Sunday, February 8, 2015

There's a Pro Tour this weekend, here's how I handle it

Hi Everyone,
This morning (right about when this article is posted) Pro Tour Fate Reforged Top 8 is beginning. The top 8 is Modern format and from what I saw on the early day two coverage, the combo decks like infect and Summer Bloom/Titan decks were doing well in addition to the Modern regulars (twin and Abzan).

As I'm sure many of you know, this means that many cards from these decks will jump in prices for a short time then settle back to normal because they are narrow cards. It's the cards with a broad range of applications that are going to go up in the long term.

My plan is to lower my prices a small percentage (about 5% of the jump depending on the card) in order to unload all my cards that are very narrow or only fit in one deck (I'm talking to you, Amulet of Vigor). Then after the hype dies, buy them back.

It's an alternative strategy that many business owners refuse to use because it doesn't "maximize profit" per unit of input. I am a big advocate of taking a little less than you need and functioning on higher volume.

The only disadvantage of this strategy is if you don't have enough inventory to facilitate high volume trading. If you don't have the inventory to compete this way, don't compete this way.

How do I know if I can compete this way?

It's pretty simple, when a card spikes in price (like Glittering Wish when Jeskai Ascendancy first came out) do you sell out? If the answer is yes, you likely should raise your prices a little. If the answer is no, you need to follow my lead and start using the size of your inventory as a resource for you to compete.

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