On-line auctions

I am no where near the level of investment I would like to be to play the style and formats I would want to. I can't even think about a dual land right now. I will continue to poke and prod at the below $50 value cards until I can somehow pull off a miracle and afford the true investments... that may never happen, but I am going to keep planning like I can.

With that in mind- I found a new method to acquiring much without paying a ton. Its gambling a bit- on-line auctions. Not eBay or Craigslist, but honest to goodness auctions. Live on-line auctions, slow rolling auctions on-line, proxy bidding, and everything in-between. I've tried a few, and have found the following so far:

• Shipping is a bugger sometimes
• Not all auction houses can handle on-line auctions no matter how amazing the goodies are
• Things will generally go for more than you can afford
• Its a weird world, auctions- you are never sure of the turnout

With those thoughts in mind, here is what I have done so far, auction wise:

1. Won a Torment foil Grim Lavamancer for $35. Flipped it for a bunch of Beta Basics. Double the value.
2. Picked up what I had hoped was a clean random box of cards, but turns out there was not a single Rare in it. Likely lost a few dollars, but theoretically I broke even in desirable commons and uncommons. Thanks Coldsnap!
3. Won a $5 auction on a bunch of blue commons I needed, struggling to get the cards to be delivered still. *grrrrrr*
4. Won a blind auction on a 800 count box of cards which were all sleeved. $35 plus fees and shipping came to $52. More on that in a minute.

There are other auctions I have thought about, but without seeing more about the actual item in hand, it is a total crap shoot. 5000 card boxes with who knows what plus shipping- not my style. Context around the auction can really provide a lot of input to what to expect.

I've seen auctions which include everything from farm tools, old chairs, and a 5000 count box of Magic cards. How the heck are you supposed to figure out what MIGHT be in that box from 5 photos? Without being able to preview the box, I believe you are throwing away your money.

Getting back to the 800 count box... that auction was almost ALL role playing game stuff. It looked to be someone's personal collection. Role playing books, figures, comic books, and a bucket load of Magic cards. Boxes labeled like- Arabian Nights, Antiquities, binders full of cards, just chocked full of cards pre-2005 or so. The surrounding material was just very encouraging. The only hindrance was the location- outside of Chicago. No way to preview the lots. Buddy of mine and I teamed up and attempted to bid on the two big hitters- Arabian Nights and Antiquities. We lost both of those big time- the Arabian Nights went for over 500, the Antiquities over 200.

We both put in our own private bids on other items. I went after the box where every card was sleeved up. Ideally I was hoping that's where the guy stored some more valuable stuff, but I had no clue. I won on a relatively low bid... and finally got the box in. It was his collection of Weatherlight, in alphabetical order, up to O. I completely lucked out in getting 3 Null Rods. After going through the box, and pulling anything worth value, the total was over $200 for my $52 investment. Not too shabby. (actual haul on the right)


I will keep doing research, keep poking around, and keep trying to make sense of these auctions. They seem to be the best way for me to acquire value to trade up.  Plus the mystery rocks. Its better than an eBay auction by far.