What do you consider expensive?

[Teluin]

I was talking to a guy at work about being a 93/94 player and the 'Swedish rules'. I told him I own the majority of the cards that I want, and there's only a small # of cards that I can justify buying that I want and don't already own; which cost approximately 500$ for the lot. Then there are the cards that I don't own that I want but won't buy (Bazaars/UNL Volcanic and U. Seas). Now of course, to a non-MtGer 500$ might not seem justifiable. I don't think I mentioned that not including the Bazaars, I own the Revised versions of the cards.

Anyway, I know this is a pretty relative question. I'm curious what baseline # people consider to be genuinely expensive when buying a card.
25$ a card? 100$? 200$? I know my opinion has certainly changed as I got into the higher end buys. What is your opinion?

[CutthroatCasual]

Expensive is >$500 for a single card.

[ESG]

$50, but it depends on the price of a deck as a whole, since one card is not a complete deck. Those $50 bills add up quickly. I don't like $2K-$3K decks as a baseline. As a player, I would prefer to have a cheaper game and to own more of the game pieces. Owning all of Legacy, which is only one of the game's many formats, has never really been possible for me, even starting in 2009 when things were significantly cheaper. I pretty much stick to Legacy, Cube, and some Old-School.

[sdematt]

I feel like it depends on the card. I'll balk at $90 Ports, but be okay with $500 BB Duals. I think it has more to do with price memory for me.

[non-inflammable]

I think it has more to do with price memory for me.

right there with you on that; and do i NEED it to finish a deck or WANT it to pimp a deck?

[Dice_Box]

Anything I have to talk to my wife about before I pull the trigger. I guess in that regard over 50. The benifit for me though is I own everything I need. White around the edges sure, but I am not going to spend another few thousand for BB shit. I am content to sit on what I have. (Lands deck aside of course. I will be BB Duals for it.)

[phonics]

I think Richard Garfield said 20$ chase rares was what would be best for a format and I sort of agree with that. Decks cost less, making it easier for people to try different decks which helps against local meta stagnation. For pimp/ collectables however, I dont have a problem with any value, in fact I think it would be cool if they printed super rare playable promos like actual playable mox promos for vintage champs winners/top 8 would be really cool.

[CutthroatCasual]

I feel like it depends on the card. I'll balk at $90 Ports, but be okay with $500 BB Duals. I think it has more to do with price memory for me.

The RL also factors in. You won't need to worry about your $90 become $50.

[Noctalor]

Foil russian, test prints.

The most i spent in a single piece of cardboard is 5k, I would consider 1k to be quite a lot for a single card.

[bruizar]

right there with you on that; and do i NEED it to finish a deck or WANT it to pimp a deck?

What if you NEED it to pimp a deck?

[apple713]

I think it's ability to hold value factors heavily into the determination of whether it is expensive. Also, how much you are paying under the market value also factors in. Anything over $20 for a standard card is expensive imo. But in legacy it's different.

Numerically for legacy you average player probably would consider > $500 to be expensive.

OR

Anything over the cost of the most expensive dual land at any given time (revised)

To a majority of ppl on this form, since there are many people who pimp their decks a few thousand may not really be expensive. Of course expensive is also relative to your income.

I think the most i've spent on a single card was 1200 for my beta black lotus (graded 8.5) 6 years ago. I didn't even think it was expensive at the time cause it was a great deal.

[Beatusnox]

Any amount that requires financial planning based on current circumstances. There are some months where 40 dollars is my max on any given card. Some when it is 10. Some its 100. All depending on how my frivolous money account is.

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[Lemnear]

If thats a question in regards to a clientel, you need to define that one. If you ask if 400$ per card is much for a single guy/gal in their mid 20s, the answer is different from the one of a 12yo kid in school, a university Student or a Family father/mother. If you want to go down asking if the prices of todays cards are toxic for new players, you need to look at the age & financial structure of those, for example.

Perception of prices change also over time and the personal situation. Im 2006 i bought FBB U.Seas for 80€ and considered that a lot of money. Later I bought Beta Power Pieces monthly. Today, I look at the prices as unjustified and artificial and wonder why everyone thinks their print-fresh promo FoWs are worth more than FBB Duals which are 20 years old

[jamesh]

It's all relative. Thousands may not be expensive for alpha power. It may be a good price. I consider foil Leovold to be expensive because yes he is rare but he will be reprinted and his value will sink like a stone. That card is expensive.

