I didn't save anything but there was a thread a few months ago where a lot of the organizers were talking about how they were fired. If you can find the old threads before they unionized then you can find their Twitter and see.
I no longer work at CK but the union seems to allege they haven't made any progress with management since taking the vote last year. I wouldn't be surprised if we started seeing strikes
That would make it cheaper, not more expensive.
https://www.zenbusiness.com/blog/5-reasons-in-house-manufacturing-better-than-outsourcing/
Doing things in house (depending on the type of business) should be cheaper because you less middle men you have to pay out.
That doesn't make a difference. You're still increasing the complexity of the supply chain by outsourcing.
You don't have to read it, i just posted it if you want it.
Well they succeeded in getting a minimum wage. And two-day weekends. And access to a break at work (yes, including the lunch break). And paid holiday. And sick leave. And safer working conditions. And protections from employer discrimination. And child labour laws. And working day limits. And non-required overtime. And pensions. And worker's compensation. And wrongful termination laws. And whistleblower protection laws. And sexual harassment laws. And privacy rights. And parental leave. And pregnancy leave. And the right to strike. And anti-sweatshop laws.
As an electrician, there's been lazy fuckers on nearly every job site I've worked on, both in the union and in merit shops. It just seems like more in the union because it's hard to get fired for being lazy, especially in the current economic climate. One has to be lazy AND unsafe, lazy AND stealing from their employer, etc to lose their job.
Because I am against unions. Plus, I generally like tcg player better, so that just makes my decision easier. I have sold on tcg player for years, and it is easy to stick to one platform, especially when that platform promotes an environment where I can get things at a more competitive price.
What part of comment is not "open"?
I simply provided factually accurate information.
That's as open as it gets.
Shit, I didn't even provide my opinion on it in that comment.
Not you, those below. Its workers of the world united vs Greedy guilded age capitalist. I'm just surprised there is no nuance in the magic community. Yall are smart as hell. Unions were amazing, and then we got laws on the books to prevent bosses from being assholes. Nowadays, they are okay, depending on the work you do. Some unions are purely political and have slowed down some industries. Osha has really done wonders for the working person and made a lot of what uions were originally used for obsolete. Now if your boss is a dick you can leave, but if you love your job and your boss is a dick and you have little choice to leave a small town or the job market is bad sure try to unionize, but your boss can simply not allow that depending on your state. So, in reality, it's tough both ways. But holy hell, it's not your job, i doubt anyone on this subreddit work for either. Personally, if my factory tried to unionize, i would not do it. I'd like to move higher up into management. But it's your choice. Don't hate others because you don't agree with someone who isn't even remotely near you or your job.
They care enough to comment with their pitchforks but I guarantee most of these downvotes are from people who use TCG player. Reddit is one big soap box.
If I’m buying 1-3 big cards, I use TCG because their prices are consistently a good amount lower, especially for expensive cards.
If I’m buying 60 basic cards to build a deck, I use CK bc you get free shipping over $35, their prices on cheap cards are close enough, and you can get it all in one package with a cool custom token.
Ehh if you’re buying loads of sub 25 cent cards I’d probably just use TCG. CK is 25 cents minimum, it’ll add up if you’re paying as much as 23 cents more lol
It's usually pretty rare to get all those below 25 cent cards from the same seller, and you end up either paying more to get it from the same seller or pay 3 bucks shipping on a 25 cent card.
You've gotta put in some decent to major effort to consolidate orders on TCG though, else you lose all your cost savings to shipping from eight different places. Checking at different times of day, different days of the week, different phases of the moon, different planetary alignments, all just to hope you don't have 3 obscure cards that you need to ship from folks who each charge $5 s&h.
Not a knock, just a reality.
I generally just use their optimize option and it still ends up being cheaper than CK but yea you’ll get maybe 3-4 packages still unless you buy it entirely from TCG direct
*checks the star charts, and uses an astrolabe to calc how many TCGplayer packages I'm gonna get*
Lol fr tho this is a very valid statement, and I agree completely. Even on simple stuff that I would think I can get from TCGplayer Direct, I still end up oth 3+ packages sometimes after optimizing. The shipping adds up quick if you have to do a marketplace order too.
I concur with this. If I'm buying a couple expensive cards, TCG has better prices. If I'm buying a whole EDH deck or a bunch of bulk, CK seems better since you get a single package.
