I wish one day. I could get somewhere in my life where i can casually say. "I just ordered a few hundred dollars worth of cards"

The only downside of TCG is it sometimes takes about 20 minutes to optimize your cart... and then someone buys a card you had and you have to start all over again.

Hey professor, I don't know if you knew that your information is incorrect. I am a seller on TCGPlayer and am opting to use Direct, and the system works like this: You list an item, and someone buys it. TCGPlayer, ships it out on your behalf from their own inventory, and you ship your copy to TCGPlayer. When they receive your copy, they will put it in their carefully managed inventory, and the cycle continues.

Not mentioned in the video: - TCGPlayer Direct prices are often considerably higher than shipping directly from independent sellers on TCGPlayer - Card availability on TCG Player Direct is much more limited than general card availability on TCGPlayer

Regarding TCGplayer "making it right", I recently made a TCGdirect order for a bunch of magic cards for various decks, including a cheap but obscure 10 cent card, Armistice (wanted to try it in a commander deck). When I received the order that card was missing. I contacted TCGplayer they told me they had no extra copies to send out (despite having copies advertised with TCGdirect). I was then offered a 10 cent refund and $1 store credit, bearing in mind I live in Australia and I would have to pay at least $1.60 usd to order another one through TCGplayer (and would cost them even less). Additionally throughout their messages felt very textbook and "fill in the blanks", written with minimal thought or care. I accepted because I didn't feel it was worth the effort for a niche 10 cent card. At the same time though, I used this video when I first decided to order through them and my latest experience with them doesn't match up with what is promised in the video, which I why feel compelled to share my experience.

I don't normally comment on videos. I started playing MTG last December and TCG Player was a firm reason as to what got me hooked. I don't have a viable buying option near me like LGS. I've bought close to a thousand cards through TCGplayer of many different values and I havn't had a SINGLE order with any issues. Even sellers that aren't TCG direct. It's a great service!

I died when you said "High Tide from Fallen Empires" because I just recently did that exact thing in a recent TCGplayer order.

The professor is truly a figure that represents the Magic community.

hey prof! love the vid, please make an "old man rants" video about him having to buy cards online. How he used to have to go uphill both ways to get to a friends house and trade sort of thing. Love you and the channel keep it up!

I never played magic when it was "old" and when I first got into it I thought the older cards looked ugly, but looking back on it now they look nice, like just looking at them im getting nostalgia from games ive not even played, or times when I wasn't even alive lol

The trouble is, tcgplayer direct cards are ALWAYS more expensive

Just an FYI to people using @tcgplayer to purchase cards. Seller @IWinGames purposefully tapes the top of the cardloader. They state they tape the toploader in a way that prevents the cards from touching the tape but this pinches the cards in the toploader. I have left appropriate feedback accordingly, 3/5 stars.

The issue I've always had with Direct is that often using the service requires me to pay several dollars more because the lowest priced cards are not Direct-compatible. Using the cart optimizer especially can be a real pain when you check the "Direct" box and it makes everything more expensive. Of course, sometimes it's worth it to pay a couple extra bucks for the fast shipping and single package, too. Just be wary.

I feel like if TCGplayer sees these cards as Near-Mint that they should offer a "Mint" option for cards with no edge wear.

I've been playing MTG since 2002 and I gotta say I really enjoy this channel. I've watched videos from this channel on and off for months now and I'm happy to say I just subscribed.

I actually found the admission of being sponsored for this video refreshing. For some odd reason it made me take it more seriously. Love the channel, keep it up!

Those are not Near Mint!

I think you take having sponsors very well, you get the sponsor and freedom all in one

I know this is an old video, but I'm glad I came across it. While I kept buying Magic until around 7th, I haven't played regularly since Homelands and was looking for a way to get back into Magic. It is good to find a trustworthy place that I can (After looking at a few guides) pick up cards to build a Standard deck without having to worry about how truthful the sellers are.

really apprecated the fact that you stated the fact you have been sponsored, thank you. trasparency and trustworth are so often unregarded nowadays

