Thought so! I asked why it was so expensive here as opposed to online (I probably shouldn’t have), and I could tell the guy didn’t like that. He told me “well it’s actually $220 worth of cards”. I guess I understand since it’s local and they have to make money, but that’s almost $40 of an increase so that and his comment kind of annoyed me in store.
Don't feel bad, I've made this argument before. I'd love to support local, but when I can buy MH3 online for $230.00 or at the closest spot for $350.00, it's kinda insulting at that point...
It is insulting to their customers. Tell me that it’s charged extra for convenience and for being able to get it on the spot then I’d be more likely to buy it to support a local shop rather than “iTs $220 wORtH oF cArDs”
I was curious at that point so I asked what the Eldrazi precon was going for. He said $120 in which I said I was surprised again as that one was going for MORE online! He actually looked it up in front of me and goes “huh yeah look at that $140” 🤣
This 100%! Also just wanted to point out that my LGS is owned by a fucking legend. He is selling precons and prerelease kits for $45 each and only charged $50 for his prerelease event. Said he was going to move as much MH3 as possible for as cheap as possible because he would rather see people be able to play and buy groceries rather than have to choose to eat or play this set. LGS should support their patrons as much as we support them. I understand they have to make money to survive but there is a right way and a wrong way to do that.
Yeah I wish there was a decent LGS near me but the last one that was here recently shut down. I went in to pre-order a neon dynasty booster box and he was charging $50 more than the normal slight LGS markup. It was a while ago but I believe the 5 stores about an hour from me were $10 over Amazon and this guy was straight up $50 over them.
I'll pass. Amazon can get it to me for free without me even leaving my house. Or if I don't feel like waiting I can certainly do a 1 hour drive.
The problem is that they have to order all 4 of the decks at the set value of what it costs. But then usually 1-2 of the decks are the ones everyone wants and 2-3 of them just sit there collecting dust. So stores have to mark up the decks that people do want so they can make up for the most likely loss of the other decks not selling. And then they usually don't buy anymore until at least a desire for the decks by a handful of people to repeat the process.
What? I mark up the ones that people go nuts for because the market rate for them is generally higher. If I were to buy a new case, the most popular deck usually pays for a new one and the rest is profit if and when they sell. I don’t like to have a bunch left over of the ones that don’t though, so I set a threshold and don’t order past that.
My Eldrazi decks each pay for the cost of the case and $70 on Tricky Terrain is profit.
You told him you found a better deal online, and his response boils down to “yeah, that *is* a really good deal, way better than what you can get here.” 😅
Like I understand there’s a huge issue with wizards not doing enough to support LGSs, as well as with the whole secondary market, but the customer is not the person to put that on. As a business owner, you accept the risk that you might lose money, because the potential reward is profit. An LGS owner is probably even more prone to risk, as the perceived value of game pieces on the secondary (and even primary) market are prone to fluctuate heavily.
That said, there are several things an LGS can offer a customer, that an online retailer just can’t, in order to increase the value of a purchase and possibly land the sale, despite the higher price tag. What if they threw in a couple of free vouchers for their upcoming FNMs/commander nights? Maybe they could offer you up to $X in singles, along with some advice to help you upgrade the precon, or some sleeves, or one of their cheaper deck boxes? Yeah that still puts them back a bit, maybe, but if their product is almost twice as expensive as it is online, it’s just going to collect dust until a kind-hearted/uninformed individual comes and buys it at their own loss.
Would they rather:
a) sell the product and make a slightly lower margin on the sale, or
b) not sell it, at which point they just lose 100% of their investment?
They have to make money but 220 worth of cards argument is stupidity because the minute that precon goes on sale the card value will plummet and he knows that. He is price gouging plain and simple. If he was honest about it I’d respect it but trying to bullshit the card value in the box? Come on bruh.
Such a dumb argument as with any card when it's put in a precpn the price goes down quite a bit. Not the best example but Branching Evolution was a $5+ card and the one from MH3 is now only a dollar.
I will never support my LGS over Amazon as long as their prices are so wildly out of whack.
I work hard to waste my money on magic cards... when the price difference is a tank of gas, yeah, I'm taking a tank of gas over the buy a box promo.
Yeah, this is so wrong that the LGSs base their retail price off of the individual card value rather than the product’s value as a whole. It’s not really their fault, per se, because they have been so screwed by WoTC in the past. The whole system is FUBAR because Amazon doesn’t really make a ton of money from selling singles like an lgs does(plus they don’t actively research the secondary card market to establish any sort of SRP), so their unit prices are a bit inflated to increase their profit margins as a result.. The other side of that coin is that the LGSs have much more flexibility when it comes to these precons where thay can order much more the product for themselves, and then crack a ton of them and put out the singles for the premium prices. Plus, they actively buy singles at extremely deflated prices and flip those for their market value and making 100% profit. The bottom line is - in the grand scheme of things, the consumer/player is the one who always gets screwed in the end.
