Great news for your pocketbook!

[Hetemti]

Wizards is so thankful that you're willing to pay 3.29 for fifteen slips of cardboard, they're going to reward the community that keeps them alive...

...by raising the price to 3.69, according to a shopowner who just contacted our club that he's going to have to raise prices in lockstep.

Should we petition WizCo to quit twisting the knife, or what? If nothing else, I suppose we can swamp MaRo's inbox until he does a Monday article on why the new, cheaper cardboard that immediately festers when wet unlike the old cards that can sit in a pool for five minutes and barely warp demands an extra $15 per box.

 

[Nightstalkers]

Me, I'll be sticking to the $2.99 packs.


And screw WotC, we've got'em by the balls if they try going to $4.00.

—Nightstalker Lazarus

 

[orgg]

Most places have already had Magic packs for $3.99 or so for the past few years since Pokemon. There are people who'll still pick them up at a quarter each card, so it sells as it is.

If they ever go over four dollars... Well, I hope the salaries have increased the same amount.

It's inflation. It hurts... but it happens.

 

[Reverend Love]

For once I agree with Nightstalkers. It's perferctly natural for WoTC to increase the price of their product with demand so high. They'll raise prices, we'll bitch and everything will pan out. They've just about reached the breaking point for 95% of their players and they understand this. So go ahead, let them raise it again....and I'll do it EEEEEEEEBay.

 

[Spiderman]

It had to happen, I'm actually surprised that it took so long. Seeing that, I'll still be looking for bargains like the $2.99 (who knows how much that'll go up, if any) but seeing how I don't buy a lot anyway, it's gonna have a negligible effect on me.

 

[train]

ebay is the way to go - for everyone...

boxes for 63.00 - including shipping...

 

[Mr_Pestilence]

Amen, brother!

Only suckers pay more than $2 per pack.

Yes, this requires saving up for a box rather than getting a few packs at a time, and maybe waiting 2-3 days for shipping, but this is worth it for the savings.

 

[train]

It is definitely worth it for the savings...

and if you want only specific cards from certain sets - you can pick and choose which you want and not have to worry about getting tons of crap commons and uncommons...

sometimes 4 of's for top rares can be as cheap as 10.00 - that is - before the rare's true play value is discovered... thenit's about 20-35...

 

[Apollo]

I'm glad I don't buy cards anymore...

I did an economics project on the effect of having a sale shortly after the price was raised to $3.29. One of the stores in my area left the prices at $2.99 instead of raising them, in effect having a permanent sale. The owner was dating my friend (a scandalous relationship, given that he was 27 and she was 18), so he let me interview him, and told me that his sales had shot up since the price change because nobody was buying cards from the more expensive stores anymore--they were all coming to him. The price change was one of the better things that happened to his business because he ignored it.

I wonder if he'll still leave the prices down now...

 

[Spiderman]

Remember, it's only suggested retail price.... the sellers can do whatever they want (even sell them for $1, even if it makes them lose money. Not smart, but they aren't beholden to the $3.69).

 

[train]

Apollo - your friends boyfriend could now raise the price to 3.19 and increase revenue, while still remaining below MSRP, and beating out the competitions 3.29 pack if they choose to not go up...

And spidey has a point - but if the cost on the packs went up $.40, more than likely, the cost from WoTC on packs went up $.13-18...

Cost on packs is 1.66 guys, when not buying cases - from WoTC - and sellers selling at about 60-75 bucks a box plus shipping are selling on revenue and volume...

I can actually get boxes at a retail shope for 78.00 - Software asylum - abilene Texas...

And they're great guys to deal with!

 

[Mr_Pestilence]

Since we're bragging about our fav shops -

T&T Toys, Duluth, GA

Boxes are $80 to anyone, but if you buy a discount card ($10/year), then everything is 10% off.

I'll do the math for ya - that means boxes are $72 per, and all singles and supplies are 10% less.

Friday night Magic results actually get turned in, and Tim and Tiffany do an all around great job.