This really is a great service. I just bought a boatload of commons I've needed for a while, but couldn't have gathered together without TCGPlayer Direct. As an unofficial update, they now have a tool called the (Shopping) Cart Optimizer that automatically figures out the best prices from any combination of vendors, then gives you three options that boil down to (Any Vendors), (Trusted Vendors) and (TCG Direct) with commensurate levels of service attached. Any one can be cheaper than the others due to a combination of shipping costs, $2.00 minimums from some vendors and availability. I threw a few slightly different cardlists at them and came up with a variety of results. The Optimizer can also be configured to ensure that it's looking only for the print, rarity, edition, etc. that you want, but you have to click the little Advanced Options button (more on that below). I only ran into three problems: 1) I didn't realize they had a bulk uploader because the link was at the bottom of the page in the Site Navigation Links. 2) The Cart Optimizer takes a really long time (several minutes for me) when you have a lot (let's say over a hundred) cards in cart. I think it had a conniption when I had 750 cards picked out (one by one by hand before I found the bulk uploader). 3) When you click the Optimize Cart button in your shopping cart, it uses a standard template automatically and doesn't allow you to access Advanced Options until it finishes giving you a standard optimization. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but I had the aforementioned embarrassing number of cards for it to sort through, so I ended up running the optimization twice every time because I didn't want certain (usually white-bordered) editions, and didn't care if the cards were Moderately Played or worse. But then I copy/pasted my wishlist, kept this, my first order under 500 cards, ran the optimizer (twice) and paid less than 8 cents per card! (Those $2 and $3 cards really ruined my average, but it was still a really good deal for cards I would never have been able to track down on my own.) My cards are set to arrive in seven days in just two packages (from 74 different vendors -- I counted)!

those are light played not near mint

I don't usually comment on KZfaq videos, but I really have to say thank you so much for this channel and the awesome videos you make. Each and every one of your videos are made well and are made with the clear intent on being useful for as many people as possible. I very much enjoy the detail you put into your reviews and instructions on how to do things. I have been using TCG Direct for a long time and it's great to see a video showing how awesome the Direct option is at TCG. Before I begin to ramble on I would just like to close with thank you for your hard work and your awesome videos for us to watch for free!

holy crap prof, seeing your channel at almost 150k subs is crazy because ive been watching since day 1. i love seeing your progressive quality in your videos. keep pushing out quality content and i will still be a happy viewer.

Just placed my first order on TCG player. Very smooth experience, it went exactly as I hoped and I was able to get really good prices.. Thanks for the advice, I am now happily subscribed to you. Keep up the good work.

The description on the product was dead on.the fact all the cards come at one time is great

I was linked to this video by TCG player, as a fan of your channel I'm happy to see this partnership between TCG player and you guys - I hope it helps/has helped grow you channel :D

Here's the problem, a company's true quality cannot be determined until they have to deal with a problem. I used tcgplayer because of the recommendation in this video and I had a couple of problems come up in my order. tcgplayer gave me very poor customer service regarding their problem resolution; nothing was fixed and they wiped their hands clean. I was very dissatisfied but stuck. This wad my unique experience, butI think it was worth sharing. Buyer beware.

TCGPlayer has been amazing! I used to order from them all the time when I was playing Cardfight Vanguard and have ordered from them a few times for MTG stuff. I also love that I don't live that far away from their headquarters in Syracuse, NY.

Tcg is the real deal. They treat their customers really well. Once one of the sellers I bought from lost my cards. But they refunded me right away. And then once I contacted another seller that lost my cards they sent me extras.

For me the order I go when getting cards is 1) LGS (if prices are reasonable), 2) Card Kingdom (if $25+ for orders), 3) Channel Fireball. NEVER had a problem with any of these dealers, and CK's customer service is superb.

TCG Plaeyr and Cool Stuff Inc. are the only places i feel 100% confident with buying my Magic and card supplies. As times I may check out Collector's Cache but they often don't have the cards I need or even the quantity I'm looking for. It's from a seller at TCG I was able to get a perfectly near meant Karn, the Silver Golem and Karn Liberated, who is my favorite MTG character & Planeswalker... i highly, HIGHLY doubt I could be as successful in getting the quality on rare and fairly sought cards. Thanks for the PSA and heads up on this Professor!

