I'll just back up what other people are saying, when you add in 17.5% VAT and currency conversion charges you are better off using ebay when you can.
The problem is that tix are becoming harder to find on ebay; there are fewer auctions, and buy-now auctions are now unusual, meaning you need to join in competitive bids and wait for the auction to end as well. In fact last time I needed tix I used the store since there were zero available in a time frame of a week on ebay.
It's quite clever how wotc have manipulated the situation so that tix are being used for their primary purpose and not as de facto money.
Buying tix through the store adds 25% VAT, giving me a 1,25 USD price tag on a ticket. Ebay is better...
The weird thing is that I even have to pay 25% tax for redemption, even if I already paid the 25% on the tickets to complete the sets. Something is rotten...
There are few factors who made the eBay price of tix over 1.0:
1) Much less tix sold there than before
2) More use of the tix ingame
Practicly, only ppl who pay VAT or sales tax pay for them as it makes no scence to pay more than a 1$ when u can buy directly from wizards. Its way more easier and faster way to get the tix too, as there is absolutely no risico or wait time.
As others have said the effect is likely to do with Sales Tax issues. Here in the UK, I have to pay $1.175 for a tix bought from the store. That means as long as the price is lower than $1.17 on Ebay, it more worthwhile for me.
What the observed rise in tix prices likely means, is that the percantage of tix bought by international players has increased compared to before...
...anyone know what the sales tax is in Jordan!! ;-)
Hammy, I think you missed an important section of that new reprint policy, which read as follows:
Virtual Cards
This reprint policy only applies to physical, printed cards. It does not apply to cards released on Magic: The Gathering Online or in any other digital distribution.
Excellent writing, I enjoyed it a lot. The part about Mishra's Workshop was marvellous. Even though the subject you talk about is definately not my cup of tea, I read it from top to bottom with great joy.
Ditto. Luv ya Ham but you're completely off here. Neither inflation nor exchange rates would explain paying $1.02 on eBay vs $1.00 in the client. They're circumventing Sales Tax / Value-Added Tax, which eBay users don't collect but Wizards does. That can make Tickets in the store cost as much as $1.20 to a European user.
As for money being printed for increased liquidity ... yeah that can be an inflation-stimulating effect but it's far more complicated and again irrelevant here.
I agree with Ian. Your paragraph about inflation is so very wrong.
I'm in two economics classes right now and my professor has told us at least three times how wrong the "more money gets printed by the governments" statement is. If you mean it as a metaphore then sure but even then the inflation anaylassi is just off.
I don't think your explanation about the price of tix going up because of USD inflation holds water. Because tix are sold for a constant price in dollars, the tix economy is basically pegged to the USD, and it won't fluctuate based on the value of that currency.
I think your original point about the addition of events is all the explanation you need. Fewer tix = higher cost. The reason the eBay price can rise above $1/tix is
1. Sales tax. If you live in a state that charges tax, you can do better buying off of eBay than from the Wizards store.
2. eBay coupons. eBay/Paypay very occasionally gives out coupons that can make the effective price of the tix less than $1.
Raddman, as another main voice on the upcoming legacy format, what are opinions on the U/B Egg/Tendrils deck that was posted. Both in competitive and casual context...
you are right here. Unfortunately unless you use Italics(which is about the only way to clarify a change in tone) then sarcasm unfortunately does not transfer well. I love sarcasm in person since it add a little bit of humor in face to face conversations.
All this nicey-nice/I'm the bad guy etc.., cracks me up...so my next article will be super glossy/Mr. Rodgers style safe, should be a fun one.
I'll make sure to stress how 'winning isn't everything' and all the other things that are causing America to fall behind this vernier of mediocrity that's oddly becoming the norm and more socially expectant of everyone, everyday.
KID: "...mom its 30- 4! Were whoopin' em!"
MOM: "...But were not keeping score Jimmy, that would upset the less-fortunate and hurt feelings..." sigh
I tested it a lot actually...great card. Just usually needing to be pointed at creatures and thus journey is simply cheaper/better. I'm not knocking it...I've lost a few to some crazy white removal.
Finally got the time to read through this article from beginning to end. Great article LE...Interesting coincidence that we both wrote about breaking Admonition/Emeria Angels and Amulet of Vigor in the same week :) (Cf: my angel fall tribal deck using amulet and summer bloom.)
I was trying not to do a round/round thing..for a change.