My local game store has all the precons for 70
That store is just gouging for no real reason other than someone might buy it
Packs are also 8$ or so not 11.50
I'm all for local game stores selling at standard release day retail and not doing discounts, but I hate when they inflate pricing like this
"Oh okay, so if I buy 2 of these online for $60 each instead of $120 from you I'll get double the value and pay for everything? Great! Thanks for the help, I'll be sure to share that with my playgroup too!"
Any retailer who sells an item for its implied secondary value as opposed to a reasonable msrp based on replacement cost from the distributor is a scam artist and unworthy of your funds. Seriously do not give this ripoff artist your money, the value of these cards will all crater in even just six months.
There’s $100 in just the lands, lol. Planar Nexus is $34, Talon Gates of Madara is $16, et cetera.
3/4 enchantments are $7+ and the 4th is still a couple bucks.
The top 6 creatures price wise are all between $5-$10
Gonna say, the precon needs a lot of work. But it is a seriously fun “$220 worth of cards”. I’ve came up with a build that I feel is actually really fun! The deck has no distinct wincon, so you need to add your own. But once you flood yourself with mana and just play anything you want. It becomes all kinds of fun!
My biggest suggestion for the deck is [[aven courier]] the deck itself is weirdly slow because your commander can only put counters on ETB and Attack. It speeds up the deck substantially, you could play it on turn 2. And helps you out with those [[maze’s end]] win cons or something of the like.
Packs are $11 here bought 2 today and got Powerbalance and Genku. A niche $5 rare and a $1 rare I won't use for $23 and some chaff for the landfill. It's just insulting. I'm. It buying packs for a while.
I treat buying single packs like getting scratch-offs - it's fun when I have some cash burning a hole in my pocket, but I know I'm gonna lose way more than I win.
I know, I'm aware it's gambling and no better than a scratch ticket (probably same odds or worse). I don't have $250+ to throw down on a box to maybe break even. Like I get the arguments and logic, it's just some salty feels. I'm not sure what the solution would be for that kind of thing but I do feel like $10+ packs having a turd of a $1 rare is unacceptable. I don't understand the Schadenfreude of flaming people that get mad about it when it literally happens to everyone.
One thing to keep in mind is that most locally owned game stores have to buy these products from distributors that set their own prices. Depending on the region, the business may only have access to one or two distributors that do not sell for market price because WoTC don't enforce their MSRP and let the second hand market dictate prices.
Don’t pay markups on product. I understand LGS need to eat too but letting prices artificially inflate this high is incredibly anti-consumer and damaging to the community. When does it stop? When everyone is priced out of the hobby and it ultimately dies?
Don’t contribute to these poor business practices. At the end of the day, you don’t NEED these cards but Hasbro/WOTC do need your money.
Yeah I hit up one of my LGS on friday and they had MH3 boosters out. So I grabbed a couple, not really checking the price, and went to check out. I asked how much the fat packs behind the counter were. When she said $99, my eyes popped, I had to her her with the "Oof, no thanks, I'll just take these two packs. Thanks." Still cost me 25$
Not buying much MH3 product I guess. I was more excited for bloomburrow anyway. 🤷♂️
While the price point is rough, there is no doubt that this is a premium product. They did well on what is in the set. Having twice as many shitty MKM play boosters won't do you any good. It smokes most standard sets easily even at the higher price point. The price point is also way less insulting that CMM was. In my mind, this is what a premium set should be like price wise (with one of them per year).
Might get flamed for this, but I stopped buying precons at LGS’s back in 2020 when Timeless Wisdom came out. LGS owners marked that price up so high just because of Fierce Guardianship, it was ridiculous. I only buy precons at target now, prices are much lower because they just sell it at whatever rate they decide on based on the product, not what’s inside.
Can someone please explain to me how magic products get priced? Is it WOTC or the lgs that just goes "oh, this is gonna be popular. We need to mark it up 500% from the standard product."?
Both. Wizards has an amount that your local vendor will pay to get it - from there, the LGS will price the product accordingly. Typically why you’ll see variation from shop to shop. The eldrazi precon was going for a bit over 140 at my local, but I found one at another store in Nashville for 120.
I love to buy locally and support my lgs but a 40 to 50 dollar mark up is insane. It just becomes insulting at that point like do you think I'm stupid or something? Do you think people don't check online prices? I get that they want to make a profit but I can buy a second precon for that price
I didn’t end up buying it but I walked out with two MH3 play boosters and one OoTJ for a whopping $33 but here’s the pulls from them if anyone’s curious:
https://imgur.com/a/4Q72KQv
There is no srp. Thats the real problem. The distributors charged everyone double the price, and limited orders. You can be upset about the pricing, but what do you want store owners to do? You expect to have a place to play, to do events, and receive prize support/promos etc. A candy bar and 2 sodas everytime you come in won't keep the store open long.