[Ace/Homebrew]

If a single card approaches or exceeds $100, I consider it to be expensive.
Anything over $200 gets into 'out of my range' territory unless I'm able to trade value towards the purchase.

[say no to scurvy]

Expensive is relative for everyone.

I have loads of foil signed staples. Majority of my grixis delver, miracles, dredge, etc are signed and foil.

I will NEVER get my foil FS goyfs, FBB duals, ONS fetches signed. Those cards are expensive and lose too much fluidity if they're signed IMO. So probably >$200 for me.

[Stuart]

Over $100, though as others have pointed out it depends on the card. I whined about buying Walking Ballistas for $10-15 each, but didn't mind getting a Bayou for $150 a few weeks later.

In general, though, I try not to spend over $100 on singles in a given month, so a $100+ card is a bigger purchase for me.

[Di]

I feel like it depends on the card. I'll balk at $90 Ports, but be okay with $500 BB Duals. I think it has more to do with price memory for me.

Agreed with this.

Though really, there isn't necessarily a price that I'd consider "expensive" at the point of buying, but that word is dictated on the context of the purchase as well as the justification behind it. I make a very good living and can buy cards at will. I actively play multiple formats, but think $100 for Heart of Kiran playset for Standard because that feels expensive, yet a $1000 set of Underground Seas won't bat an eye. Expensive for Standard means sinking money into cards that you won't get a good ROI on as it rotates, while expensive for Legacy means you get set back further by upfront cost but can resell it if needed (but in most cases don't because you're buying it for a reason but I digress). So if you have a $250 Underground Sea, that isn't necessarily viewed as expensive because you can flip it for what you got it for so you're only temporarily set back. Adversely, those Heart of Kiran you played with through Standard season aren't selling for shit when they rotate so it's money down the drain.

Tl;dr: Expensive is a only relative to the context of how badly you want something, how useful it is to you, and whether or not you have a chance at a reasonable ROI.

[thecrav]

I feel like it depends on the card.

Yep. Even after my discount at the LGS, there's no way I'm paying what Fatal Push costs right now.

...he said, with an eBay window open, searching for Beta Birds of Paradise

[sadface]

If it costs more than $30 and is not on the reserved list, it's expensive.

[Megadeus]

I generally feel bad spending more than like $40 on any non reserve list, non staple card (force and wasteland pre reprints basically). I bought Jace's and it felt pretty bad tbh. Also it is relative to the card also. I think more than $20 for any standard card whatsoever is more than I'd ever pay at this point.

[alastair]

' Standard '

Rotating formats, and I include Modern in this as WoTC achieve rotation through banning's. I really don't see Legacy as expensive any more. Perhaps 93/94 has brought a new perspective to what AB / Arabian / Legends can reach. But, its just money sat in alternative savings. Banks are offering 1% with inflation at 2.5%, even if the market card drops its still cheaper than golf or a track-car.

[CutthroatCasual]

I generally feel bad spending more than like $40 on any non reserve list, non staple card (force and wasteland pre reprints basically). I bought Jace's and it felt pretty bad tbh. Also it is relative to the card also. I think more than $20 for any standard card whatsoever is more than I'd ever pay at this point.

Probably also this. I have no problem paying $150 for a dual land, but I'm reluctant to pay $150 for a Goyf, hence why I don't own any Goyfs but own a few duals that I don't currently use in any deck.

[Stan]

My next three big purchases will be German fbb USea and Volcanic Island, and Italian Tabernacle, in that order. I'll readily pay the market price. But I'd consider myself a fool if I ever did something as stupid as pay 4 or 5 euro for a Fatal Push. It doesn't have to be reserved list, but in order for me to pay big money for a card, it should either be 'old school legal (loose definition) or be a really nice foil like the new old border Sword of Fire and Ice, or something similar from before the age of overprinting.

[PirateKing]

Once outlets start listing prices as "unique" instead of a normal price is when I start questioning if the purchase is worth the money.

[Mr.C]

These days? More than twenty bucks.

[lordofthepit]

For a Black Lotus? $5000

For a Serum Visions? $0.50.