I do play about every other week since December, think I've top 8'd in more than half of my tries, and some of those were rogue attempts, one of them being your deaddog build! :) I don't mind all the heat/flames...drives up the view count :)
there is a similar mono-green deck going by "Berserk Stompy".. some 10lands do run berserk, but not all of em... working on pt 2 lol it should be submitted in time to go up next week
I like that you're experimenting more with images to make your articles more aesthetically pleasing. The Unmake / Outlander one was nice. Some I didn't enjoy, like your "What a Mess" picture, since it was a bit hard to see what's happening. You'll get that groove though.
The article in general was hard for me to follow and came off as arrogant. Congrats on getting 1st, but come on, you played in a PE with a record-breaking 24 Goblin decks and you piloted WW, the best matchup for you. I really don't care that you steamrolled a lot of Goblins, I expect it. Why no discussion about the Teachings deck you beat in the semi's? It's a harder matchup at least, could've been interesting read.
You also play tons of PEs. Nearly every single one for the past couple months as the PDCforums records show. You obviously don't win the majority of them. How about discussing the factors involved in those? What was the meta like? What were your pairings? Good draws, bad draws? Mistakes?
I like it when you discuss card choices to fight against certain matchups. You mention you might have ran Kor Sanctifiers if you anticipated "Junk." That's educational. Card analysis is great reads too. Briefly mentioning important stats that factor in on your success/failure would be nice to see though. No one wants to read turn-by-turn, but if your opponent mulls to 5 and gets land flooded while you have a perfect draw then it makes sense when you say, "I won." Likewise the opposite is true.
No details and going on and on with a narrow view of your success without some details isn't educational, just self-glorification which is getting negative feedback. A more critical analysis will get you more positive feedback next time.
With your staggering PE participation record, you're probably one of the best people to be covering the events. If you cut the self-serving bias and discuss more hard facts then you could find yourself in a niche that has a large audience. My two cents.
I dunno about that...Sarcasm out right in person might get you some violence. People tend to respond to rudeness with physicality. As I am sure you are quite aware. I think what you mean to say is you wish people would just assume you are kidding about everything and aren't really the villain you paint yourself to be. In which case Id agree that you probably aren't. But being provocative will get some people going, even if it is in jest.
I'll just back up what other people are saying, when you add in 17.5% VAT and currency conversion charges you are better off using ebay when you can.
The problem is that tix are becoming harder to find on ebay; there are fewer auctions, and buy-now auctions are now unusual, meaning you need to join in competitive bids and wait for the auction to end as well. In fact last time I needed tix I used the store since there were zero available in a time frame of a week on ebay.
It's quite clever how wotc have manipulated the situation so that tix are being used for their primary purpose and not as de facto money.
Buying tix through the store adds 25% VAT, giving me a 1,25 USD price tag on a ticket. Ebay is better...
The weird thing is that I even have to pay 25% tax for redemption, even if I already paid the 25% on the tickets to complete the sets. Something is rotten...
This is the world you're talking to, not just this America place.
which cards do u want to see unbanned actually?
There are few factors who made the eBay price of tix over 1.0:
1) Much less tix sold there than before
2) More use of the tix ingame
Practicly, only ppl who pay VAT or sales tax pay for them as it makes no scence to pay more than a 1$ when u can buy directly from wizards. Its way more easier and faster way to get the tix too, as there is absolutely no risico or wait time.
As others have said the effect is likely to do with Sales Tax issues. Here in the UK, I have to pay $1.175 for a tix bought from the store. That means as long as the price is lower than $1.17 on Ebay, it more worthwhile for me.
What the observed rise in tix prices likely means, is that the percantage of tix bought by international players has increased compared to before...
...anyone know what the sales tax is in Jordan!! ;-)
Hammy, I think you missed an important section of that new reprint policy, which read as follows:
Virtual Cards
This reprint policy only applies to physical, printed cards. It does not apply to cards released on Magic: The Gathering Online or in any other digital distribution.
Excellent writing, I enjoyed it a lot. The part about Mishra's Workshop was marvellous. Even though the subject you talk about is definately not my cup of tea, I read it from top to bottom with great joy.
Keep up the good work.
LE
ha. indeed. i do so love volunteering.
Adding budget versions is a good idea and I will keep that in mind Shard.
Thanks.
LE
Ditto. Luv ya Ham but you're completely off here. Neither inflation nor exchange rates would explain paying $1.02 on eBay vs $1.00 in the client. They're circumventing Sales Tax / Value-Added Tax, which eBay users don't collect but Wizards does. That can make Tickets in the store cost as much as $1.20 to a European user.
As for money being printed for increased liquidity ... yeah that can be an inflation-stimulating effect but it's far more complicated and again irrelevant here.
I agree with Ian. Your paragraph about inflation is so very wrong.