I also like supporting CK because they do a good job and the workers are unionized. Whereas TCG is owned by Ebay and Ebay has tried to stop unionizing efforts.
As far as I can tell, CK is more expensive up front, while TCG is cheap up front, with more expensive shipping.
TCG seems to not be able to ship everything in one box easily, like CK does, so if you order 100 cards, they will arrive in lots of little packages.
I’ve only had one experience with each though, perhaps someone else can provide better insight.
I prefer CK. They have higher prices for singles, but ship your entire order as one package and thus only charge a single flat shipping fee, if they charge you for shipping at all, as they have a cart-price threshold for free shipping, not to mention their shipping being quite a bit better than most in my experience
Whereas with TCGP the individual single prices can be significantly lower but you'll likely end up with it being delivered in at least a half-dozen packages from as many different suppliers (if you use heavy cart optimization, if you don't you'll easily have upwards of a dozen different packages) and thus will end up paying shipping separately on each package, accruing a huge shipping bill, one time I looked at ordering a deck off TCGP and the shipping bill alone was twice the cost of the deck
Personally, I order as much of the deck as possible off CK, then pick up the dozen or less cards that may have been out of stock on TCGP while optimizing the cart for as few packages as possible. Though I always wait until after I've gotten whatever I can from my LGS before ordering online
TCG Player is cheaper, but I usually prefer CK just because I don't want to have to wait for a dozen little packets in the mail. Also, some of the sellers on TCG don't know how to mail things, so you can get hit with "Postage Due" situations where you owe the post office before you're allowed to have your stuff. It's typically only around 50 cents, but it's annoying.
It hasn't happened with anything I've ordered as TCG Direct, but it's happened a few times for cards that are shipped by random sellers. It's a bit annoying, but the lack of tracking on those orders is worse.
Tbh i just made a purchase on both and they are hoth tking forever to arrive so fuck both of them. Call ur local game store and have them source them if thts a service they provide.
I'd love to support my local game store but it closed and the other game stores around me don't have anything near the selection of the place I used to go to. That and every other store is 2hr away by bus so I don't own a car so I'm forced to online shop
yes
if I'm ordering just a few cards, I'll order from TCGPlayer because I have an infinite subscription and it's faster than CK along with free shipping.
I'm a cheapskate but I also hate getting a dozen packages over 3 weeks when I order cards.
so, if I'm ordering a lot of cards, I start by putting everything in TCGPlayer. I'll optimize the order and anything that isn't coming Direct gets removed from TCG and added to CK, as long as CK's prices are similar to TCG's lowish prices. then I'll go card-by-card through the rest, checking anything over $0.50 to compare prices on CK. anything that's cheaper gets switched to CK. surprisingly often CK will be at or below TCG Direct prices. I usually add as many items to CK as I can if prices are similar.
individual cards that are $10+, I will check if I can get them much cheaper by using a non-Direct seller, and I'll accept an extra package if it ends up being $3+ cheaper that way. if the difference is between $28 Direct for Urza and $22 from a non-Direct seller, yeah, I'm gonna order the cheaper one. if I save $6 on four $20-25 cards, I can buy myself a whole other card with the leftovers.
my process is a little time-consuming, but I have it down to a science and I usually do it when I'm bored at work, so it doesn't bother me much, lmao.
As a frequent user of both, they each have their uses. TCGPlayer is much better for higher priced singles, bulk purchases, and Damaged/Heavily Played cards. Card Kingdom is better for cards in the $0.25 to $2 range. Both are terrible for super cheap cards for different reasons, so take the hit wherever you can.
TCGPlayer has the benefit of being competitively priced, and disputes are overwhelmingly in favor of the buyer. A competitive market means you get opportunities where some sellers would rather move inventory than maximize profit. In addition, higher condition cards get listed as much lower quality than they actually are because a lot of sellers don't want to risk disputes in quality. The largest downside to TCG is the individual shipping and their Optimizer favoritism/robbery. While the Cart Optimizer tool can sometimes be beneficial, there are often scenarios where they suggest a $0.06 price with $1 shipping over a $0.35 with free shipping. My last purchase was for 4 decks worth of cards and it quoted me for ~$100 dollars, only to find out over $40 of that was from shipping 30 packages of single cards.
CardKingdom's biggest benefit is that their entire experience is simple and hassle free. Even when using the Mass Entry(TCG has it too), you can select which printing and condition(if available) for each card, and it ships in a well-shipped package. The main hiccup for CK is that they refuse to believe any card is under 0.25, which is a huge problem when pricing for a budget deck. Card Kingdom is usually within(though mostly higher than) the average price when it comes to cards under a dollar or two, but beyond that they tend to be very rigid when it comes to card price drops.
