event that your bubble mailer gets wet, this should ensure the card remains undamaged.
    
   
   
5. Print out the order invoice, fold it up, and place it inside the bubble mailer along with the toploader. Seal the bubble mailer, then place a piece of packing tape over the flap of the bubble mailer to ensure it stays shut.
    
   
   
6. Print out your postage. You can use a regular piece of printer paper if need be, but I'd definitely recommend going with an adhesive address label. Better yet, if you'll be shipping in volume I'd recommend getting a thermal printer (I've got a Dymo LabelWriter 4XL that's awesome), because then you don't have to worry about smudging, even if the address label gets damp.
    
   
   
7. Apply the postage to the outside of the bubble mailer. If you're using regular printer paper, be sure to tape all edges with packing tape to ensure it stays in place. Then place a piece of packing tape over the addresses. Again, this step is unnecessary if you invest in a thermal printer.
    
   
   Hope this information helps anyone looking for a worry-free way to ship cards!

Trying to pay for MtG with speculation is near impossible. It requires a significant amount of market knowledge and a good bit of luck as well. I've had better luck grinding collections and trades.

Buying Craigslist and Facebook collections at buylist prices can be incredibly profitable. It can be a successful venture with very little MtG/business knowledge. That said, it's a hell of a grind.

Take my most recent purchase:

• Vague CL listing. "4k cards, more than 800 rares, asking $600".
  
• I gave my normal spiel: I pay buylist for rares, $0.10 per bulk rare, $3 per 1k common/uncommon."
  
• Seller catalogues some of the cards and comes up to $350 buylist for everything.
  
• It's 3 days before Christmas and I'm patient. I offer $300.
  
• Initial offer rejected. Seller comes back on Christmas Eve and takes $300.
  
  Then the hard part. I sorted everything, then alphabetized the rares. Here's the list after everything was sorted. There was another $120 or so in bulk or cards I kept for my collection.
  
  Then you need to figure out how to move this product. It's $370 in buylist, I used MTGprice to get that number. I could spend $30 in shipping to make $40 for 4-6 hours of work. Not for me.
  
  I broke the numbers down further considering eBay and TCGPlayer fees for cash. I knew I wanted to move some of it on PucaTrade because I want to build UR Twin and it's easy to pick up the $5-$20 uncommons on there. Rares and staples like Scalding Tarn and Snapcaster are near impossible to pick up on Puca without bounties but the uncommons from MM and MM15 move quickly. I decided to just move the entire collection on Puca and then sell the points (whoops).
  
  I used PucaPower to optimize this procedure. It went something like:
  
  
• Export CSV from MTGPrice
  
• Import to PucaTrade
  
• Setup PucaPower to alert on bundles over $5.
  
• Accept ALL THE TRADES.
  
  I ended up with a lot of trades. It ended up being ~52000 PP over 55 packages. That's $0.49 per stamp, $0.07 per envelope and $0.10 per top loader which comes out to $0.66 in shipping per order. That's $36 in shipping and handling.
  
  I took the remainder of the collection to my LGS. He initially offered 35% TCGPlayer mid in cash or 50% in trade. I offered to throw in the binder that came with the collection and organize the binder into a new Commander product binder for him if he would give me 75% in trade. He offered 65% and I accepted. That got me a playset of NM Snapcaster Mages ($240 in retail).
  
  All that to say...
  
  Collection Cost: $300
  
  Shipping and Handling: $36
  
  Total Investment: $336, 10 hours of time
  
  to get
  
  $240 retail in Snapcasters
  
  $120 retail in random staples
  
  52,000 PP
  
  I can play the waiting game and hope the cards I need trickle in or I can sell the PP for $0.65-$0.68 per 100. That'd be ~$338, completely covering my investment. So for 10 hours of work I earned a free set of Snapcasters and grew my binder/collection by another $120 in retail. Of course I'm addicted to cardboard crack and I have 30000 PP worth of cards on my want list. I'll likely sell the remaining 20,000 PP to finance my next collection purchase.
  