 

[Spiderman]

If there's at least three expansions per year, wouldn't that mean each box is really around $75? (80-8 + (10 (price of membership)/3(number of expansions per year))

 

[Master Shake]

Drivingm the price up has nothing to do with inflation and everything to do with competition.

This is all assumption, but think about it.

Retailers are getting away with four dollars and more for packs of the hit game "Yu Gi Oh". With people flocking to the game, paying just about any price for obscure packs for five and nine cards.

Think of this from the marketing department's eyes.

Random Marketing Guy, "Hey... uhhh.... look at those kids buying Yu Gi Oh... 4.50 a pack! that is a great idea!"

Random Marketing Guy 2, "and look at all of those kids learning to play."

Little kid, "Hey, mommy can I have 5 dollars for a pack of cards?"

Mother, "Anything to make you happy."

This kind of goes on two fronts...

First, Konami is getting away with murder, selling cards with poor art, that can not fit into standard pages or sleves for far more then they are worth (with wretched art work to boot.) On top of that, the cards are made with squared corners... and it is directed towards little kids.

WOTC must look at this and be amazed. Suddenly a market that they have dominated for ten years has been put at risk. They are changing the target audience to younger kids (Notice how the names have become a lot easier to pronounce, mechanics are far less complex, big creatures are becomming ever more common? Even the art work seems to becoming more simplistic) The target change allows them to charge mroe because the parents will pay it.

This has nothing to do with inflation, or costs of any kind, if anything, it is cheaper for WOTC to produce today then it was five years ago. Now, it is just a question of how much can they squeeze people before they pop?

Personally, I have cut back on buying since the 3.29 price jump. I have never been once for buying boxes as I do not really have the money to buy two or three boxes every four months. Another fourty cent increase is going to force me to cut back ever more, unless local retailers keep the 3.00 price.

Thanks for reading my useless post.

 

[Nightstalkers]

I thought it was a stroke of genious to try the Yu-Gi-Oh! thing...

What you have here is a giant corporation specialized at selling these items to kids... They have the backup of a TV show, a small player base, and a large basket of goodies from oversea's.

Now lets analyze WotC's Magic: The Gathering: Large player base but most of the players are going downhill because of other games tantilizing their interests (Yu-Gi-Oh!, Ophidian, Yu-Yu Hakusho), no promotional tools except in magazines and word of mouth, and only a meager bag of worn out tricks.


CPA join forces with WotC to sell M:TG cards? hey, I'm not doing anything except running a business and going to weddings right now.

—Nightstalker Exterra

 

[Shiro, Time Devourer]

Originally posted by Hetemti
Wizards is so thankful that you're willing to pay 3.29 for fifteen slips of cardboard, they're going to reward the community that keeps them alive...

...by raising the price to 3.69, according to a shopowner who just contacted our club that he's going to have to raise prices in lockstep.

Should we petition WizCo to quit twisting the knife, or what? If nothing else, I suppose we can swamp MaRo's inbox until he does a Monday article on why the new, cheaper cardboard that immediately festers when wet unlike the old cards that can sit in a pool for five minutes and barely warp demands an extra $15 per box.

Pay more and get cheaper cardboard? Y33sh. THe end of magic may yet come.

 

[Reverend Love]

To go off of what Train said earlier you could always apply the patented Reverend Love more for less approach. Buy x4 of all the commons and uncommons out of the latest set (usually between 20-30 dollars). Then pick and choose the rares. Easier and mucho cheaper.

Do a search for:

uncommon x4

or

common x4

and you'll see what I'm talking about...great deals.

 

[Istanbul]

I can't remember the last time I bought a pack of Magic at retail.

With this price increase, that cements it staying that way.

 

[train]

honestly, the last time I bought a pack of any magic cards for retail value was with MTGO... WoTC doesn't cut anyone deals...

all the shops around here are either cheap, or I get a 20% discount for running the tourneys anyway...

 

[Notepad]

Man, all this reminds me of the good old days when you would could get packs for $2.50 at the local shop.

Boy, I miss the crapastic 90s!!! At least the game was fun back then...rather than tourney gimmicks...