Going Infinite – An Epic Trade

“Jamie, is there something wrong with the internet?”

I hit the refresh arrow repeatedly with increasing force each time.

“Damn thing!”

I placed the iPad on the table and looked up at Tatiana, “I don’t think we’re going to see this red-black Vampires list anytime soon. After I finish my trade, we’ll look it up on the computer.”

I returned to my trade, “So, where are we at with this Innistrad stuff?”

It was a typical Tuesday night. The tournament was over. I split with my buddy Dennis; it was good to play Splinter Twin one last time before getting a new Mayor (Mayor of Avabruck) in town. I was tending to my post-tournament duties (trading and helping people build decks) when things took an interesting turn.

“Dude, you’re kicking me in the balls here over this Jace; it’s not even being played!” I protested to Brandon, who was trying to get $35 in value for his Jace, Memory Adept.

He laughed and said, “You know I can trade that for $35 easy.”

I did some calculation in my head, but not the kind of calculation that you would expect. I’ve been reading along as all the great minds of Magic try to break the new Standard format, and Jace has been showing up in a handful of lists. I didn’t own any Jaces, and I wanted at least three for deckbuilding, so I would have given $40 on the Jace. The calculation was whether or not I wanted him to know that. These are the types of things that you have to think about when trading locally.

Local Trading

Trading in the local scene is different from trading at events. Trading locally is all about building relationships and building a reputation. This is important for trading at events too, but the key to trading at events is to understand that they bring their own market with them. For example, while I write this, JR (my business partner) is at the SCG Open trading all our Snapcaster Mages for maximum value since this is the first tournament that they are legal. Understanding the market at the SCG Open in Indy is going to gain us more value at the tournament than trying to build a reputation or relationships over the short time at the event. Let’s go back to Brandon.

Brandon is a local trader. He keeps up on trends and tries to get value where he can. If I let him know that I’d give him $40 on the Jace and that I need it, then he’s going to get the $40, and this is going to set the tone for our future trades. It’ll be a built-in function of our trading relationship. In the future, his goal will become to determine if I need the cards that I’m asking about and then press me on the ones that I need, extracting value from me the whole time. There’s a flip side to this.

I’ve built the reputation as such a badass trader that some players are afraid to trade with me. If one of these players has a Jace that I need, then I’ll openly tell them, “Hey, I need that Jace, and I’ll give you $5 more than the Star City Games price in trade.” This helps to show them that trading with me really isn’t that bad. If I make them happy with our trade, then they’ll come back for more. Not everyone realizes that there’s this many layers of psychology in the trade game, but the people who do become great traders.

Meanwhile Back at the Farm…

I continued beating Brandon up on the price of the Jace. I wanted to win this tug-o’-war to show him who’s boss, but there’s one thing that I love more than showing people who’s boss: value. I noticed that Brandon had a Sword of Feast and Famine in his binder, and my buddy Mike Long had just asked for one. I knew that I could get the sword and flip it for value, so I made a proposal.

“I’ll give you $35 on the Jace if you trade me a deal on the Sword of Feast and Famine.”

He went into the tank and pondered for a minute. I broke his concentration, “What do you put on the Sword of Feast and Famine?” 

He gave me a serious look and trying to keep a straight face, he said, “What do you put on your iPad?”

Pause the game.

There’s a pivotal moment here. You can brush this joke off with a laugh, or you draw your trade partner in a current of possibility and hope. This is how 75% of my big trades start; it’s how I’ve turned my power nine into pure value.

“For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.” — Jesus

This is also articulated in the old saying “A lot of truth is said in jest.” Brandon was joking, but I knew if I made the goal reachable that chances were he’d go for it because deep down inside he wanted the iPad. I looked at him and said, “I’d ship it for $800 in trade.” At this point I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to trade my iPad, but I figured: let’s throw it out there and see where it lands. One thing that people should remember about trading is that discussion doesn’t mean commitment; a trade isn’t final until you both agree. It’s good to discuss options because you never know where things are going to lead.