  It's a long and slow grind. I basically made $30/hour doing this. I could have made ~$50/hour in overtime at work and just bought the cards but I enjoy sorting cards more than my job. I've built Atarka Red in Standard, Naya Burn in Modern (no tarns) and I'm starting on Twin using this method. I had to flip four collections to do this but I think it's worth it.
  

Right?

Now, apparently, I get my choice of some overpriced $300+ pair of headphones, to throw on the pile of regular-ass headphones that I have which do the job just fine, a $150 pocket knife that I probably won't like more than my $14 Opinel (seriously...I can't see what the point of $100+, very losable pocket knife is...what does it sing you a song when you're using it to open your mail?), or...a watch. I guess they sell camping equipment too? Lol?

It just seem like they're trying to move away from a site that offered good deals on a variety of objects to being a site that offers only absurdly expensive versions of objects you probably already have, primarily for hipsters that don't mind spending hundreds of dollars...on a knife, or a pair of headphones. Or something?

I don't get it, personally. They must not be doing well.

Here's what I'm rocking:

First Alert 2583DF Executive Safe with Digital Lock, 6.7 Cubic Foot, Gunmetal Fine Texture https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UHO4Z4/

I've been very happy with it. I can easily fit binders inside standing upright, as well as my laptop and important documents.

Be careful when getting fireproof safes. They often have a water logged clay in the walls to withstand a fire, but what you may not realize is that they can ruin items inside them by getting the damp if the safe isn't opened often enough. You hear about this problem often when people buy fireproof safes and store printed documents in them, but I'd imagine Magic cards are even more sensitive.

The one I have is fire resistant up to a certain temp which I feel is just fine.

Don't use deck boxes - send them in one of these ( https://www.bcwsupplies.com/100-card-storage-box ) or one of these ( https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Pro-2-Piece-Count-Storage/dp/B0002TT3L6/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=sports+cards+plastic+case&qid=1565637902&s=gateway&sr=8-3 ).

Both do a good job of preventing the cards from jostling around. If you can't fill them, then stuff some folded paper towels to prevent the cards from moving around during transit. Do use Priority Mail and pay for extra insurance if what you're sending in is worth more than $50, as the extra insurance is cheap. Heck - I sent a $4000 buylist to ABU and insurance was only $25 extra.

I'm still waiting for a brand that offers integrated silica packs in their deckboxes/storage solutions.

Maybe with something like the Peli case silica Gel packs?

Have you seen Amazon? https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0786930152/ref=tmm_mmp_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1525636713&sr=8-1

These

I just grabbed the first listing for these boxes I found on Amazon.

You might want to buy some edible paper and printer ink.
Sheets are here.

Ink is here.

Amazon. 10.83 for 100. I got bcw but 100 ultra pro are the same price

BCW (100 - 4 packs of 25) BCW Brand Trading Card Toploaders - 3" x 4" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LR7GK4/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_gSk8BbQ5R23AQ

https://www.amazon.com/Dry-Packs-Cotton-Silica-Packet-Pack/dp/B0038N30OY

Use these.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/B0000C0CJQ/ref=mw_dp_olp?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Staples, office Depot etc. Sell em at your lgs and make money off it

This is the only binder I will store my old MtG sets in: Ultra Pro Premium PRO-BINDER Padded Leatherette Sideloading 9-Pocket Album https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004FVJDV2.

It's also in the players guide from around '95

https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Gathering-Pocket-Players-Guide/dp/1880992299

Exodus has color fluctuations between cards. Buy a loupe, it's $2.

Wizards even started including them with a bunch of D&D products - https://www.amazon.com/Waterdeep-Dragon-Heist-Dice-Accessory/dp/0786966289

https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Pro-24-36-Toploader/dp/B004L17318/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=top+loader+sheet&qid=1562683181&s=gateway&sr=8-3

​

Do you think this would do the job? I don't know the size of the sheet and don't want to order incorrectly