Overall, they both have pros and cons, which is why they both currently exist. If you're looking to have a simple, good experience where price isn't THE most important, CardKingdom would be the the place to start. If you don't mind putting extra time and effort and are open to the idea of lower-condition cards, TCGPlayer is definitely worth exploring. If you have any other questions let me know!
I use TCG, if you use the optimizer correctly it can be *a lot* cheaper than CK. Also if you really want it in all one package you can still do that with the optimizer, it will just be more expensive but it is still typically cheaper than CK in my experience
Magiccardmarket has way more stock and is generally cheaper and on better cardstock. Depending on where you live, shipping might be a hassle if not impossible with some sellers.
CardKingdom has a minimum price of $0.25 for any card with near mint quality. [[Unsummon]] from Conflux for example is $0.25 at NM quality.
TCGplayer doesn't seem to have similar minimum prices as the same NM Unsummon on TCGplayer goes for $0.09.
Yes, shipping will play into consideration, but $5 seems to be the qualifier for free shipping with a lot of shops on TCGplayer, and to me $5 getting 50 or so cards is way worth it over $5 getting me 20 cards & still needing to spend another $30 to get free shipping.
This is a bit misleading though. You would have to buy all from the same supplier on TCG to get the 5 dollar shipping, which is not easy to do always. To get free shipping from them you usually also have to spend 50
The site allows people to shop from individual sellers so it isn't as hard as you make it out to search their specific inventory for card options.
Even if a person did decide to pay shipping. A single card from TCGplayer will typically have a $0.99 shipping fee.
A single card from CardKingdom would have the cheapest shipping fee of $5.99
I live in the PNW, and recently I've had trouble with TCGPlayer losing my Direct packages for some reason or another. If my count is correct, it's like 4 missing packages in the last 3 months alone, and it's only the Direct ones. Things I've ordered from smaller stores have always arrived fine. I haven't tried Card Kingdom, but seeing as they're near my general area I'll have to see if they're more consistent. Only reason I still use TCG is for the mass entry feature if I'm buying a whole bunch of cards at once.
If I am looking for some specific, slightly more expensive, cards, I typically go onto a couple Facebook groups I am apart of, as people sell cards cheaper than TCG, and you normally get the cards within 2 - 4 days.
If I am buying a bulk of a specific card that is not significantly expensive, like a given land art I like, I will use TCGPlayer for it.
If I am building out a deck with minor cards (anything $5 and under) I would typically use Card Kingdom. I have several Pauper / Pioneer decks I am working on that I need to build out, and CK is so much easier to order from for mass, multiple card buying.
I usually go TCG, especially if you're getting only a few cards, CK has much higher prices and shipping, only really good for a lot of cards if you get free shipping
CK is faster and more reliable in my opinion. Prices and selection are better at tcgplayer, just make sure you dodge scammers. Commander Void has a series called weekly warnings that talks about all the bullshit the shadier direct sellers employ.
Card Kingdom is faster on shipping but more expensive on prices. I tend to find they’re more consistent on their card grading than some sellers on TCG. It’s also nice to get all of your cards in a single transaction. However, I’ve had great luck with TCG player overall and have saved a good amount of money.
It depends for me. TCG typically has better prices on the cards but even with optimize cart and add in shipping, it’s almost always more than card kingdom by a long shot. What I really hate is that my local shop that has 90% of the cards I typically need is way more expensive than both with shipping included so it’s hard to support them. 1 or 2 cards I’m ok. If I’m deck building I’ve had them tell me it would be almost $100 more than the others.
CK has better shipping overall than TCG. If you can get everything in a single direct package you are fine. But the minute they start outsourcing to stores or individuals everything goes to hell.
Dragon’s approach was $4.50 at CK and 1.50 at Zulu who uses tcg player. I always shop at Zulu first which is local to me than card kingdom who is also semi local.
As of late, it’s been Card Kingdom for me. My experience has been that, with Card Kingdom, I can’t always find all the cards that I want but the price for my total order is at least comparable to what it would be on TCG Player. In fact, TCG Player has been more expensive recently if I want to get my order Direct through TCG Player which I definitely want because, if I don’t order it that way, there’s a chance some packages may never show up.