Of course, if you throw something out there like, “I’ll trade you my iPad for $800 in cards,” your trade partner can’t help but be curious. If they act on that curiosity by digging deeper with questions then you know it’s on! Brandon didn’t miss a beat.

“So, you would trade your iPad for $800 in cards?”

I responded, “I would trade it. Do you want it?” When you ask a question like this, “Do you want the iPad?”, it empowers your trade partner; it reminds them that their Magic collection has real value. When someone puts a lot of time and effort into building something, it gives them a high to be validated. Some might say it’s like catnip for Magic players. I knew Brandon was hooked so I set up the kill.

“Do you want to see if we can get there?”

He was a little hesitant, “Really?” he asked. I knew that I needed to help him along if we were going to see any action. I was still not sure that I wanted to trade my iPad, but I also knew that this was a delicate process, and any snag could shut down the possibility of a trade. I wanted to keep the door open, even though I was apprehensive, so I had to push the process along.

“Yeah, man I’ll pull your expensive stuff just to see how close you are. It doesn’t hurt to check.”

Bandon agreed, and I opened his binder. There was one more order of business to take care of. I looked at Brandon apologetically and said, “You know that I’m going to have to buylist you, right?” There it was, quick and painful. As an experienced trader, Brandon knew what this meant.

“$800 at buylist prices?!”

I smiled, “If I sell this thing on eBay, I am going to get cash for it!” I didn’t know how much cash I could get for it on eBay, but I remember that I paid about $900 dollars for the iPad new. If I could get $800 at buylist prices for it, then the deal would be a super slam-dunk! Brandon resisted and counter-offered.

“I would be okay with like $600 at buylist but not $800.”

One of the best tools to use while making trades like this is to suspend the numbers so that you can work through some of the details. This allows your trade partner to get mentally comfortable with the trade. You can see me use this technique here.

“Well, we don’t even know if we can get to $800. Let’s see how far we get before we nail down a solid number. Is that cool?”

Brandon was agreeable, and I started pulling cards and stacking them on the table into buylist stacks; twenty-five cents, fifty cents, one dollar, and so on. Brandon cringed. I looked at him like a doctor looking up from conducting surgery, “You might want to take a walk, bro. This is going to get ugly.” He stood up and paced around the store. I started to get worried because it didn’t look like we were going to get there. Brandon sat back down and asked, “How’s it looking?”

I counted up the cards, “We’re at $480, and I haven’t added everything.”

Brandon looked a little distraught. I figured that it already stung so I should just hit him with the reality of the situation, “It looks like you could give me your whole binder and still not get to $800.” I paused for the pow-wow that would inevitably come with this news and passed the ball to Brandon.

“So what do you want to do, bro?”

The fact that I asked him what he wanted to do showed him that I was still invested in the trade, but it didn’t say that I was OK accepting lower than $800. He said, “Well $600 is what I wanted to give; would you do it for $600?” I said, “Let’s keep going and see where we get and go from there. Sound good?” He obliged, and I kept pricing things. Pop quiz: what did I just do there? That’s right! I suspended the number again. I did this to try to get the most out of the trade. I knew that I would take $600, but I there’s no reason to take $600 if I could get more. The fact that he allowed me to suspend the price the first time shows me that he’d probably give $800 for it. Allowing me to suspend it the second time confirmed this.

I pulled out another $100 in cards; the binder was getting slim, but we were up to $580. I said, “Well, there’s not much in there (the binder), so if we throw the binder and its contents in, it’ll take us to $600. How do you feel about that?” He thought for a second, “So you’re saying, my whole binder for the iPad?” I used this opportunity to squeeze a little harder, “Well, I wanted to see if you understand that it’s going to take at least take your whole binder. After I know that you understand that we can continue dealing. I mean, if you’re not okay with the whole binder, then I think we need to stop talking. Do you understand?”