[Sloshthedark]

- there si no easy limit if the % is enough, if I see a Lotus for half the price I'll just drop the money on it... what's the limit on a card that goes to my deck and I just need to have it vs. having deck lets say inconsistent or sub-par it's like $200-400 for me for some essential card atm i think (like need to have 3rd USea) on the other hand I want to keep my mtg investment to 0 if possible and sell all the excess

but depends on where you are in life mostly I guess, buying a USea for todays $50 was a big thing back in 2010 for me, in 2013 I dropped $2k to japanese my deck in two months (but it mostly paid itself by selling the eng/other cards in the future) so it also depends on the money history I think, it's easier to drop $2k if you just sold stuff for 2k as it stays in the Mtg rather than spend that out of the blue, today avg. income where I live is ~$1100/month so buying cards is quite surreal for most ppl

- The price perception is quite interesting as I found out I can't guess the buyers behaviour - I was literarily the only person on the whole internet who had publicly available Ru Foil Ad Nauseam for 2 years at around $300 OBO .... a singleton card in a deck people tend to be bound to and pimp a lot, a card you need to make effort to get it's not just about money, I've seen exactly 2 other available in my entire mtg life... for a price of an USea - it felt cheap having it at such price as shit like Mox Opal sold at similar prices, if it was korean I'd buy it in a heartbeat - yet not a single person has contacted me about buying it whole 2years...

[jamesh]

The problem is your price. Russian foil is way overvalued by some.

[Sloshthedark]

The problem is your price. Russian foil is way overvalued by some.

I tried to describe my logic why I think the price was good - also why I'd buy similar items priced that way and in that range and items less rare are sold on much higher prices which I find illogical other than that there are very few buyers with specific preference... you could buy beta power 24/7 if you have the money but not this one, the rarity compensates the demand... btw. I sold it for the price I wanted when I tried to find a buyer...

about russian foils - yeah it has been absolutely artificial market and I don't like russian cards at all tbh, the only reason to have the card was the rarity

[Fallen_Empire]

I think Chalice of the Void at $65 is too expensive. The card isn't on the reserved list, and I literally just can't justify buying +50$ non-reserve list cards when I know there are really high quality proxies floating all over the internet (including eBay). Really pisses me off actually. It's hard enough to justify spending hundreds on a piece of cardboard, when you know you could spend 5$ and just buy fakes...

[CutthroatCasual]

I think Chalice of the Void at $65 is too expensive. The card isn't on the reserved list, and I literally just can't justify buying +50$ non-reserve list cards when I know there are really high quality proxies floating all over the internet (including eBay). Really pisses me off actually. It's hard enough to justify spending hundreds on a piece of cardboard, when you know you could spend 5$ and just buy fakes...

First, it's not a "proxy" it's a counterfeit. Calling it what it is delegitimizes it in the eyes of those on the fence on purchasing them.

Second, I agree with most of what you said. Paying more than $50 for a non-RL non-land-non-easily-swappable staple (i.e. cards like FoW and JTMS or LotV that will be good in just about any blue and/or black deck) feels really bad and if CotV was this expensive when I got my set, I probably wouldn't own 4c Loam.

[Claymore]

Most of my expenses these days are for EDH. I get hesitant to spend more than $5 on any card that's standard legal (even legacy playables like Tireless Tracker). I don't play often, so seeing that same card for 50 cents a few weeks later when everything rotates again is a feel bad.

Some EDH staples I'll pick up if they're $10-20, especially if its a powerful effect or fills a niche I need in my monoblack deck - Contamination, Newlamog, Ugin. I won't buy any individual card over $20 for EDH though. I'll grab those if I can get store credit of course. The last time I went to the shop I think I paid about $30 for a bunch of adds - Kothophed stax (using shit like Tabernacle, Abyss etc, so my budget constraint doesn't make too much sense).

I haven't spent cash on Legacy in forever. I spent about $70 to build Turbo Depths and then picked up a Bayou before GP Louisville, since I wanted 3 instead of 2. Otherwise I'd keep my expenses to fringe sideboard spice (Equipoise, Comeuppance) or cheap proven packages (Tracker is on my list when it drops).

I don't spend any money on modern (format is too uninteractive and terrible), and I especially won't pay money for any card that was spiked by idiotic speculators.

[.Ix]

If it costs more than $30 and is not on the reserved list, it's expensive.

Pretty much this.

Mishra's Bauble jesus christ