Thanks for making this video, professor. I put in my first couple orders with TCGplayer Direct last week and had checked your channel prior to making the order (to no avail at the time). I'm sure there are plenty of others like me who think their LGS singles prices are ridiculous and will feel secure with your confidence in TCGP. No longer will I pay $50+ extra just because I'm a returning player and get fear mongered away from buying online, at least from TCGP.

Looking forward to this coming to the UK soon. Prices here are generally higher than the US equivalent so being able to get reasonably priced cards and shipping through a respectable vendor service, even with the probably much longer shipping times, is going to be worth it. Good job, TCGPlayer, and great video as always, Professor!

Coming at you from 2020. I'd love to see your current take on online card shopping

I've not used TCGPlayer Direct yet, but I was lucky enough to find a seller under the name of Matchplay who is AWESOME. All but one single card has come in totally spotless, and I'm talking about Revised, Ice Age, Mirage, and Urza's Saga stuff, so it's old. Gamer's Wharf has been great too. I've got some Legends Chain Lightnings coming in that I'm a bit gunched up about, as I ponied up for NM, but they're from sellers I haven't used before. The price difference between who I used and TCGPlayer Direct was pretty significant, likely around $15 for the set. As for NM cards from The Dark: I got some Mind Bombs from Wolfsden via Pucatrade. They were GORGEOUS. I'm going to replace my bookmark with your link!

calm down people even if its sponsored i believe his opinion/review is always true. if i recall he even gave FAIL and D to older sponsored videos , and he even went the long way to get 3 different orders. And always remember , never buy max protection . cheers

Just placed my first order with tcg player direct for some cards for my '94 cube. Excited to get it. The whole cube is cards from 94 or earlier. I'm even trying to get all my basic lands from beta.

I use TCG player prices at the local game store I shop at and the owner uses it as well. Makes prices fair for both he and I, as well as making shopping hassle-free

Dear Professor, I'd love to see a video where you critique ebay as a way of purchasing cards. I've had pretty good experience thus far. I mostly use ebay for playsets while always checking the seller's rating.

Honestly i don't really care if the card is brand-new near mint or even heavily played, I once bought 2 counterbalances that were heavily played and i loved it, of course the store offered me an reduced price, that's how it should be keep up the good work.

Can you do a tour of your Magic the gathering collection?

I'm not from USA, and shipping internationally is six bucks, which can sometimes increase the shipping costs. I'd still recommend it simply for the convinience, but you'd think they could ship to Canada for less than seven bucks considering we're really close to the US, no flying needed.

An excellent video professor, thank you! I've also used TCG player for quite some time, and I'm constantly thrilled by the excellent condition and prompt delivery of their cards, even the sellers I buy from that aren't TCG direct there are usually very professional and quick. I highly recommend this service to my fellow CCG players.

You have been a great asset to this relatively new player. I always appreciate your reviews of products and services.

I honestly love the fact that non nm cards are worth less than NM ones because it means that I can trade a pack fresh foil that's worth $8 into a demonic tutor that looks terrible but functions perfectly.

As someone who isn't in to physical tcg that much, what makes these cards not near mint? they look okay to me, but then I don't have an eye for this kind of thing.

I just ordered 2 more commander decks in the last week from TCG. I wish I could have used your link Professor, sorry. Thanks for your amazing contribution to Magic!

Very helpful, Professor. I personally use Amazon, and I haven't had any bad experiences, but I think I'll try TCGPlayer Direct and compare the two services.

professor, would you mind doing a video saying about your audience? Where are your subscribers? Some demographics inside your next Q&A, maybe... I'm asking this because I'm from Brazil, and I find it very hard to buy/sell magic through online stores. The way sites like TCGPlayer works in the USA is like a distant dream for the rest of us. Thanks :)

Based on this video, I will definitely give TCGPlayer a shot. After taking a quick look, I really like what I saw.

I've actually ordered LP/MP cards using the TCGplayer direct service and have gotten NM cards in the past. Not always but it has happened on a few higher priced cards like Polluted Delta and Vendillion Clique. It's definitely a nice bonus. The only con here is that not all cards are available using the service; I can't really get duals through the direct service.

