Chinese source worth it?

I met a guy lately who lived in China normally (teacher/translator I think) and we were talking about the 3 kingdoms set and Chinese cards in general. Well, I have a way to get Chinese cards now for English. He'd rather have the English since he doesn't read the language.

So the question is, is it worth it to trade English for Chinese cards? He didn't really want to do singles since the Chinese have a problem with fakes. He saw a Chinese Black Lotus over there if it gives you an idea. lol Sealed boxes are no problem though.

I don't like foreign cards myself so I would only want to trade them off. Think it's worth it to buy a few boxes to sell here? It adds up to about the same amount. He did say Japan was a boat ride away since I thought those would be much easier to get rid of, but more expensive since I'm sending him to that country to buy them, I'd have to pay his ride of course.

the large problem here are import/export laws.

You can not send sealed Wizards products over seas.

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Originally Posted by Magic Fanatic

the large problem here are import/export laws.

You can not send sealed Wizards products over seas.

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It's worth checking out how exactly the ban is phrased, though; it may only apply to commercial resellers and not to private traders. I don't think a private company can, on its own, decide not to sell its products in a certain country and have its 'trade embargo' automatically enforced by the government. I would guess that all WotC can do is refuse to sell to distributors unless they agree beforehand to their shipping policies.

And for that matter, I think such a ban would be unenforceable either way - even if your package gets inspected, it's not like the border guards are going to see shiny fantasy slips and go "Hey, Magic: The Gathering® trading cards! Wizards of the Coast forbade export of sealed product in 1995! Let's jail the fucker!".

I thought this was going to be a link to some Chinese legacy board.

And I was totally gonna load up on links to bullshit like construction equipment distributors and elephant disenfectants and then run over there and spam the shit out of them for a change.

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Originally Posted by Zach Tartell

I thought this was going to be a link to some Chinese legacy board.

And I was totally gonna load up on links to bullshit like construction equipment distributors and elephant disenfectants and then run over there and spam the shit out of them for a change.

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GOLD. This is exactly what I was thinking when I read the title.

As far as I recall, the ban is only for stores, because of the currency exchange rates and such, as well as the large scale effect it would have on distribution (like foreign countries specifically trying to sell just the English sets, etc). Whatever you do with the product after it's been purchased is your thing. I can recall seeing a number of private sellers on Ebay (especially a person in Seattle) that sells Chinese/Japanese sealed boxes of older sets, and they have never said anything about it.

That said, I would totally take advantage of this, if you are getting them at an equal price (or close enough). Japanese and Chinese foils, etc always go for higher than English if they are sought after cards, and even most singles tend to go a little higher.

It doesn't matter if it's private sales I know. I've bought a few boxes of Russian sealed before and no ones cared about customs. I'm pretty sure it's only Wizards policy about sending it to stores.

Anyway, the main question would be is it even worth it to pick up a box? I don't like the cards myself and would only re-sell it. Not sure if it's worth more opened or sealed.

Depends on how good the set is and how many staples and chase rares are in it.