Brandon answered, “Yeah I understand, but I don’t have anything else, just my two decks.” I offered a solution, “Do you have two Snapcaster Mages? If you put two Mages on top, I would do the trade.” He shook his head, “I don’t have any Snapcasters.” I searched the archive in my mind and remembered him saying that he had some foil Birthing Pods in one of his decks. “Put two foil Birthing Pods on top, and let’s call it a deal.”

By now, a crowd had surrounded the trade. I could hear people talking behind me. “Is Medina really going to trade his iPad for Magic cards?” My buddy Mike Long was standing by Brandon looking over the trade. Mike spurred Brandon on, “Do it, bro! Go to zero and get the iPad!” Brandon was still reluctant, “I need a second to think about this.” I’d worked hard to get here, and now it was time to let my trade partner make his decision, “Take your time, bro, I’m okay to walk out of here with this iPad or your collection. It doesn’t matter to me.”

The crowd watched anxiously; Mike pushed more, “Come on, Brandon; it will be like an adventure to go to zero and rebuild your collection!”

Brandon reasoned with Mike, “I just started to rebuild my collection, and this took a lot of work; now I’ll have to go to square one with no cards.” The shopkeeper Jamie entered the ring with one of his generous deals. I like calling him the shopkeeper because he reminds me of the shopkeepers in the medieval towns that you go through on games like Final Fantasy and Diablo.

Jamie presented his offer, “If you make this trade with Medina, I will throw in a binder, some sleeves, and three booster packs to help you rebuild your collection!”

Brandon agonized. and I waited patiently. He tried a final desperate attempt to keep the Birthing Pods, “Do you think I could keep the Birthing Pods?” This kind of question has desperation written all over it. It’s important to answer decisively; don’t hesitate. It will give them the room to wiggle. “That’s a deal breaker, bro.”

I let that hang in the air for a second, then hit him with the follow up, “What do you want more, two foil Birthing Pods or an iPad?” I knew the deal for his binder was done, and he wouldn’t kill the deal over the two foils. I pushed him a little; by now it was after 1 am, and I wanted to sleep at some point.

“So, am I going to hit reset on this iPad and hand it over?”

Brandon dropped the foil Birthing Pods onto my box, “Okay, I’ll do it.”

I shook his hand, then picked up the iPad, and hit reset. “Enjoy your new toy.”

Mike walked out for a smoke, leaving me and Brandon at the table. “That was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen…” he said while walking out.

I boxed up Brandon’s cards and went home. I wasn’t sure how I did, but I knew that I did okay. There were times during the trade when I second-guessed my decision to trade the iPad, but I had to stay true to my philosophy; everything is for trade. It would have been foolish to leave value on the table.

The other side of my philosophy is: trade for everything. When I posted on Twitter about this, I got a lot of questions about what I got (the main reason I wrote this article). Some people expected duals and power, but the stuff that I got sells better than duals and power, and even though the trade doesn’t look glamorous, the numbers are right.

So what do the numbers look like? What did I get for my iPad? Let’s first look at what I would have gotten if I sold my iPad on eBay.

It looks like $520 is about what I could have gotten for my iPad. Here are the cards that I got from Brandon’s binder. This is not counting the bulk and the uncommons. I included the prices that I’d sell the cards for; this will give the amount that I can expect to get from Brandon’s cards after all of them are sold.