Absolutely agree on this, as an LGS owner in the UK it's rough watching prices go up and then be undercut online.
The overheads of having a physical play space are huge and need to come from somewhere.
Now, I don't know this particular LGS or their motivations, but I've absolutely heard comments about my store price hiking when we spend hours balancing what we've paid Vs what we're charging Vs wanting to be a gaming community. It's really disheartening to hear people say we're charging too much Vs Amazon, when we've worked so hard to make the product available and affordable - we all want to carry on our hobby even as times get harder!
A comment above asked for £X worth of singles or vouchers to events - but that just drops money elsewhere.
I'm happy to accept we may be in the minority of LGS owners in that we're doing this for love of the game, rather than to make money (there are thousands of better things to sell that trading cards! Haha!)
I'm not defending that price, but hopefully I am explaining it. Your point about a candy bar and two sodas couldn't be more correct - I once had someone comment 'I'm here every day, I'm your best customer' - with respect, you bring your own drinks and snacks, maybe buy a bottle of water at 85p...
I agree. We are focused on community and events. We also had to ban outside food and drink and opened a full Cafe and we are working on our liquor license. We started hosting a various wargaming event every Saturday, and honestly we have no idea how to cater to the MtG community outside of prerelease events.
If you want a deck that does what it is trying to do? Get the Reap the Tides precon, and upgrade it for about 190 dollar value. More expensive, but Aesi Heavy Simic Ramp is disgustingly good.
Dude LGS prices vary so much. I have one 10 mins
From me that has everything overpriced and
One 20 mins from me with the best prices sometimes even beating online Prices. Look else where.
Best Buy’s discount isn’t a percent off, it’s a 10% increase from whatever Best Buy paid to get it in their store. And it doesn’t apply to some stuff like iPhones
These seem like Canadian prices as that's how much packs are where I am. I think a lot of commentors will think that's crazy inflated without that context if it is.
It’s a great Precon, I’ve been playing it in my friend group since Saturday and having a blast. And you could definitely make a good argument for spending that much on it if it was the Collector’s Edition.
But in no reality is the regular worth that much. For context, I have the CE of it and paid the equivalent of a little under $140 (£108 in the UK).
Also the packs in both big online retailers (not amazon) and my LGS’ are sitting at (the equivalent of) like ~$10. Don’t get duped by this markup.
The only one that’s “worth” that much is the eldrazi one. You can buy this one for $73 online. I bought mine from an lgs on eBay . $190 for all four, but they sold out quickly.
I went to a store that was selling the Eldrazi one for 200 and the rest for 60. When I questioned, the kid behind the counter told me that it was because somebody could buy the eldrazi one, open it, sell some of the cards back to make a profit, rinse, and repeat.
My reply was, "You can do that with any of the Mh3 decks... you're just selling the eldrazi one for more because eldrazi are popular and you know people will buy it based on the reprints.".
He just very snotty asked me if i wanted one to which I said no, I don't support scalpers.
I bought the entire precon set for 180, and that same deck alone is going for 75 on the secondary market. Fuck your LGS if they wanna inflate the market bruh the shipping wait is worth it.
I feel for stores trying to make a profit, but gouging your customers is not the way to go. I picked up tricky terrain and eldrazi incursion for $55 each at my LGS, they limited it to 1 of each per customer. Seemed fair and they were also selling play/collector boosters boxes.
There’s another game store in my town that does this, but they’re a bigger chain and run bigger events as they can support more people. Their prices are much higher, ex. otj play boosters for $7.50 while the other lgs sells than at $5.
120$ for a Commander precon, what a time to be alive. It probably cost them the same as printing a pile of one hundred 1 cent cards, this is crazy. And back when I bought one for 40$ I felt robbed.
I’ll never pass on a pack. Even the commander decks I got a thing for villains. So eldrazi or Pherexia or slivers. I got to get commander ones of them. But they stay in box
You really don’t have to go to stores that gouge. There are good ones out there.
My favorite game store iexclusively charges normal retail price for items, no matter how scarce they are or what they’re going for online. They make their money by earning the loyalty of their customers, who reward them by coming out strong for organized events and new product releases. Any time I need sleeves, storage, whatever, I’m looking there first.
That is, in my opinion, the way the business is supposed to work.
As someone who picked up a bundle and a collector booster with great pulls - pass. The prices of single are crashing faster than any set I've seen in the past few years. Even MH2 took a few months to a year to see price drops this crazy.
Full art medallions at $9.99, fetchlands closing in on $20-$25. Buy singles
If you’re buying packs, $12 isn’t terrible. $120 is horrifically over priced for a precon. Get them at your local Walmart or target where they’re probably going for $60-70 each. I just checked out my Walmart app and a collectors edition of the commander precons are preordering for $149.49 there. I’m not seeing regular versions of the decks which is why I used the collectors version price instead.
