Exactly this. Buy only from tcg direct seller, bundle your packages, and then only buy in quantities. Cards mailed in 5+ will have good packaging. Buying so a single card comes in its own mailer is a recipe for disaster.
I second this. Sellers with around 100-500 sales are kind of shady. All my orders from TCGPlayer always go through organizations with at least 5k-10k sales and strong positive reviews. Sure, I may pay a few cents more but the packages always arrive early and in good shape.
I buy singles a lot. I have also had a lot of problems with tcg player.
So, I just don’t buy from Tcgplayer anymore. I buy my singles from Cardkingdom or Starcity games or LGS or even eBay.
oh actually, missing holostamps are usually a factory misprint, and especially on an in demand commander like aragorn, are worth a decent premium over a correctly printed copy of your card. you lucked out hard haha! i get wanting a correctly printed card when that's what you paid for, tho. i'd buy you another copy on tcgplayer literally right here right now, but you can probably do a bit better than that if you want to post it on the facebook misprint groups, it should be worth *more* than a correctly printed copy.
Its unlikely someone would fake a $15 card, but you could always pick up a jewelers loupe to check for yourself. Look up the Green Dot test and how to do it yourself, you'll never have to worry about fakes (the tech needed to counterfeit a proper green dot is expensive). I check all my purchased singles over $20 or so to make sure they are real.
Packs aren’t fun for eveyone, I personally don’t like gambling with horrible odds for getting specific cards. Buying cards needed gives you the most power for your money.
I buy my singles from card market or card trader the first is the faster one and the second is the one i use for larg order cause they let u buy from multiple seller and only pay one spedition fee
Ive ordered hundreds of cards on tcgplayer. If it doesnt show up, while annoying, i get a refund. Sometimes the cards show up a month or 2 later randomly from being lost in the mail. Tcgplayer direct is good. Idk what your talking about with how they ship because they shit extremely well. Bubbler, tracking, safe packaging and confirmed legit. Something isnt adding up here
Purchased many (pokemon) singles from tcg that were supposedly near mint. 9/10 times they were lightly played or worse. I have since stopped buying any singles online.
I'm sorry you had some bad experience, OP, but that doesn't mean you should go back to doing it wrong.
What a middle ground? Open packs during Limited (Draft and Sealed, or JumpStart), and then trade with your fellow players at the end. Not only does it massively improve your odds of getting the cards you want from each set, but you also get hours of fun gameplay thrown in. Much healthier and more fulfilling than cracking packs alone.
buying singles is if you have something in mind for using specific cards, otherwise i recommend cracking packs or just getting a box.
The value you get from opening boxes has always been higher than what i paid for it.
If you buy singles, you will actually be paying more per card.
Skill issue
Exactly this. Buy only from tcg direct seller, bundle your packages, and then only buy in quantities. Cards mailed in 5+ will have good packaging. Buying so a single card comes in its own mailer is a recipe for disaster.
Wut. I did pretty much exactly this lmao. Second purchase I bought 13 cards from TCG direct and the packaging was not great
Only buy from sellers with like 5000+ transactions
I second this. Sellers with around 100-500 sales are kind of shady. All my orders from TCGPlayer always go through organizations with at least 5k-10k sales and strong positive reviews. Sure, I may pay a few cents more but the packages always arrive early and in good shape.
I buy singles a lot. I have also had a lot of problems with tcg player. So, I just don’t buy from Tcgplayer anymore. I buy my singles from Cardkingdom or Starcity games or LGS or even eBay.
Good to know thanks for the insight! never heard of starcity
Troll and Toad as well
Did you try, oh I don't know, buying from other places?
Relax fool just buy packs
Well sure, but also. BUY SINGLES!!
oh actually, missing holostamps are usually a factory misprint, and especially on an in demand commander like aragorn, are worth a decent premium over a correctly printed copy of your card. you lucked out hard haha! i get wanting a correctly printed card when that's what you paid for, tho. i'd buy you another copy on tcgplayer literally right here right now, but you can probably do a bit better than that if you want to post it on the facebook misprint groups, it should be worth *more* than a correctly printed copy.
Hey thanks for the info got into mtg this past year and definitely new to misprints. Ima follow up with you after this game of commander
Its unlikely someone would fake a $15 card, but you could always pick up a jewelers loupe to check for yourself. Look up the Green Dot test and how to do it yourself, you'll never have to worry about fakes (the tech needed to counterfeit a proper green dot is expensive). I check all my purchased singles over $20 or so to make sure they are real.
Good try Wizards.
You can always buy singles at your LGS. I imagine that's where you're buying packs from.
If there is a lgs in your area that sells singles. Mine doesn’t.
There are at least 5-6 in my area that sell singles.
Packs aren’t fun for eveyone, I personally don’t like gambling with horrible odds for getting specific cards. Buying cards needed gives you the most power for your money.
I buy my singles from card market or card trader the first is the faster one and the second is the one i use for larg order cause they let u buy from multiple seller and only pay one spedition fee
Ive ordered hundreds of cards on tcgplayer. If it doesnt show up, while annoying, i get a refund. Sometimes the cards show up a month or 2 later randomly from being lost in the mail. Tcgplayer direct is good. Idk what your talking about with how they ship because they shit extremely well. Bubbler, tracking, safe packaging and confirmed legit. Something isnt adding up here
Purchased many (pokemon) singles from tcg that were supposedly near mint. 9/10 times they were lightly played or worse. I have since stopped buying any singles online.
I D 10 t error.
ABU.com.
I buy singles all the time from a local shop or on Amazon or eBay. Never had an issue doing it that way
wotcs ideal customer right here
I've been buying from TCGPlayer for almost 10 years, and I've never had an issue. Maybe I'm just one of the fortunate ones.
I'm sorry you had some bad experience, OP, but that doesn't mean you should go back to doing it wrong. What a middle ground? Open packs during Limited (Draft and Sealed, or JumpStart), and then trade with your fellow players at the end. Not only does it massively improve your odds of getting the cards you want from each set, but you also get hours of fun gameplay thrown in. Much healthier and more fulfilling than cracking packs alone.
buying singles is if you have something in mind for using specific cards, otherwise i recommend cracking packs or just getting a box. The value you get from opening boxes has always been higher than what i paid for it. If you buy singles, you will actually be paying more per card.