3	Abyssal Persecutor		4
1	Adaptive Automaton	Foil	7
1	Adventuring Gear	Foil	0.5
1	Aether Mutation	Foil	0.5
1	Ajani Vengeant	Foil AvN	4
5	Amulet of Vigor		1
1	Angel of Flight Alabaster		1
1	Angelic Destiny		6.5
1	Archangel	VF+	1
1	Arid Mesa		10
1	Arid Mesa	Foil	27
1	Artifact Mutation		0.5
2	Astral Slide	Foil FNM	1
1	Aura Mutation		0.5
1	Avatar of Will	EX	0.5
1	Back from the Brink		0.25
3	Barbarian Ring		0.5
1	Batterskull		11
1	Beast Within		1
1	Birds of Paradise	Foil Buy a Box	8
3	Birthing Pod		8
2	Birthing Pod	Foil	19
1	Bitter Ordeal		1
1	Bladewing the Risen	EX+	2
1	Blasphemous Act	Foil	2.5
1	Bloodstained Mire	EX	14
1	Bloodstained Mire		15
1	Blue Sun’s Zenith		0.5
3	BrainstormÂ	2 IA, 1 MM	1
1	Breeding Pool	Russian	35
1	Bribery	8th WB	12
1	Bribery	8th WB EX+	10
1	Bridge from Below		14
2	Brood Sliver	EX+	1.5
1	Buried Alive		3
1	Burning Vengeance		0.25
1	Celestial Colonnade	Foil Buy a Box	5
1	Cemetery Reaper	Foil	2
1	Chrome Mox		12
1	Circular Logic	Foil TOR	3
2	Cloud Key		2.5
2	Coalition RelicÂ	FS	2
1	Condemn	Russian	1
1	Consume the Meek		0.5
4	Copperline Gorge		1.5
1	Counterbalance		7
1	Crackling Counterpart		1.5
1	Creeping Renaissance		0.5
1	Crosis, the Purger	EX	4
1	Curse of Stalked Prey		1
1	Damnation	Foil MPR	14
1	Daybreak Coronet		1.5
2	Despise		0.5
1	Dismember	Foil	19
1	Disrupting Shoal		7
1	Dragon Tyrant	EX+	2
4	Dragonskull Summit		1
1	Early Harvest	6th WB	0.5
2	Eldrazi Temple		1.5
1	Emeria Angel		1
1	Epochrasite		1
1	Esper Charm	Foil	1
2	Etched Champion		2
1	Extirpate		5
1	Eye of Ugin		1.5
2	Fauna Shaman		3
1	Figure of Destiny		5
1	Firemane Angel	Foil	5
1	Flayer Husk	Foil	0.25
1	Force of Will		55
1	Furyborn Hellkite		2
1	Garruk Wildspeaker	Foil LvG	6
1	Garruk, Primal Hunter		25
1	Gemstone Mine	TS	3
1	Gemstone Mine	Japanese	5
1	Genesis Chamber	Foil	2
2	Ghost Quarter	INN	2
1	Ghost Quarter	Russian DIS	2
1	Gideon Jura		14
1	Glissa Sunseeker		1
1	Glittering Wish		0.5
1	Glittering Wish	Foil	4.5
2	Go for the Throat		1
1	Goblin Guide	Foil	11
2	Grand Abolisher		6
1	Grim Lavamancer		5
2	Grove of the Burnwillows		9
1	Gutter Grime		1.25
1	Heartwood Storyteller		0.5
1	Heretic’s Punishment		0.25
1	Hex Parasite		1
1	Horizon Canopy		6
1	Hymn to Tourach	VF	1
1	Hypnox	Foil	3
2	Inferno Titan		4
1	Isao, Enlightened Bushi	Foil	3
1	Island	GURU
2	Jugan, the Rising Star		2
2	Kessig Cagebreakers		1.25
1	Korlash, Heir to Blackblade		4.5
3	Kuldotha Forgemaster		0.5
1	Kuldotha Forgemaster	Japanese	1
1	Leyline of the Void	Foil M11	3
2	Life from the Loam		12
1	Lightning Bolt	Foil M10	3
1	Lightning Greaves		2
4	Lightning Rift	Foil FNM	1
2	Lord of the Unreal		2
2	Lotus Petal	EX	1.5
2	Lotus Petal		2
1	Ludevic’s Test Subject		1.25
1	Lux Cannon		1