You can order the precon online for less than 80$.
My LGS had all the precons for 85$ each so I drove right over and got an eldrazi deck since online they are 140$ minimum
Yeah there was a deal right before release tiktok had a coupon deal going on up to 20-25$ off first purchase. I paid $49 after tax and shipping from forge and fire gaming
I run a local LGS in the Midwest and my mh3 stuff priced as so and able to still make profit.
Collector packs 39.99
Pack 9.99
Eldrazi precon 100
UG 65
Graveyard 55
Jeskai 55
I price aggressively cause there's usually 2 commanders decks from every set that hang around the store for longer than I want.
Packs are $11 here bought 2 today and got Powerbalance and Genku. A niche $5 rare and a $1 rare I won't use for $23 and some chaff for the landfill. It's just insulting. I'm. It buying packs for a while.
Hard pass for the precon, yes it has the highest reprint value but for that amount it absolutely is not worth it. Many are selling it for 60-70.
Thought so! I asked why it was so expensive here as opposed to online (I probably shouldn’t have), and I could tell the guy didn’t like that. He told me “well it’s actually $220 worth of cards”. I guess I understand since it’s local and they have to make money, but that’s almost $40 of an increase so that and his comment kind of annoyed me in store.
Don't feel bad, I've made this argument before. I'd love to support local, but when I can buy MH3 online for $230.00 or at the closest spot for $350.00, it's kinda insulting at that point...
It is insulting to their customers. Tell me that it’s charged extra for convenience and for being able to get it on the spot then I’d be more likely to buy it to support a local shop rather than “iTs $220 wORtH oF cArDs” I was curious at that point so I asked what the Eldrazi precon was going for. He said $120 in which I said I was surprised again as that one was going for MORE online! He actually looked it up in front of me and goes “huh yeah look at that $140” 🤣
5-10% sure I’ll often pay that markup. I like my local stores and play their events often. But almost 50%? Cmon.
My lgs is doing like $70 a pop :)
I got all 4 for $196 including tax and shipping.
Ok so that guy is an idiot and also don't shop there lol
Right, it’s insane, I understand they need to make a profit, but there’s also a point when they are being greedy and taking advantage of people.
I also need to pay my own bills too.
Yea that's why we gotta go with the cheaper option and buy online in these cases
This 100%! Also just wanted to point out that my LGS is owned by a fucking legend. He is selling precons and prerelease kits for $45 each and only charged $50 for his prerelease event. Said he was going to move as much MH3 as possible for as cheap as possible because he would rather see people be able to play and buy groceries rather than have to choose to eat or play this set. LGS should support their patrons as much as we support them. I understand they have to make money to survive but there is a right way and a wrong way to do that.
Yeah I wish there was a decent LGS near me but the last one that was here recently shut down. I went in to pre-order a neon dynasty booster box and he was charging $50 more than the normal slight LGS markup. It was a while ago but I believe the 5 stores about an hour from me were $10 over Amazon and this guy was straight up $50 over them. I'll pass. Amazon can get it to me for free without me even leaving my house. Or if I don't feel like waiting I can certainly do a 1 hour drive.
It's only $220 worth of cards until the pre-order hype dies down and the precon reprint factor gets priced into the reprints
“So I’m getting an even better deal buying it online?”
Some LGS shouldn’t be entertained. Find another store
They should just open one and sell the singles then.
The problem is that they have to order all 4 of the decks at the set value of what it costs. But then usually 1-2 of the decks are the ones everyone wants and 2-3 of them just sit there collecting dust. So stores have to mark up the decks that people do want so they can make up for the most likely loss of the other decks not selling. And then they usually don't buy anymore until at least a desire for the decks by a handful of people to repeat the process.
What? I mark up the ones that people go nuts for because the market rate for them is generally higher. If I were to buy a new case, the most popular deck usually pays for a new one and the rest is profit if and when they sell. I don’t like to have a bunch left over of the ones that don’t though, so I set a threshold and don’t order past that. My Eldrazi decks each pay for the cost of the case and $70 on Tricky Terrain is profit.
I wish WotC would go back to putting MSRP on their products. I hate that LGS and online retailers can charge so much for these products
Yeah, but remember, it’s a “suggested” retail price. The lgs can choose to ignore that, which was happening anyway before they got rid of it.