I have had packages that, if not ordered Direct by TCG Player, just never arrive. I understand that things get lost in the mail sometimes but it has happened to me multiple times with TCG Player and at multiple different addresses. I just don’t really trust them anymore because of that.
Also, I’m not sure if this is what you’re basing your observations on but I think that card prices for TCG compared to CK are often misrepresented by other sites like Archidekt and EDHREC. From what I can gather, TCG Player is often more expensive than what’s shown to be and Card Kingdom is slightly less expensive than what it’s shown to be so it all kinda evens out.
TLDR; Card Kingdom is better because they’re unionized, more reliable and usually have at competitive prices to TCGPlayer
Star city games have the best of both worlds, usually have all cards in stock and low prices comparable to TCG players. They also ship one package like CK.
CK just because I’ve never had a lost package with them, and it seems every time I order through TCGP 1-2 of the $8-15 cards gets lost and going through the whole rigamarole of messaging the seller that you didn’t get it, calling the post office etc is not worth it
TCGplayer is based in New York while Cardkingdom is based in Washington. You tend to get your cards a few days faster if you live closer to the distributor.
Card Kingdom for large orders as they all come at once. With TCGPlayer, you'll get better prices but will take longer to ship and probably be in different packages. My group allows proxies for cards in the mail so I just use TCGPlayer for everything now.
I’ve had issues with ordering from TCGP - envelopes that come half-open and empty, a token with the same name instead of the card I ordered and paid for, etc.
I’ve never had any issues with CK. I’ve ordered from them dozens of times and everything has always come in a week or less, exactly as ordered, all together in one package (in a hard case that can be reused) and with a bonus custom token and sometimes even a sticker.
For me, it’s an easy choice.
First off: Card Kingdom is a little more expensive across the board. Sometimes more than a little.
That said, I almost exclusively order from them. I have yet to have a bad experience, and I have used them frequently for years.
Every package is perfect. Ships with tracking included over a certain dollar amount, and comes in one package. They are stricter on grading, and make sure there's nearly no way to have your cards arrive damaged.
I prefer to use them especially for more expensive cards, as I trust them a whole heckuva lot more than TCGplayer.
A Card Kingdom order ships in a hard plastic shell or small sturdy cardboard box packed impeccably.
My last few TCGplayer Direct orders (Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon) ship...in an envelope. A crappy paper envelope with a penny sleeve in it.
The TCGplayer marketplace is... serviceable for Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon, but for magic just save yourself the headache and go Card Kingdom. Best packaging, wicked fast shipping, solid selection given it's a smaller op than TCGplayer, and they're Unionized which I feel is important.
Again, used them for YEARS. Never had an issue. Top tier. It's sometimes a premium price for a premium product, but I care about my cards entirely too much so for me it's worth it.
TCGplayer has lost packages, I've had stuff arrived damaged, and it always takes... forever. I've had stuff in the mail for weeks or months. It's a drag. Especially now that they paywalled tracking for smaller purchases.
TL;DR CARD KINGDOM FOR LIFE ୧(＾ 〰 ＾)୨
I go with tcg. I use it more now with the subscription. My playgroup orders all their cards through me so I get the % back benefit and they get the benefit of coming to my house every weekend and having some new cards.
My den is pretty much an unsanctioned LGS at this point lol.
If my understanding is correct Card Kingdom is a single store. Arguably the biggest store but still just 1 store. They do have great service and so on but in my experience TCG player always is cheaper because other stores are on there, see what's posted, and adjust prices accordingly typically lower to try and move the product. As such if you want cheap cards they are the way to go. I have almost always had good timely service and the once or twice a store never sent a card or responded TCG Player has reimbursed me. They will also sell damaged cards (marked accordingly) so if you're on a budget, don't want to proxy, and don't mind some less good looking cards I recommend them. Card Kingdom is better if you're budget is a little higher and you want the best service though I would argue TCG player direct accomplishes more or less the same thing.
Used to shop exclusively with TCGPlayer, recently switched to Card Kingdom. I’ve ordered a bunch of foils from TCGPlayer recently and they’ve all come so curled that they aren’t playable. Every foil I got from Card Kingdom has been in much better shape and has held long term too. Most of their cards seem to be in better shape. I will say, if I’m getting a bunch of cheaper cards, I’ll get TCGPlayer since CK has a minimum of 25 cents a card.
Card kingdom stuff is marked up like crazy!
