Field Notes #8: Are bulk lots the cheapest way to get new cards?
All figures come from web sources I haven't verified.
What I found
- Buylist (what shops pay): $10-30 per 1,000 commons/uncommons, about $0.02 a card.
- Retail lots: $25-60 per 1,000 cards, about $0.025-0.06 a card.
- Batched singles from one seller: about $0.22 per new card, with no duplicates.
- Trick or Trade 2023, the full set: about $0.21 a card.
Cost per new card, by how many cards in a lot are unique
| Unique share | Cost per new card ($25-60 lot) | |---|---| | 60% | $0.04-0.10 | | 30% | $0.08-0.20 | | 10% | $0.25-0.60 |
The break-even point against singles is roughly a 12-27% unique rate.
Open questions
- No source publishes how many cards in a typical lot are unique. My first lot will be the experiment that measures it.
- Lots that say "no duplicates" probably cost more. I haven't priced them yet.
- Shipping on a 1,000-card box, which weighs about 2 kg.
Current ranking
- Bulk lot, if at least ~25% of the cards are unique
- Batched modern singles
- Trick or Trade 2023
- Sealed product, which I'm avoiding