Post by gabochido on Dec 7, 2011 23:12:58 GMT -5
I want to share with everybody the strategies I use to get cards or sell them on MTGO.
Figuring out the price
First of all, its good to have a base value for what the cards are worth. I use Marlonbot and MTGOTraders as they seem to have consistent prices and update their lists regularly. Marlonbot is specially good at this and their website has a very efficient search feature that lets you quickly see the price for any number of cards. These two bot chains have are also one of the most well stocked chains, alongside Aboshanbot. However, like any large store, their value is in having everything, not in the price they offer, so they are usually the last place I go to for actual purchases.
Expensive cards
For cards that are worth more than .25tix, the best price you can get will usually be with other players. Bots need to make a profit to remain viable so they will often buy very cheap and sell at a higher price. This means there is usually a value in between that you can offer that will be fair to a couple of non-bot players.
Unfortunately, the bots mentioned above don't have buy prices so for this I usually go to the MTGO Library bot system. This is a software library that a lot of people use to run their bots. It has had its issues in the past and it even had a security issue recently but in general the bots that use it are trustworthy and as long as you only leave fractions of a tix in credit remaining, you can't lose much if there is a problem. Anyway, the MTGO Library website lets you specify a card and it will list ALL of the available bots that use the MTGO Library that have that card and how much they charge for it (it gets updated about once a day though, so its often out of date, but it gives a good idea of how things are). Using the results from this search as a base, you can figure out what the best price to offer is, and create a classified add.
Of the MTGO Library bots I find that the JBethan chain has the best buy prices for pauper and they are often buying, unlike other bots that might offer a lot but are never available for buying. A good rule of the thumb is to offer between 50-75% of what Marlonbot asks for. So you might offer .5tx for a 1tx card.
For transactions with other players you need to keep it on full tix since you can't really trust anybody but your friends with "credit" so I usually buy in multiples that end up in full ticket values. I might offer .33tx for a card so I'll say: "Buying Impulse 3 for 1tx (.33tx each)".
If nobody answers my classified in a couple of days, or I find that the cards I need are so much in demand they are actually rising in prices I'll first increase the price offered and if that doens't work then I'll try best bot I can find. You'll often find better prices among the MTGO Library bots but for some cards they often just don'thave them in stock. The next best prices are from some of the independent bot chains that basically keep their prices about 5-10% cheaper than MTGO Traders and Marlonbot, among them are Sharpbot, Cardbotstore (the ones that pay for your favourite podcast!) Cardnexus and Milkman. Most of these have their own websites but their prices are usually very up to date and extremely close to each other so I find it best to just select your favourite and keep to it
Of course if none of these options have the card you're looking for or they have it for a higher price for some reason, you can always count on MTGO Traders or Marlonbot to have them.
Cheaper cards
For anything less than .25tx, its difficult to make a fiar trade using tix so, unless you are trading cards for cards, its best just to find a decent bot. Since its inconvenient to keep credits with many bots, the best thing to do is to create a large wishlist of all the cards you want and limit your purchases to a few bots that have the best prices. For really cheap commons, you will find that bulkbots like VM_bulk_buy and QuarterOfSixBulkBuy have among the best prices, at .005 per common.
Your first stop should be with a bot like this. Just create a text wish list of all the cards you need, and load it up once in a trade with the bot to get a quote. I don't mind leaving some credit with these bots since I know I'll eventually want more bulk cards and at that point they are basically free.
For more mid priced commons between .01 and .2, I find that the bots that consistently are well stocked yet have a good value for the cards are BlueDragon and the JBethan chain. BotsOfParadise and PauperKing can also have good prices, but they are often not so well stocked. If you want to be really price efficient, you can use the MTGO library price check to see which bot has the better price for each card and create wishlists for each one, then just buy all the cards at each bot with one visit.
Well, that's about it. If you guys have suggestions on tactics to get good prices or have bot suggestions or online resources to investigate prices, please add them here.
Figuring out the price
First of all, its good to have a base value for what the cards are worth. I use Marlonbot and MTGOTraders as they seem to have consistent prices and update their lists regularly. Marlonbot is specially good at this and their website has a very efficient search feature that lets you quickly see the price for any number of cards. These two bot chains have are also one of the most well stocked chains, alongside Aboshanbot. However, like any large store, their value is in having everything, not in the price they offer, so they are usually the last place I go to for actual purchases.
Expensive cards
For cards that are worth more than .25tix, the best price you can get will usually be with other players. Bots need to make a profit to remain viable so they will often buy very cheap and sell at a higher price. This means there is usually a value in between that you can offer that will be fair to a couple of non-bot players.
Unfortunately, the bots mentioned above don't have buy prices so for this I usually go to the MTGO Library bot system. This is a software library that a lot of people use to run their bots. It has had its issues in the past and it even had a security issue recently but in general the bots that use it are trustworthy and as long as you only leave fractions of a tix in credit remaining, you can't lose much if there is a problem. Anyway, the MTGO Library website lets you specify a card and it will list ALL of the available bots that use the MTGO Library that have that card and how much they charge for it (it gets updated about once a day though, so its often out of date, but it gives a good idea of how things are). Using the results from this search as a base, you can figure out what the best price to offer is, and create a classified add.
Of the MTGO Library bots I find that the JBethan chain has the best buy prices for pauper and they are often buying, unlike other bots that might offer a lot but are never available for buying. A good rule of the thumb is to offer between 50-75% of what Marlonbot asks for. So you might offer .5tx for a 1tx card.
For transactions with other players you need to keep it on full tix since you can't really trust anybody but your friends with "credit" so I usually buy in multiples that end up in full ticket values. I might offer .33tx for a card so I'll say: "Buying Impulse 3 for 1tx (.33tx each)".
If nobody answers my classified in a couple of days, or I find that the cards I need are so much in demand they are actually rising in prices I'll first increase the price offered and if that doens't work then I'll try best bot I can find. You'll often find better prices among the MTGO Library bots but for some cards they often just don'thave them in stock. The next best prices are from some of the independent bot chains that basically keep their prices about 5-10% cheaper than MTGO Traders and Marlonbot, among them are Sharpbot, Cardbotstore (the ones that pay for your favourite podcast!) Cardnexus and Milkman. Most of these have their own websites but their prices are usually very up to date and extremely close to each other so I find it best to just select your favourite and keep to it
Of course if none of these options have the card you're looking for or they have it for a higher price for some reason, you can always count on MTGO Traders or Marlonbot to have them.
Cheaper cards
For anything less than .25tx, its difficult to make a fiar trade using tix so, unless you are trading cards for cards, its best just to find a decent bot. Since its inconvenient to keep credits with many bots, the best thing to do is to create a large wishlist of all the cards you want and limit your purchases to a few bots that have the best prices. For really cheap commons, you will find that bulkbots like VM_bulk_buy and QuarterOfSixBulkBuy have among the best prices, at .005 per common.
Your first stop should be with a bot like this. Just create a text wish list of all the cards you need, and load it up once in a trade with the bot to get a quote. I don't mind leaving some credit with these bots since I know I'll eventually want more bulk cards and at that point they are basically free.
For more mid priced commons between .01 and .2, I find that the bots that consistently are well stocked yet have a good value for the cards are BlueDragon and the JBethan chain. BotsOfParadise and PauperKing can also have good prices, but they are often not so well stocked. If you want to be really price efficient, you can use the MTGO library price check to see which bot has the better price for each card and create wishlists for each one, then just buy all the cards at each bot with one visit.
Well, that's about it. If you guys have suggestions on tactics to get good prices or have bot suggestions or online resources to investigate prices, please add them here.