1	Magus of the Future		1
2	Magus of the Moon		3
1	Magus of the Vineyard		0.5
1	Manabond		4
1	Massacre Wurm		2
1	Mayor of Avabruck	Foil Promo	2
1	Melira, Sylvok Outcast		1
3	Memnite		1
8	Mental Misstep		2
1	Mindshrieker		3
1	Mindslaver	SOM	1.5
3	Mirari’s Wake	2 EX+	7
1	Molten Disaster		0.5
2	Molten-Tail Masticore		1.5
1	Momir Vig, Simic Visionary	Foil	18
1	Momir Vig, Simic Visionary	Russian	2
1	Myr Matrix		2
1	Myr Superion		1
1	Myr Superion	Foil Full Art	6
1	Nantuko Shade	M11	0.5
1	Nature’s Claim	Foil	3
1	Necrogenesis	Foil	0.5
1	Necropotence	EX+	2.5
1	Nimbus Maze		1.5
1	Noble Hierarch		12
1	Ob Nixilis, the Fallen		1
1	Obstinate Baloth		1
1	Oriss, Samite Guardian		1
2	Overgrown Tomb	Signed EX+	18
1	Overgrown Tomb		20
1	Phyrexian Rager	Foil MBS	0.25
1	Pianna, Nomad Captain	EX+	0.5
1	Piper’s Melody	Foil	0.25
1	Platinum Emperion		1
1	Precursor Golem		0.5
2	Pristine Talisman	Foil	0.25
1	Protean Hulk	Russian	2.5
1	Proteus Staff		1
1	Pyromancer’s Swath		2
1	Quicksilver Amulet		2
2	Rakdos Pit Dragon	Russian	2.5
2	Reaper King		2
1	Rith, the Awakener	EX	1
1	Ritual of Restoration	Foil	0.5
1	River of Tears		2
2	Rootbound Crag	1 EX+	1
6	Scalding Tarn		13
1	Sever the Bloodline		1
1	Silvos, Rogue Elemental		2
1	Simic Sky SwallowerÂ	Russian	3
1	Skinrender	Foil	1
1	Skirsdag High Priest		1
1	Skyship Weatherlight	EX	0.5
2	Slaughter Pact		2
1	Sliver Legion		9
1	Sol Ring	CMDR	5
6	Solemn Simulacrum		8
1	Solemn Simulacrum	Foil	23
1	Spectral Rider	Foil	2
3	Splinter Twin		4
1	Squadron Hawk	Foil FNM	3
1	Squadron Hawk	Foil	4
1	Standstill		8
1	Steam Vents		20
3	Sturmgeist		0.25
1	Surgical Extraction	Foil Buy a Box	10
2	Sunblast Angel	Foil	2
1	Sundial of the Infinite		1.5
1	Sunscape Master	Foil	2
1	Swiftfoot Boots		1.5
1	Sword of Body and Mind	Foil	17
2	Sword of the Meek		1.5
1	Take Possession		0.5
1	Tarox Bladewing		0.5
3	Tempered Steel	Foil	9
1	Terminate	Foil ALBÂ	1
2	Thoughtseize		18
4	Timely Reinforcements		0.5
1	Tolaria West		1
2	Tombstalker		9
1	Torpor Orb		1
2	Tuktuk the Explorer		1
3	Umezawa’s Jitte	2 EX+	15
1	Unbreathing Horde		1.5
1	Undead Alchemist		1
1	Urabrask the Hidden	Foil	12
1	Vampiric Dragon	EX	2
1	Vengevine		13
1	Venser, Shaper Savant		3.5
1	Verdant Catacombs		10
1	Vine Dryad	Foil	5
1	Visara the Dreadful	EX+	4
1	Viscera Seer	Foil	1
2	Waterfront Bouncer	Foil	4
1	Windreaver	Russian	1
2	Woodland Cemetery		5
1	Zur the Enchanter		2

Welcome back; that was a long list. Based on these prices, I’ll make $1339.75 after all the cards are sold. That means that I got $819 dollars more for my iPad by trading it for Magic cards than by selling it on eBay.

I hope you enjoyed this little adventure into this oddball trade. See you next week!

Jonathan