How much do you spend on mtg?
Economics forum
Posted on Jan. 29, 2015, 6:39 p.m. by Andrirox
Over the past few months I have been buying mostly shocks and fetches on ebay when I see a good auction. Today I tallied up how much I had spent and was shocked (no pun intended) to see that it adds up to about $350! To me that is absolutely crazy! I got about 80% of that money by selling some old things of mine but still I was extremely surprised because I consider that quite a large sum of money. I absolutely LOVE magic but when you think about it, I spent almost $400 on cardboard. Now I am asking you, how much do YOU spend on magic?
I generally make an occasional purchase of anywhere from $10-$50 (maybe like once every 2 or so weeks) then trade for the rest but KTK is exempt from that statement as I, like everyone, bought that shit up when in first came out and had money to burn as it came out like a week after my birthday
January 29, 2015 6:47 p.m.
Well, ThisIsBullshit since you mentioned both "budget" and "school year" in the same sentence, you'll be fine in the long run.
Personally I'll spend ~$10/week... sometimes it's boosters to play a sealed pool with friends, other times it's singles. Of course outside of that are event entry fees (FNM, Game Day, Prerelease)... so idk, I'd venture a guess at around $15/week.
January 29, 2015 6:48 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #5
Too much.....
I spent 315 on this leather custom mat for example:
January 29, 2015 6:48 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #7
My ONLY issue with it is that it doesn't have a rubberized backing so it slides on hard tables.
January 29, 2015 6:51 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #8
I own approximately $15,000 in MTG assets. I spent maybe $4,000, probably less ($3,000 may be closer).
January 29, 2015 6:54 p.m.
One thing I love about magic is that unlike some other hobbies if you want to quit it is relatively easy to sell all your cards for much less than you spent on them.
January 29, 2015 6:57 p.m.
KnightsBattlecry001 says... #10
I usually spend $20 every few weeks on packs and fnm. Sometimes more if I plan on getting a booster box.
January 29, 2015 7:08 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #11
Well, hmmm. I would say that I usually spend around 50 USD in a pay period (2 weeks), but then I would be lying.
Lets break it down per month:
50 for standard packs (opening is addictive)40 to 100 on singles (depends on what I want/need)10 on supplies (I must play with fresh sleeves every month or so)20 - 30 on entry fees (this number can double if there are IQ's and other larger tournaments)
So I guess in total, I spend probably on average 150 per month. This number can easily double if (and it does often) I am buying Legacy Staples, Modern staples or if a new set has a ton of really great cards.
To be honest, this number is terribly modest. And I am not counting everytime my wife goes out and buys random cards for me as a surprise. (last week she picked up a Bayou for me on a whim).
Fuck, I spent too much on this game.
January 29, 2015 7:10 p.m.
omnipotato says... #14
I got back into Magic a bit before Theros came out and since then, I've bought about $3,000 worth of singles on TCGPlayer, which averages out to about $180 a month. I only buy singles though.
January 29, 2015 7:29 p.m.
ducttapedeckbox says... #15
I can't put a number on it since I don't have a recurring purchasing habit. Over breaks and the summer I draft most weeks for $15. I buy a box for some sets, and occasionally packs. Sometimes I'll buy sleeves (but rarely) and I just bought the 2-pack of DeckTutor Four binders from the MassDrop.
I really want to try for a MM2 box but none of the stores in MA will sell them whole, just packs (according to the judge at my LGS).
January 29, 2015 7:43 p.m.
CommanderOfBolas says... #16
Including events, sealed products, and singles, I have spent around 1,000 on mtg throughout my time playing. Nowadays, I only spend money on events. I get singles through trade (and by spending money that I get from selling other cards), and sealed product through victories. I plan on buying a box of MM2, though.
January 29, 2015 7:47 p.m.
I got arrested recently, so Im saving cash for court fines right now, but prior to that I spent 20-40 on magic every week. Also, whenever rotation comes around I usually throw down a couple hundred on staple cards that are rotating out.
January 29, 2015 8:04 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #20
Too much...
I get high and bored and go online shopping for MTG stuff. Buy hella stuff I don't need...
I gotta plan though... When I get married im gonna sell all my excess mtg stuff to pay for the wedding.
January 29, 2015 8:26 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #21
Btw at least u got cardboard I've spent way over 400$ on strippers at once and don't have anything to show.
January 29, 2015 8:28 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ, it would be worse if you did have something to show for that $400
January 29, 2015 8:34 p.m.
My amount varies from time to time. Recently I spent 70$ish on singles for a Temur deck I was improving with what I didn't already have, before that I spend maybe 20 the last 3 months. It can vary greatly for me.
January 29, 2015 8:58 p.m.
My spending seems to come in bursts. I've realized it's a better use of my money to buy singles, but if there are a lot of cards in the newest set, I'll buy no more than 10 boosters, to try and get some value cards.
I usually make two big singles purchases a year. I don't play standard, so I can afford to wait until my birthday (December) and tax return time (February or March) to buy lots of about $100-$150. Where I work, we can get bonuses of up to $450 every 3 months. If the bonuses are good enough, I'll spend another $50-$75 if there's nothing else I need to spend it on, instead.If
Most of my buying goes to preconstructed stuff: Duel Decks, Commander, Planechase, etc. I've bought the two clash packs that have come out for the alternate art foils and stuff.