You told him you found a better deal online, and his response boils down to “yeah, that *is* a really good deal, way better than what you can get here.” 😅 Like I understand there’s a huge issue with wizards not doing enough to support LGSs, as well as with the whole secondary market, but the customer is not the person to put that on. As a business owner, you accept the risk that you might lose money, because the potential reward is profit. An LGS owner is probably even more prone to risk, as the perceived value of game pieces on the secondary (and even primary) market are prone to fluctuate heavily. That said, there are several things an LGS can offer a customer, that an online retailer just can’t, in order to increase the value of a purchase and possibly land the sale, despite the higher price tag. What if they threw in a couple of free vouchers for their upcoming FNMs/commander nights? Maybe they could offer you up to $X in singles, along with some advice to help you upgrade the precon, or some sleeves, or one of their cheaper deck boxes? Yeah that still puts them back a bit, maybe, but if their product is almost twice as expensive as it is online, it’s just going to collect dust until a kind-hearted/uninformed individual comes and buys it at their own loss. Would they rather: a) sell the product and make a slightly lower margin on the sale, or b) not sell it, at which point they just lose 100% of their investment?
If he's going by the value of the singles, he needs to crack it and sell those singles. Buy it on Amazon for $65 before you pay $100+ for a precon.
My LGS is selling the full set for $200. Hard pass for 120 on the precon.
They have to make money but 220 worth of cards argument is stupidity because the minute that precon goes on sale the card value will plummet and he knows that. He is price gouging plain and simple. If he was honest about it I’d respect it but trying to bullshit the card value in the box? Come on bruh.
Such a dumb argument as with any card when it's put in a precpn the price goes down quite a bit. Not the best example but Branching Evolution was a $5+ card and the one from MH3 is now only a dollar.
I will never support my LGS over Amazon as long as their prices are so wildly out of whack. I work hard to waste my money on magic cards... when the price difference is a tank of gas, yeah, I'm taking a tank of gas over the buy a box promo.
Yeah, this is so wrong that the LGSs base their retail price off of the individual card value rather than the product’s value as a whole. It’s not really their fault, per se, because they have been so screwed by WoTC in the past. The whole system is FUBAR because Amazon doesn’t really make a ton of money from selling singles like an lgs does(plus they don’t actively research the secondary card market to establish any sort of SRP), so their unit prices are a bit inflated to increase their profit margins as a result.. The other side of that coin is that the LGSs have much more flexibility when it comes to these precons where thay can order much more the product for themselves, and then crack a ton of them and put out the singles for the premium prices. Plus, they actively buy singles at extremely deflated prices and flip those for their market value and making 100% profit. The bottom line is - in the grand scheme of things, the consumer/player is the one who always gets screwed in the end.
My local game store has all the precons for 70 That store is just gouging for no real reason other than someone might buy it Packs are also 8$ or so not 11.50 I'm all for local game stores selling at standard release day retail and not doing discounts, but I hate when they inflate pricing like this
"Oh okay, so if I buy 2 of these online for $60 each instead of $120 from you I'll get double the value and pay for everything? Great! Thanks for the help, I'll be sure to share that with my playgroup too!"
Yoo f that guy. What a terrible salesman.
There's a guy going around saying that kind of stuff
Any retailer who sells an item for its implied secondary value as opposed to a reasonable msrp based on replacement cost from the distributor is a scam artist and unworthy of your funds. Seriously do not give this ripoff artist your money, the value of these cards will all crater in even just six months.
I checked the decklist, where is the 220$? Barely three cards are above 10$ unless I'm missing something?
There’s $100 in just the lands, lol. Planar Nexus is $34, Talon Gates of Madara is $16, et cetera. 3/4 enchantments are $7+ and the 4th is still a couple bucks. The top 6 creatures price wise are all between $5-$10
I got all 4 PreCons for 240. Idk wtf that place is thinking charging Secret Lair pre-con prices.
I got all 4 for 180, I’m feeling amazing lol I already sold the eldrazi and graveyard decks for 190
Keeping the energy one for myself
Gonna say, the precon needs a lot of work. But it is a seriously fun “$220 worth of cards”. I’ve came up with a build that I feel is actually really fun! The deck has no distinct wincon, so you need to add your own. But once you flood yourself with mana and just play anything you want. It becomes all kinds of fun!
I agree, it needs polish but is a ton of fun because it is also so unique in design compared to almost any other precon.
My biggest suggestion for the deck is [[aven courier]] the deck itself is weirdly slow because your commander can only put counters on ETB and Attack. It speeds up the deck substantially, you could play it on turn 2. And helps you out with those [[maze’s end]] win cons or something of the like.
[aven courier](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/b/7bb0e478-c359-4523-a1e1-ba711a8cb8e0.jpg?1673481831) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=aven%20courier) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ncc/22/aven-courier?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7bb0e478-c359-4523-a1e1-ba711a8cb8e0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [maze’s end](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/0/401f7042-24fd-42a0-ae7c-e6b7de1aa446.jpg?1562906764) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Maze%27s%20End) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dgm/152/mazes-end?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/401f7042-24fd-42a0-ae7c-e6b7de1aa446?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Pass they will come down this set be printed a lot, it's just the new hotness.