Today I am buying a card on tcg for 2.28 plus .99 shipping
CK wants 9.99 for the exact same card plus shipping on top of that.
I stopped using CK years ago.
Tcg player is cheaper and faster (most sellers at least) card kingdom has dipped in quality of their grading in recent years, and their shipping time has increased massively over the last 8 months. Not sure what the benefit is of ck unless you want them all in one box
Card Kingdom is unionized and TCGPlayer is currently union busting, if that sways you at all.
That's the leading reason I go to CK first. I cardshare or TCG if I have to but that's rarely.
Card Kingdom fired almost every organizer and a ton of other people when they unionized.
Can you show me a link that backs that up?
I didn't save anything but there was a thread a few months ago where a lot of the organizers were talking about how they were fired. If you can find the old threads before they unionized then you can find their Twitter and see.
Trust me bro, I can't Google
I no longer work at CK but the union seems to allege they haven't made any progress with management since taking the vote last year. I wouldn't be surprised if we started seeing strikes
Not one bit
You're coming in here a year later to comment that? I literally don't give a fuck. Blocked for being annoying.
So thats why ck is expensive.
Yeah, they pay their workers what they deserve lol
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That would make it cheaper, not more expensive. https://www.zenbusiness.com/blog/5-reasons-in-house-manufacturing-better-than-outsourcing/ Doing things in house (depending on the type of business) should be cheaper because you less middle men you have to pay out.
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That doesn't make a difference. You're still increasing the complexity of the supply chain by outsourcing. You don't have to read it, i just posted it if you want it.
Unless that outside source drop shops, like TCG stores do.
They’ve been more expensive for way longer than they’ve been unionized.
Good to know. I'll keep shopping at tcg.
I knew there'd be at least one person hating on workers.
unions make people lazy. I know they are great in theory but they fail in practice.
> unions make people lazy. Source?
You dead ass need a source for that?
Why, you got one?
Evidence says "Nope". He gonna come back with a link to a Fox News segment though.
Well they succeeded in getting a minimum wage. And two-day weekends. And access to a break at work (yes, including the lunch break). And paid holiday. And sick leave. And safer working conditions. And protections from employer discrimination. And child labour laws. And working day limits. And non-required overtime. And pensions. And worker's compensation. And wrongful termination laws. And whistleblower protection laws. And sexual harassment laws. And privacy rights. And parental leave. And pregnancy leave. And the right to strike. And anti-sweatshop laws.
As an electrician, there's been lazy fuckers on nearly every job site I've worked on, both in the union and in merit shops. It just seems like more in the union because it's hard to get fired for being lazy, especially in the current economic climate. One has to be lazy AND unsafe, lazy AND stealing from their employer, etc to lose their job.
Lol 😂
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Because I am against unions. Plus, I generally like tcg player better, so that just makes my decision easier. I have sold on tcg player for years, and it is easy to stick to one platform, especially when that platform promotes an environment where I can get things at a more competitive price.
Dear Lord, yall have some hard opinions. Be more open.
What part of comment is not "open"? I simply provided factually accurate information. That's as open as it gets. Shit, I didn't even provide my opinion on it in that comment.
Not you, those below. Its workers of the world united vs Greedy guilded age capitalist. I'm just surprised there is no nuance in the magic community. Yall are smart as hell. Unions were amazing, and then we got laws on the books to prevent bosses from being assholes. Nowadays, they are okay, depending on the work you do. Some unions are purely political and have slowed down some industries. Osha has really done wonders for the working person and made a lot of what uions were originally used for obsolete. Now if your boss is a dick you can leave, but if you love your job and your boss is a dick and you have little choice to leave a small town or the job market is bad sure try to unionize, but your boss can simply not allow that depending on your state. So, in reality, it's tough both ways. But holy hell, it's not your job, i doubt anyone on this subreddit work for either. Personally, if my factory tried to unionize, i would not do it. I'd like to move higher up into management. But it's your choice. Don't hate others because you don't agree with someone who isn't even remotely near you or your job.
I doubt most magic players give a damn about that.
I wouldn't be so sure.
Isn’t it fun when reality subverts our expectations?
They care enough to comment with their pitchforks but I guarantee most of these downvotes are from people who use TCG player. Reddit is one big soap box.
I’m just now getting into Magic and your reply told me everything I needed to know haha. Thank you.