I don't usually trade stuff. Whenever I do, I always end up needing the card I traded away for some future deck. When I need a card, I'm always buying it outright.
If I were to add it up, I probably spend $500 on magic a year, in bursts, which averages out to just more than $40 a month.
January 29, 2015 9:52 p.m.
I spend anywhere from 10-50 a month. Usually 10 for fnms, sometimes 50 if there's a prerrlease and a release.
Every few months I might order 20-30 in singles, but that's very rare.
I'm 17 with no job, gotta keep the budget tight.
January 29, 2015 10:01 p.m.
I used to spend a ridiculous amount of money on magic each week. I had an addiction to opening packs (not really, but it seemed like it). I would buy 5 packs every week when I went to play FNM. I would also buy at least 2 boxes of each set that came out. Then I got into commander and of course there were like 10 decks I wanted to build right off the bat. It was getting really bad until I found Pucatrade. After that I severely reduced how much I spend since I am able to trade off cards I saw as junk for the remaining cards I needed to get my decks built.
January 29, 2015 10:02 p.m.
AutoXCivic says... #28
Slightly less than I spend on my race car. :/
Recently got back into it so ... on average ... so far ... less than $10 a month. But I quit playing for 15 years or so.
January 29, 2015 10:02 p.m.
Dalektable says... #29
Way too much, yet at the same time not enough. Most of my money goes into magic being a teenager with no job with an expensive hobby, yet I wish I could spend more.
January 29, 2015 10:04 p.m.
So during release times I buy about 3 boxes and 1 fat pack. Then also another 20 on a new folder. so 400 ish. During non release months probally 150. Khans though.. Khans was 6 boxes. so out of the last 4 months upwards of 1000...... I should stop going to the card store....
January 29, 2015 10:12 p.m.
Cheerlessbear says... #31
I dont want to know how much it is, but i buy 2 fat packs a set and about 20 boosters every 2 weeks
January 29, 2015 10:38 p.m.
Blind_Guardian says... #32
About $200 per month, sometimes more or less.
January 29, 2015 11:07 p.m.
I have been making money playing this game, at least enough to cover the cost of buying standard singles for along time. My LGS was giving away 50 dollars cash for fnm which was free to play. I won money every week but two and made a total of 325 cash. Now the prize is store credit and I'm averaging 15-20 dollars credit a week. Then there are 5 $ entry win a boxes that have 6 players. 2$ modern tournaments with a modern master pack as prizes. Its like buy a MM pack for 2 dollars. I sell them on ebay. I entered all 3 pre releases with some of my store credit and I ended up winning 15 packs and pulling 8 cards which I sold for 180$ on ebay. Plus I was given a free fat pack. I have enough paypal money and store credit to cover any cards I need for the next couple sets. Long story short you should play at this game store. Sorry if I sounded arrogant.
January 30, 2015 4:06 a.m.
My spending is curving down now. I used to spend around 500+ a month trying to acquire edh, legacy and modern decks, but since I've finished those and have my edh decks I'm just trying to keep up with standard. This past month, I spent around 400$ and it felt light. This includes tournaments and extra's and a couple singles on the side. I pre-ordered my boxes in dec so that doesn't count. I expect to spend less and mostly on travel and tournaments this month. With 3 tournaments next weekend, 2 out of town and an scg open later in the month and game day inbetween all that. I'm probably spending around 140-150 in entry fees. SCG Open is 50, Standard pptq is 20, Sealed pptq is 30, Another standard pptq, assuming 20. 2 Gameday tournaments at 10 a pop each. That doesn't include gas and hotel. (the only place I'm getting a hotel for is the open).
March again is back to ordering a box or two of the new set, singles to enhance my current standard deck (that I don't open) and anything I might want for edh/tiny leaders/legacy/modern.
April is hopefully a 'slow' month so I can save and go to Las vegas and play all the sealed events I can for 4 days and draft every day before that.
With this, I'm hoping to give you an idea of how much I spend, but how I spend it also. I don't just spend a lot on cards, but travel and tournaments also.
January 30, 2015 10:08 a.m.
Seraphicate says... #35
I usually limit myself to about $250 per release (boxes, fat packs, etc). Every that I didn't end up cracking, I'd obtain through trades.
January 30, 2015 10:36 a.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #36
I probably spend $100 a month on singles and FNM entry fees. I never open packs outside of prerelease events.
I probably win 1 in 4 FNM Standard events that I attend so there's another $70ish a month in store credit that I spend on singles (or my other game hobbies, D&D and Warhammer).
I don't even want to look at my total purchase amount from TCGPlayer...
January 30, 2015 11:30 a.m.
12$ per week for FNM Booster Draftanything additional is only prerelease/launch/gameday events and occasionally fat packs
January 31, 2015 7:08 a.m.
On average? Maybe 40 a month. I usually try to allow myself about 20 bucks a week for whatever, fast food, vending machine drinks, and magic or video games. Lately most of that goes to magic buying whatever singles I want but a good portion always ends up as snacks as well.
that being said, that's just the pocket/spending money I go out for. Every new release my wife and I join in with a draft or sealed event with our friends at someone's house and we buy a booster box every now and again. Got one for christmas for example.
ThisIsBullshit says... #2
I have a budget of $200 for the school year but I always overshoot cuz prereleases and drafts.
January 29, 2015 6:41 p.m.