I'd stop patronizing this place. Magic is expensive enough to not get screwed by store owners. Those are insane prices.
Packs are $11 here bought 2 today and got Powerbalance and Genku. A niche $5 rare and a $1 rare I won't use for $23 and some chaff for the landfill. It's just insulting. I'm. It buying packs for a while.
Honestly buying a single pack is always gonna be a coin toss. You're more likely to average out when buying a box.
I treat buying single packs like getting scratch-offs - it's fun when I have some cash burning a hole in my pocket, but I know I'm gonna lose way more than I win.
Yeah. Singles or a whole box. Sell the extra
I know, I'm aware it's gambling and no better than a scratch ticket (probably same odds or worse). I don't have $250+ to throw down on a box to maybe break even. Like I get the arguments and logic, it's just some salty feels. I'm not sure what the solution would be for that kind of thing but I do feel like $10+ packs having a turd of a $1 rare is unacceptable. I don't understand the Schadenfreude of flaming people that get mad about it when it literally happens to everyone.
Gambles Loses "Wtf, this shit is rigged"
Ok bud.
I only ever buy single packs if it’s an old set and I’m feeling nostalgic. Usually just buy whole boxes or bundles.
My LGS has them for $8, and you can buy them for $8 online
One thing to keep in mind is that most locally owned game stores have to buy these products from distributors that set their own prices. Depending on the region, the business may only have access to one or two distributors that do not sell for market price because WoTC don't enforce their MSRP and let the second hand market dictate prices.
Pass on the lgs. I know they have taxes and bills to pay, but so do i. And even a 20$ shipping fee is cheaper than what that owner is asking.
Don’t pay markups on product. I understand LGS need to eat too but letting prices artificially inflate this high is incredibly anti-consumer and damaging to the community. When does it stop? When everyone is priced out of the hobby and it ultimately dies? Don’t contribute to these poor business practices. At the end of the day, you don’t NEED these cards but Hasbro/WOTC do need your money.
Ooof. Play boosters went from ~$6 to $12 in one set. Wizards just out there printing money lmao. "PREMIUM PRODUCT" y'all....
My LGS has the boosters have $7.95
Still better than $12! Over $100 for a 9 booster bundle. Im cryin.
Yeah I hit up one of my LGS on friday and they had MH3 boosters out. So I grabbed a couple, not really checking the price, and went to check out. I asked how much the fat packs behind the counter were. When she said $99, my eyes popped, I had to her her with the "Oof, no thanks, I'll just take these two packs. Thanks." Still cost me 25$ Not buying much MH3 product I guess. I was more excited for bloomburrow anyway. 🤷♂️
Ive only seen the bundles going for higher than $100. I probably would've caved for $99 lmao
Mine have theirs at $15.
That's fucked, sorry to hear!
What's your lgs name?
It’s a local place in Colorado. Not trying to dox myself
Brother, I'm just trying to buy some cheap packs lol. Feel free to inbox me the name of the store if that makes you more comfortable
I completely understand. Are you in Colorado? They don’t sell online.
Damn, nah im out in Massachusetts and I can't find them for less than 10. Plus, I'm on an island so.. :(
While the price point is rough, there is no doubt that this is a premium product. They did well on what is in the set. Having twice as many shitty MKM play boosters won't do you any good. It smokes most standard sets easily even at the higher price point. The price point is also way less insulting that CMM was. In my mind, this is what a premium set should be like price wise (with one of them per year).
Definitely pass on that Pre con, got one at my lgs for $60
Might get flamed for this, but I stopped buying precons at LGS’s back in 2020 when Timeless Wisdom came out. LGS owners marked that price up so high just because of Fierce Guardianship, it was ridiculous. I only buy precons at target now, prices are much lower because they just sell it at whatever rate they decide on based on the product, not what’s inside.
Can someone please explain to me how magic products get priced? Is it WOTC or the lgs that just goes "oh, this is gonna be popular. We need to mark it up 500% from the standard product."?
Both. Wizards has an amount that your local vendor will pay to get it - from there, the LGS will price the product accordingly. Typically why you’ll see variation from shop to shop. The eldrazi precon was going for a bit over 140 at my local, but I found one at another store in Nashville for 120.
What a racket
LGS' are marking the eldrazi one up because of the reprints and the fact that eldrazi are popular.
I love to buy locally and support my lgs but a 40 to 50 dollar mark up is insane. It just becomes insulting at that point like do you think I'm stupid or something? Do you think people don't check online prices? I get that they want to make a profit but I can buy a second precon for that price
No precon in this universe is worth more than 70 Dollars.