I respect your integrity prof and its one of the reasons I pay to your patreon. also tcg player rocks

I will admit this interests me. I typically get my singles from my local game stores, or from amazon. but recently with my local not having every card I need, and amazon messing up my orders. I might have to test out other means of getting my cards. thanks professor!

professor you were right mtg players really are nice. I'm new to the game so I've been watching your awesome videos

get them sponsors! I use tcg for rares and things not readily available locally. I use bulk boxes for everything else. yesterday I found a playset of swiftspears and reflector mages... $0.25 ea

havent finished the video and im already glad you made it prof

Love tcgplayer, bought a damaged flagstones of trokair, came signed. Was exstatic about that, really more moderately played outside the signature.

Unless they changed things that is not how Direct works. From what I understood, the sellers don't send them to TCGplayer and then to you through them. TCGplayer has their own stock that they send to you and then the original sellers restore their stock later. This makes Direct really fast (3-4 days for me usually), but sometimes their stock doesn't have what you were looking for. Whether it was the actual card or a specific condition or printing, it isn't unlimited. The certified grading is on point though, but Direct products are usually more expensive than non-Direct. I do personally recommend Direct if they have the cards. The great customer service and guarantees are worth the higher price imo.

Some of those cards were pretty borderline, but I don't think I would have been upset with any of them with the possible exception of that Jace. The Planeswalker side, at least on the video, certainly seemed to have a bit too much white around the edges.

Thanks for your amazing videos. I have saved your affiliate link as my TCGplayer bookmark. It's the least I can do for the content you provide.

I feel kinda bad that this video didn't come out sooner. I just bought $260 worth of cards for my modern deck from there and would have used the link to help yall out.

wish my LGS would use tcg mid prices instead of star city..

I just tried using TCG Player Direct after watching this video. I put over $100 of cards in the cart, using the "TCG Player Direct" option for all selections. However, when I went to checkout, there were no less than 4 discrete orders/shippers, as TCG Direct was 'out of stock' of some cards I had in the cart, for example Collected Company, even though on the cards were shown in stock when making selections. Moreover, I was asked to pay shipping costs on the orders being routed to various sellers even though every one of them said "TCG Direct Qualified". The fact that one only receives consolidated ordering and free shipping over $25 on product that TCG Direct happens to have in stock is, to me , a crucial point that is not mentioned at all on the Professor's video. I really would like him to amend the video to include this point - especially as this was clearly a 'paid' video and the Professor profusely promises to be unbiased and so forth.

With the edge wear on some of those cards they are LP at best. Pack fresh or not, with that much white showing they aren't NM.

Hm, it seems as if there are some scuff marks near the edges of the cards, but I'll take your word for it

Love that The Professor gets sponsorship.

Well thanks a lot for the video, I'll give it a try TCGplayer ! Just buyed "Wurmcoil Engine" (the pre-release one) on Ebay. It arrived near-mint in a KMC perfect size slide AND in a freaking solid slide for more protection :D. For 12€ only (buyed Ugin, the dragon spirit too, hope it will be the same case). I think ebay could be a nice way to buy card but you just need to look what's the seller. For me it was a shop or something more than just a regular guy that want to sell his cards. So I was more confident. But TCG look like the "safer" way to buy cards. Not the best prices but at least it's safe. (sry for my bad english, not my main language).

NM? Not sure if it was just the video, but most of the cards in the beginning had noticeable edge whitening.

I love tgcplayer and use it all the time. I don't always like to use tcgdirect because quite a lot it will say that one or more of the cards I am trying to buy are not available for direct and must be shipped by individual sellers. Also, I have to keep my cart relatively small if I want the site to be able to calculate the optimal prices within a reasonable amount of time. On rare occasions the tcgdirect price will be drastically more expensive then the other options. In my personal experience I have seen the tcgdirect option cost over double what I would pay for the trusted sellers option. Overall it's a great site even with its issues.

I have used coolstuffinc.com for years and to see the price difference being so much lower on tcg almost floored me. Thank you so very much for providing this information video proffesor!

That Island will be beautiful in your Merfolk deck :)

Also don’t forget to say that you can’t order anything from tcgplayer unless your cart has at least $2 dollars worth of items from EACH seller your buying from and most of the time that sells doesn’t have 2 dollars worth of cards they usually only have 1 in stock so really to buy from tcg you have to spend more then anywhere else just so you can buy what you want

The only thing I am going to point out is that TCG direct generally bumps up the price when I optimize for it. Honestly though, if it is an extra few dollars, it pays for the consistent grading and cards arriving at the same time.