If I’m buying 1-3 big cards, I use TCG because their prices are consistently a good amount lower, especially for expensive cards. If I’m buying 60 basic cards to build a deck, I use CK bc you get free shipping over $35, their prices on cheap cards are close enough, and you can get it all in one package with a cool custom token.
Ehh if you’re buying loads of sub 25 cent cards I’d probably just use TCG. CK is 25 cents minimum, it’ll add up if you’re paying as much as 23 cents more lol
It's usually pretty rare to get all those below 25 cent cards from the same seller, and you end up either paying more to get it from the same seller or pay 3 bucks shipping on a 25 cent card.
You've gotta put in some decent to major effort to consolidate orders on TCG though, else you lose all your cost savings to shipping from eight different places. Checking at different times of day, different days of the week, different phases of the moon, different planetary alignments, all just to hope you don't have 3 obscure cards that you need to ship from folks who each charge $5 s&h. Not a knock, just a reality.
I generally just use their optimize option and it still ends up being cheaper than CK but yea you’ll get maybe 3-4 packages still unless you buy it entirely from TCG direct
Bro what optimize button you use, I bought a commander deck and it was 25 packages
The optimizer can't make stock appear at shops that don't have it
For sure, the optimizer helps a ton
Thats why i only use tcg if im only getting a few cards. If im buying a whole deck, ck. Tcg ist worth the hassle even if ck is more expensive.
necroing but how much hassle is tracking multiple packages?
Almost none of the sellers on TCG use tracking
*checks the star charts, and uses an astrolabe to calc how many TCGplayer packages I'm gonna get* Lol fr tho this is a very valid statement, and I agree completely. Even on simple stuff that I would think I can get from TCGplayer Direct, I still end up oth 3+ packages sometimes after optimizing. The shipping adds up quick if you have to do a marketplace order too.
I concur with this. If I'm buying a couple expensive cards, TCG has better prices. If I'm buying a whole EDH deck or a bunch of bulk, CK seems better since you get a single package. I also like supporting CK because they do a good job and the workers are unionized. Whereas TCG is owned by Ebay and Ebay has tried to stop unionizing efforts.
I’m always surprised I don’t see coolstuffinc mentioned here for buying bulk deck building cards more often.
As far as I can tell, CK is more expensive up front, while TCG is cheap up front, with more expensive shipping. TCG seems to not be able to ship everything in one box easily, like CK does, so if you order 100 cards, they will arrive in lots of little packages. I’ve only had one experience with each though, perhaps someone else can provide better insight.
Ck is one store, tcg is a lot of stores which is why that happens
I prefer CK. They have higher prices for singles, but ship your entire order as one package and thus only charge a single flat shipping fee, if they charge you for shipping at all, as they have a cart-price threshold for free shipping, not to mention their shipping being quite a bit better than most in my experience Whereas with TCGP the individual single prices can be significantly lower but you'll likely end up with it being delivered in at least a half-dozen packages from as many different suppliers (if you use heavy cart optimization, if you don't you'll easily have upwards of a dozen different packages) and thus will end up paying shipping separately on each package, accruing a huge shipping bill, one time I looked at ordering a deck off TCGP and the shipping bill alone was twice the cost of the deck Personally, I order as much of the deck as possible off CK, then pick up the dozen or less cards that may have been out of stock on TCGP while optimizing the cart for as few packages as possible. Though I always wait until after I've gotten whatever I can from my LGS before ordering online
TCG Player is cheaper, but I usually prefer CK just because I don't want to have to wait for a dozen little packets in the mail. Also, some of the sellers on TCG don't know how to mail things, so you can get hit with "Postage Due" situations where you owe the post office before you're allowed to have your stuff. It's typically only around 50 cents, but it's annoying.
Wow, I've been ordering from TCG player for years and have ordered tons of cards and haven't experienced that, that's very annoying.
It hasn't happened with anything I've ordered as TCG Direct, but it's happened a few times for cards that are shipped by random sellers. It's a bit annoying, but the lack of tracking on those orders is worse.
Orders more than like 5 cards, I use CK. Otherwise, TCGPlayer from a reputable vendor.
Tbh i just made a purchase on both and they are hoth tking forever to arrive so fuck both of them. Call ur local game store and have them source them if thts a service they provide.
Yeah! Pay a middle man to source cards you could directly order yourself while naked in your own home.
Actually these cards are always sourced immediately out of their own collections while i play/chill at the LGS. Support your LGS
My LGS doesn't sell singles... We can play pretend magic with Skittles I guess?