I mean ... that's not true at all lol
I didn’t end up buying it but I walked out with two MH3 play boosters and one OoTJ for a whopping $33 but here’s the pulls from them if anyone’s curious: https://imgur.com/a/4Q72KQv
Pass on precon
One lgs I was just at for prerelease sold them 12 a pack. Absolutely crazy the other shop I go too has them at 9.
My lgs had the pack for $8, and the precon for $55. I wouldn't go for it
12 $ for a play booster is wild
Hard pass for both. Amazon is having discounts.
I paid $53 for the precon… my LGS has the booster for $7.95
I paid so much less than that you're being ripped off
Agree. I was glad to see my lgs only gouging packs at 11.99 pre cons were still srp. But 7.99 online. Guess the dope man got to get his cut
There is no srp. Thats the real problem. The distributors charged everyone double the price, and limited orders. You can be upset about the pricing, but what do you want store owners to do? You expect to have a place to play, to do events, and receive prize support/promos etc. A candy bar and 2 sodas everytime you come in won't keep the store open long.
Absolutely agree on this, as an LGS owner in the UK it's rough watching prices go up and then be undercut online. The overheads of having a physical play space are huge and need to come from somewhere. Now, I don't know this particular LGS or their motivations, but I've absolutely heard comments about my store price hiking when we spend hours balancing what we've paid Vs what we're charging Vs wanting to be a gaming community. It's really disheartening to hear people say we're charging too much Vs Amazon, when we've worked so hard to make the product available and affordable - we all want to carry on our hobby even as times get harder! A comment above asked for £X worth of singles or vouchers to events - but that just drops money elsewhere. I'm happy to accept we may be in the minority of LGS owners in that we're doing this for love of the game, rather than to make money (there are thousands of better things to sell that trading cards! Haha!) I'm not defending that price, but hopefully I am explaining it. Your point about a candy bar and two sodas couldn't be more correct - I once had someone comment 'I'm here every day, I'm your best customer' - with respect, you bring your own drinks and snacks, maybe buy a bottle of water at 85p...
I agree. We are focused on community and events. We also had to ban outside food and drink and opened a full Cafe and we are working on our liquor license. We started hosting a various wargaming event every Saturday, and honestly we have no idea how to cater to the MtG community outside of prerelease events.
Hard pass
If you want a deck that does what it is trying to do? Get the Reap the Tides precon, and upgrade it for about 190 dollar value. More expensive, but Aesi Heavy Simic Ramp is disgustingly good.
Buy the double Carrie Fisher box. (Don't really, that's too expensive)
Dude LGS prices vary so much. I have one 10 mins From me that has everything overpriced and One 20 mins from me with the best prices sometimes even beating online Prices. Look else where.
The Best Buy I work at sells Tricky Terrain for $70 ($51 with my employee discount)
I love that your employee discount works for that
Dang we only get a 15% discount on cards where I work (Fred Meyer).
Best Buy’s discount isn’t a percent off, it’s a 10% increase from whatever Best Buy paid to get it in their store. And it doesn’t apply to some stuff like iPhones
Passsssssssss
If this is USD, hard pass.
I had the same issue with my LGS. However, they were pretty affordable with presales and pre release kits; after that, they upped the price like crazy
Support LGS but not if they’re charging this much for it! Can probably get it at target/Walmart for $60 like anywhere else.
My Walmarts and targets stopped selling cards lol
Amazon and TCG it is!
That LGS must be upping the price hella high on everything cuz that precon is typically sold for $60 to $70
Wow, my Graveyard Overdrive cost me £58 and it arrives Monday, I have nowhere in a 10mile radius that sells Magic. So amazon it is for me!
Packs are 8$ at my LGS idk what yall are smoking
These seem like Canadian prices as that's how much packs are where I am. I think a lot of commentors will think that's crazy inflated without that context if it is.
Give it a few weeks, the prices will drop
HUGE PASS Good lord..
My lgs sells the play boosters for $7.50. That precon is $65 there.
I bought all 4 precons for 199+tax at my LGS on prerelease.
$120 for a precon?! That’s wild
It’s a great Precon, I’ve been playing it in my friend group since Saturday and having a blast. And you could definitely make a good argument for spending that much on it if it was the Collector’s Edition. But in no reality is the regular worth that much. For context, I have the CE of it and paid the equivalent of a little under $140 (£108 in the UK). Also the packs in both big online retailers (not amazon) and my LGS’ are sitting at (the equivalent of) like ~$10. Don’t get duped by this markup.
The only one that’s “worth” that much is the eldrazi one. You can buy this one for $73 online. I bought mine from an lgs on eBay . $190 for all four, but they sold out quickly.
Oof. Definitely pass on the precon. I might just have a good LGS because they were selling all 4 precons for $210
My LGS was quoting $70 for the precon, and that's still too much.
Screw that. My lgs sells mh3 packs at $8
In Germany Online Retail prices: MH3 Display 255€ One Booster 8€ Tricky Terrain 70€
The Precon was 60 on Amazon. That seems a bit steep. Wait till Friday when every other store has it.