I am shocked you had a hard time getting high tide professor. I found them at my LGS quite easily and I don't live in a very big city.

Thanks for the video Prof. I was actually looking to buy some cards for a commander deck I am building and this video answered a lot of questions I had. Keep up the good work.

I just replaced my bookmark link to TCGplayer with your link! Will help out every chance I get!

Just placed my first order with them today. Thanks for the review on them Professor.

wow holy light beautiful art looks like a famous painting

They also have seller's ratings. So you can find which sellers are good.

Honestly I had a great experience with my merfolk modern which I ordered on tcgplayer. Everything was NM or close

I have been using tcgplayer for about 2 years now (not long) and I have yet to have a negative experience with them. They were "beta" testing the Direct service when I started using the site. I tend to be less picky though I will admit that getting a moderately played card risks getting something you may be unhappy with. If I had ordered a lightly played and got what I had once I would have been upset, but I knew the risks when I ordered moderate.

Buy from amazom, especially with prime you get free shipping and way cheaper overall prices!

I wish I knew about this 2 days ago I paid 5 dollars shipping and am getting cards from 27 different stores in 27 different packages

Alright I'm convinced! the only reason I used starcitygames even through it was often more expensive was for the convinence I could get everything in a single order and even then they often never had what I wanted even if it was a common and when they dos have it it was not the one I wanted from a particular set

I would say that is more lightly played then NM. NM is like almost new. These you can tell have been played with. This is the first time I have disagree with one of you you. But that's just me still love your vids

Look, a sell(out)... Alright, now that I have your attention, congratulations professor! I am so happy you're getting these sponsors! With all the work you do, you absolutely 100% deserve it! (Seriously, the first sentence was just an attention grabber! Congrats!)

Yeah I got to admit I used to buy all my cards from Ebay, until the day I thought I would go and try TCG Player from a video you had made. From my experience I love doing business on there. However I must say that when you go and try to get the lowest price versions of the card it sometimes will give you older version rather than the version you were wanting but this isn't a huge problem. overall if I am buying cards online then I only go to TCG Player now.

I know it's off topic, but I love your tie. :)

Hey Prof, this video came just in time as I was about to buy some singles for a blue/Black edrazi deck. Keep up the good content, cheers.

I think you misunderstood how TCGPlayer Direct works. Whenever you buy a card using TCGPlayer Direct, that card is immediately shipped from the stock at the TCGPlayer warehouse. TCGPlayer then asks the seller to send a copy of the card that sold so that the stock at the TCGPlayer warehouse is replenished. If the TCGPlayer warehouse had to wait for the seller to send the card to warehouse before they could send it to the buyer, the total shipping time for the buyer would be very long. help.tcgplayer.com/hc/en-us/articles/201996817-TCGplayer-Direct-Introduction-and-FAQ#link_5

I wish F2F took this level of care when they send out their orders. I've received lots of SP/MP cards from them that I paid the M/NM price for.

Ahh TCGPlayer... the best website for Magic since forever... i remember back in the days of 6th edition and Mercadian Masques (the coreset and expansion that that I started playing Magic in) i used TCGPlayer exclusively for doing research on Magic and net decking. Good old days when WUR Decks were still called the American deck.

I really wish you would roll that D20 so the 20 was pointing up... Other than that, great video as per usual.

i dunno professor I sell on TCGPlayer and maybe I grade to hard but, to me at least, i would grade 95% as light play at my store. Not saying they aren't as beauty is in the eye of the holder so to speak, maybe I should rethink how i regrade cards at my store.

Magic Card Market FTW

I really need etherium sculptors but no one has them so this is great thx professor

hey I have a very important question, is the white boarder island from 1995 illustrated by Mark Poole worth any money?

i agree professor. i have used their direct services before because they were able to help find the cheapest rates for the exact cards i wanted. occasionally i would have to rerun the optimize because it would change editions and i was wanting a particular editions art. but i was easily able to get it adjusted. great review.

Even your sponsored videos are very entertaining!