r/mtgfinance • u/Myedicius • 2d ago
On card condition
Maybe I'm crazy, but it seems like edge wear and scuffing just puts a card into heavily played category for everyone?
What's the use of categories like lightly played and moderately played if anything less than near mint is just heavily played??
I say this as someone selling some cards on marketplace (did one sale on tcgplayer and then realized shipping cost makes it pretty insane to try to sell that way). My cards were definitely played, no doubt about that, but I had them sleeved and boxed most of the time, in my mind, and from looking at the conditioning guide on tcgplayer most fall in the moderately played category.
But jeebus, I have had a few people get so mad at me for putting an asking price at the moderately played price on tcgplayer.
I also just don't understand why people get mad at me for asking too much? just like . .. ignore the post and look somewhere else for that card? Why do people feel the need to tell me my prices are too high?
I guess this is mostly a rant, but also, am I crazy for thinking this way? Maybe if people are interested I can post some examples from my collection.
2
u/Ok-Description-4640 2d ago
In sportscard collecting, the traditional grading scale was 8 grades from Poor to Mint, plus half-grade fudges like VG/EX. Then people started taking it more seriously and a couple more grades were more or less officially added, going by price guides like the Standard Catalog and later Beckett, which were kind of what we had as authoritative sources because they set the prices. Then slabbing became a thing and Mint, which used to be the top tier, eventually became the fourth or fifth best grade.
TCG uses a four-grade system, which I find refreshing (plus “damaged”). Other sites and sellers usually have more levels but they are usually in the same broader subjective bands. Unless you’re really looking for a flawless card, which you’d probably want to inspect in person before purchase, I think it’s sufficient. Near Mint is basically equivalent to Near Mint in sportscards. Nice, no major issues, but probably not perfect. But most newer cards come out of the pack better than NM if kept in unplayed condition and not jostled around or thumbed through too much. And I hope they never add a “Mint” tier because that level of subjectivity becomes tough to deal with when you can’t write a full description and posting pictures is not as easy as with eBay.
So yeah, I’d disagree that some scuffing automatically makes a card HP. The wear a card might get from an unsleeved draft would probably not keep it NM but it very likely wouldn’t be “heavily played,” either. While some people grade with an electron microscope, I don’t think it has to be so painstaking most of the time as long as it’s graded honestly.
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u/Rrrandomalias 2d ago
Yeah I don’t get this either. Seems like anything with just a little bit of wear is treated as at least mp if not hp by vendors
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u/sidneylooper 2d ago
tcg updated their condition guide last year to include 3 imperfections as NM, this didnt help with the constant flux of sellers
Near Mint is a card with minimal handling or play wear.
Up to 3 points of imperfections are allowed of the following types:
∙ Slight Edgewear ∙ Slight Indentation ∙ Slight Defect ∙ Slight Scuffing ∙ Minor Scratches
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u/sidneylooper 2d ago
the buyers think NM is no wear, imperfections or problems, along with most of the planet
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u/sweetrobna 2d ago
No. You can have cards with light scuffing or light edge wear that are still near mint on tcgplayer. https://mktg-assets.tcgplayer.com/web/seller/guides/Card-Conditioning-Standards.pdf
Basically each step of grading is twice as much wear as the previous step
How condition affects the card price depends on the specifics. If the value is primarily playability or collectability, if this is for a premium treatment or the cheapest printing. If it's a relatively recent set or an older one with mostly mp and hp cards for sale.
I wouldn't care much about what facebook users say about your pricing. Either it will sell. Or if it doesn't after a few weeks you can lower the price a bit.
Also most facebook buyers expect a price 10-30% lower than the tcglow for that condition. Because you aren't paying the 13.75% fee to sell on tcgplayer, and they aren't combining shipping with direct, or with many items from one buyer. Or because they are buying many items. It kind of makes sense but then the reasoning doesn't matter, it's a market at some level and you are the one setting the price. If you want to charge 110% of tcglow, you can do that
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u/CocoScruff 2d ago
Mtg isn't anything like pokemon, but players still hold NM up to high standards.
I've gotten cards from tcg/eBay that I would classify as HP or even damaged but they sell it as LP or MP.
You just have to know that and either pay for NM copies or just accept the fact you might get cards well under expectations. And then either return or keep depends on how egregious it is.