I'm in two economics classes right now and my professor has told us at least three times how wrong the "more money gets printed by the governments" statement is. If you mean it as a metaphore then sure but even then the inflation anaylassi is just off.
I don't think your explanation about the price of tix going up because of USD inflation holds water. Because tix are sold for a constant price in dollars, the tix economy is basically pegged to the USD, and it won't fluctuate based on the value of that currency.
I think your original point about the addition of events is all the explanation you need. Fewer tix = higher cost. The reason the eBay price can rise above $1/tix is
1. Sales tax. If you live in a state that charges tax, you can do better buying off of eBay than from the Wizards store.
2. eBay coupons. eBay/Paypay very occasionally gives out coupons that can make the effective price of the tix less than $1.
just a personal think...more budget versions like last week would be nice, unfortunately i dont think their is a sin for being a cheapskate
Raddman, as another main voice on the upcoming legacy format, what are opinions on the U/B Egg/Tendrils deck that was posted. Both in competitive and casual context...
you are right here. Unfortunately unless you use Italics(which is about the only way to clarify a change in tone) then sarcasm unfortunately does not transfer well. I love sarcasm in person since it add a little bit of humor in face to face conversations.
All this nicey-nice/I'm the bad guy etc.., cracks me up...so my next article will be super glossy/Mr. Rodgers style safe, should be a fun one.
I'll make sure to stress how 'winning isn't everything' and all the other things that are causing America to fall behind this vernier of mediocrity that's oddly becoming the norm and more socially expectant of everyone, everyday.
KID: "...mom its 30- 4! Were whoopin' em!"
MOM: "...But were not keeping score Jimmy, that would upset the less-fortunate and hurt feelings..." sigh
I tested it a lot actually...great card. Just usually needing to be pointed at creatures and thus journey is simply cheaper/better. I'm not knocking it...I've lost a few to some crazy white removal.
Finally got the time to read through this article from beginning to end. Great article LE...Interesting coincidence that we both wrote about breaking Admonition/Emeria Angels and Amulet of Vigor in the same week :) (Cf: my angel fall tribal deck using amulet and summer bloom.)
btw...that was me...login didn't take lol
Well said doc.
I was trying not to do a round/round thing..for a change.
I do play about every other week since December, think I've top 8'd in more than half of my tries, and some of those were rogue attempts, one of them being your deaddog build! :) I don't mind all the heat/flames...drives up the view count :)
game on~ and thanks for such great feedback
Hi, Can I ask why Oblivion Ring never even got tested in your build?
From an amateurish stand point, the Oblivion Ring would make my deck, so why shouldn't it???
there is a similar mono-green deck going by "Berserk Stompy".. some 10lands do run berserk, but not all of em... working on pt 2 lol it should be submitted in time to go up next week
I like that you're experimenting more with images to make your articles more aesthetically pleasing. The Unmake / Outlander one was nice. Some I didn't enjoy, like your "What a Mess" picture, since it was a bit hard to see what's happening. You'll get that groove though.
The article in general was hard for me to follow and came off as arrogant. Congrats on getting 1st, but come on, you played in a PE with a record-breaking 24 Goblin decks and you piloted WW, the best matchup for you. I really don't care that you steamrolled a lot of Goblins, I expect it. Why no discussion about the Teachings deck you beat in the semi's? It's a harder matchup at least, could've been interesting read.
You also play tons of PEs. Nearly every single one for the past couple months as the PDCforums records show. You obviously don't win the majority of them. How about discussing the factors involved in those? What was the meta like? What were your pairings? Good draws, bad draws? Mistakes?
I like it when you discuss card choices to fight against certain matchups. You mention you might have ran Kor Sanctifiers if you anticipated "Junk." That's educational. Card analysis is great reads too. Briefly mentioning important stats that factor in on your success/failure would be nice to see though. No one wants to read turn-by-turn, but if your opponent mulls to 5 and gets land flooded while you have a perfect draw then it makes sense when you say, "I won." Likewise the opposite is true.
No details and going on and on with a narrow view of your success without some details isn't educational, just self-glorification which is getting negative feedback. A more critical analysis will get you more positive feedback next time.
With your staggering PE participation record, you're probably one of the best people to be covering the events. If you cut the self-serving bias and discuss more hard facts then you could find yourself in a niche that has a large audience. My two cents.
EDIT: Eek, sorry it turned out long!
I dunno about that...Sarcasm out right in person might get you some violence. People tend to respond to rudeness with physicality. As I am sure you are quite aware. I think what you mean to say is you wish people would just assume you are kidding about everything and aren't really the villain you paint yourself to be. In which case Id agree that you probably aren't. But being provocative will get some people going, even if it is in jest.