February 15, 2021
caveat venditor – phrase [latin] : let the seller beware
As established in my last post, I don’t see opening my original Innistrad packs as a legitimate option. The sealed packs themselves are fairly valuable, and yet likely contain little to nothing to make opening them a worthwhile endeavor. So what to do with them?
How about selling them?
But of course I can’t possibly do that.
To state the obvious, nearly all sealed Magic product increases in value over time. A few years ago single Innistrad packs were (if memory serves) in the $15 range, and they’re now worth closer to $20 each. While not a massive jump dollar-wise, an increase in value of 33% in a few years is pretty decent. And as the game ages and likely continues to grow, interest in old sets will only grow as well. While the impending release of Time Spiral Remastered may portent an eventual Innistrad Remastered release, I don’t think such a thing would seriously dent the going rate for sealed original Innistrad packs.
And honestly, I can’t sell these Innistrad packs knowing their value will only grow in time. I don’t need the money, so there’s no urgent need to unload them. And they were bought nearly a decade ago, so it’s not like I feel compelled to justify or recoup the original expense.
I bet I know what you’re thinking: why not sell them to be rid of them, since they cause me some level of distress simply by sitting on a shelf in my house? What’s the ever-(over?)-quoted mantra? “Does it spark joy?” Well…no. And thus it seems stupid to keep something that does nothing other than produce anxiety. So selling them – removing that burden – seems perfectly reasonable. Intelligent, even.
Except that selling would be absurd. These things are the most valuable sealed items I own (collectively, at least.) They’re from a beloved set that I all but missed. They could someday provide a glorious and rare opportunity to experience a true bygone era of the game. I may not have a playgroup at the moment, but someday I undoubtedly will, and 28 packs would be enough to do a full 8-person draft or a 4-person sealed deck tournament. How cool would it be to break them out at some future gathering and experience the set for the first time? I have packs of Dark Ascension and Avacyn Restored as well, in case there’s a great way to experience the Innistrad block.
[As an aside, I’ve never read a good word about Avacyn Restored. Packs of it run $11-12 and a booster box goes for less than half an Innistrad box. But a complete set of it is 20 cards smaller than Innistrad yet worth over $40 more. Maybe it was a flavor fail, or not well received at the time, and I know it was considered an awful draft set. But its cards are certainly worth more as a whole in 2021 than what Innistrad has to offer. As a value proposition, Avacyn Restored definitely looks like a safer bet. So…clearly Innistrad’s charms run deep. All the more reason not to part with those packs, right?]
Looking beyond the Innistrad packs to other parts of my collection, I’ve frequently considered selling some of my Reserved List cards. I don’t have a lot, and many are single copies that are part of complete sets that I lovingly collected 15-20 years ago. But seeing what they’re currently valued at is astonishing and admittedly tempting.
Sadly, just the notion of trying to sell some of them fills me with existential dread.
Where do I sell them to get the best return?
Ebay? No chance. I’ve seen too many stories about people who were scammed out of valuable cards, or got into prolonged battles over a card’s grade and therefore its true value.
An online store? As if. What if these cards that I’m sure are near mint get downgraded, and my return on them gets nerfed? Do I really want to find out that what I thought was a $100 card is worth significantly less because of some tiny nick on one edge that I never even noticed? And do I want to take .50-.60 cents on the dollar when they’re surely worth more if I can sell them elsewhere?
My local LGS? I tried that once, and they seemed to have little interest in anything over about $50. And the offers for what they did want were disappointing compared to potential trade-ins to popular online sellers.
And then there’s the conundrum of deciding what I could even bear to part with.
Can I really sell my only copy of a card that is part of a complete set that I’ve cherished for years? What if it’s a card I realistically never see myself playing (Lion’s Eye Diamond, I’m looking at you.)
If I sell now, am I selling into a spike, maximizing my return before the bubble bursts? Or is another round of spikes lurking post-stimulus checks, or post-COVID, or post-economic rebound? If I don’t need the money right now, shouldn’t I hold onto any Reserved List cards of value, knowing they’ll likely be worth more in a month and surely worth more in a year or two?
When’s the “perfect” time to sell, because I will greatly regret selling any other time? Never mind the fact that I’m infinitely aware that there is no “perfect” time – I’ll still hold out for it. Doing otherwise would be a huge mistake.
Case in point: last summer I (uncharacteristically) sold a card. I let a friend buy my Gaea’s Cradle for $300. Within a few days – no joke – its value shot to over $700. It’s now worth over $1200. Talk about serious, serious regret. I’m certainly glad it went to a friend who will put it to good use, instead of a faceless internet stranger or online store, but were I to have the chance to do it over…no way in hell do I sell that card. Greatest regret of my Magic hobbydom.
Those questions above – worries, to be truthful – tirelessly haunt my every potential decision, turning the entire swath of them into indecisions. Better to do nothing than the wrong thing.
“Now” is not the time to sell, nor will it ever be.
The cards, the packs – they will be worth more later, and mean too much to me now. Selling would be a mistake I would regret, and I’m already wading through regret – with Magic in particular and life in general.
So. I can’t open those packs, and I can’t sell them. Clearly just holding onto them is the best course of action, the one least likely to generate anxiety, right?
Right?
Next time: wrong.
Casual Magicking 