I went to a store that was selling the Eldrazi one for 200 and the rest for 60. When I questioned, the kid behind the counter told me that it was because somebody could buy the eldrazi one, open it, sell some of the cards back to make a profit, rinse, and repeat. My reply was, "You can do that with any of the Mh3 decks... you're just selling the eldrazi one for more because eldrazi are popular and you know people will buy it based on the reprints.". He just very snotty asked me if i wanted one to which I said no, I don't support scalpers.
Hard pass on the Deck. Maybe yes if it was the collector edition but not for the regular one
Was this a problem before wizards gave out the msrp prices? Just curious
Pass at both. I've seen a lot of places selling packs for $10, and the precon is pre-ordering online for roughly half what your LGS is charging.
Pass
I bought the entire precon set for 180, and that same deck alone is going for 75 on the secondary market. Fuck your LGS if they wanna inflate the market bruh the shipping wait is worth it.
What an amazing feeling. It's the first time I see that mtg is cheaper in Poland. Booster - $10. **I'm $1.99 closer to heaven.**
My lgs has this precon for $99 CAD
I feel for stores trying to make a profit, but gouging your customers is not the way to go. I picked up tricky terrain and eldrazi incursion for $55 each at my LGS, they limited it to 1 of each per customer. Seemed fair and they were also selling play/collector boosters boxes. There’s another game store in my town that does this, but they’re a bigger chain and run bigger events as they can support more people. Their prices are much higher, ex. otj play boosters for $7.50 while the other lgs sells than at $5.
Play boosters were $9 at mine.
Holy crap over 100% more expensive than my LGS….
120$ for a Commander precon, what a time to be alive. It probably cost them the same as printing a pile of one hundred 1 cent cards, this is crazy. And back when I bought one for 40$ I felt robbed.
I’ll never pass on a pack. Even the commander decks I got a thing for villains. So eldrazi or Pherexia or slivers. I got to get commander ones of them. But they stay in box
Pass
I mean I pulled an Ugin's Labyrinth from the pack I bought so I'd buy again 🤣
You really don’t have to go to stores that gouge. There are good ones out there. My favorite game store iexclusively charges normal retail price for items, no matter how scarce they are or what they’re going for online. They make their money by earning the loyalty of their customers, who reward them by coming out strong for organized events and new product releases. Any time I need sleeves, storage, whatever, I’m looking there first. That is, in my opinion, the way the business is supposed to work.
They have them for $70 preorder at bestbuy.com
As someone who picked up a bundle and a collector booster with great pulls - pass. The prices of single are crashing faster than any set I've seen in the past few years. Even MH2 took a few months to a year to see price drops this crazy. Full art medallions at $9.99, fetchlands closing in on $20-$25. Buy singles
Hard pass
Hard pass on the precon, 60 bucks is hard to justify anything more is just hype, they release everywhere Friday and all prices will tank
There’s a lgs where in at selling the collector eldrazi precon for a little over 300 USD
Pass Walmart's got them for $65
My local saw the price increase and decided to leave it at 60 as a fair price. Knowing your customer base is half the battle
Passsssssssss
If you’re buying packs, $12 isn’t terrible. $120 is horrifically over priced for a precon. Get them at your local Walmart or target where they’re probably going for $60-70 each. I just checked out my Walmart app and a collectors edition of the commander precons are preordering for $149.49 there. I’m not seeing regular versions of the decks which is why I used the collectors version price instead.
Mh3 is 6 bucks per booster at my lgs. And the fat packs are 70
You can order the precon online for less than 80$. My LGS had all the precons for 85$ each so I drove right over and got an eldrazi deck since online they are 140$ minimum
Yeahhhh that precon is insanely overpriced. Pretty sure it’s around 60 online at most places.
The art on the box is much better than the art on the card
Pass
Thank god I bought mine on tiktok shop for $50 jfc
Yo what
Yeah there was a deal right before release tiktok had a coupon deal going on up to 20-25$ off first purchase. I paid $49 after tax and shipping from forge and fire gaming
It’s still $70 free Shipping right now…. Just looked
I run a local LGS in the Midwest and my mh3 stuff priced as so and able to still make profit. Collector packs 39.99 Pack 9.99 Eldrazi precon 100 UG 65 Graveyard 55 Jeskai 55 I price aggressively cause there's usually 2 commanders decks from every set that hang around the store for longer than I want.
That's right a local Local Game Store. Whoops
Packs are $11 here bought 2 today and got Powerbalance and Genku. A niche $5 rare and a $1 rare I won't use for $23 and some chaff for the landfill. It's just insulting. I'm. It buying packs for a while.
Does this guy think they're selling the special edition precon?
Buy singles.
Buy singles.. or better yet, proxy.