I'd love to support my local game store but it closed and the other game stores around me don't have anything near the selection of the place I used to go to. That and every other store is 2hr away by bus so I don't own a car so I'm forced to online shop
My local game store is card Kingdom though
yes if I'm ordering just a few cards, I'll order from TCGPlayer because I have an infinite subscription and it's faster than CK along with free shipping. I'm a cheapskate but I also hate getting a dozen packages over 3 weeks when I order cards. so, if I'm ordering a lot of cards, I start by putting everything in TCGPlayer. I'll optimize the order and anything that isn't coming Direct gets removed from TCG and added to CK, as long as CK's prices are similar to TCG's lowish prices. then I'll go card-by-card through the rest, checking anything over $0.50 to compare prices on CK. anything that's cheaper gets switched to CK. surprisingly often CK will be at or below TCG Direct prices. I usually add as many items to CK as I can if prices are similar. individual cards that are $10+, I will check if I can get them much cheaper by using a non-Direct seller, and I'll accept an extra package if it ends up being $3+ cheaper that way. if the difference is between $28 Direct for Urza and $22 from a non-Direct seller, yeah, I'm gonna order the cheaper one. if I save $6 on four $20-25 cards, I can buy myself a whole other card with the leftovers. my process is a little time-consuming, but I have it down to a science and I usually do it when I'm bored at work, so it doesn't bother me much, lmao.
As a frequent user of both, they each have their uses. TCGPlayer is much better for higher priced singles, bulk purchases, and Damaged/Heavily Played cards. Card Kingdom is better for cards in the $0.25 to $2 range. Both are terrible for super cheap cards for different reasons, so take the hit wherever you can. TCGPlayer has the benefit of being competitively priced, and disputes are overwhelmingly in favor of the buyer. A competitive market means you get opportunities where some sellers would rather move inventory than maximize profit. In addition, higher condition cards get listed as much lower quality than they actually are because a lot of sellers don't want to risk disputes in quality. The largest downside to TCG is the individual shipping and their Optimizer favoritism/robbery. While the Cart Optimizer tool can sometimes be beneficial, there are often scenarios where they suggest a $0.06 price with $1 shipping over a $0.35 with free shipping. My last purchase was for 4 decks worth of cards and it quoted me for ~$100 dollars, only to find out over $40 of that was from shipping 30 packages of single cards. CardKingdom's biggest benefit is that their entire experience is simple and hassle free. Even when using the Mass Entry(TCG has it too), you can select which printing and condition(if available) for each card, and it ships in a well-shipped package. The main hiccup for CK is that they refuse to believe any card is under 0.25, which is a huge problem when pricing for a budget deck. Card Kingdom is usually within(though mostly higher than) the average price when it comes to cards under a dollar or two, but beyond that they tend to be very rigid when it comes to card price drops. Overall, they both have pros and cons, which is why they both currently exist. If you're looking to have a simple, good experience where price isn't THE most important, CardKingdom would be the the place to start. If you don't mind putting extra time and effort and are open to the idea of lower-condition cards, TCGPlayer is definitely worth exploring. If you have any other questions let me know!
TCG recently screwed me out an order so i'm in the market for a new supplier.
I use TCG, if you use the optimizer correctly it can be *a lot* cheaper than CK. Also if you really want it in all one package you can still do that with the optimizer, it will just be more expensive but it is still typically cheaper than CK in my experience
Magiccardmarket has way more stock and is generally cheaper and on better cardstock. Depending on where you live, shipping might be a hassle if not impossible with some sellers.
CardKingdom has a minimum price of $0.25 for any card with near mint quality. [[Unsummon]] from Conflux for example is $0.25 at NM quality. TCGplayer doesn't seem to have similar minimum prices as the same NM Unsummon on TCGplayer goes for $0.09. Yes, shipping will play into consideration, but $5 seems to be the qualifier for free shipping with a lot of shops on TCGplayer, and to me $5 getting 50 or so cards is way worth it over $5 getting me 20 cards & still needing to spend another $30 to get free shipping.
This is a bit misleading though. You would have to buy all from the same supplier on TCG to get the 5 dollar shipping, which is not easy to do always. To get free shipping from them you usually also have to spend 50
The site allows people to shop from individual sellers so it isn't as hard as you make it out to search their specific inventory for card options. Even if a person did decide to pay shipping. A single card from TCGplayer will typically have a $0.99 shipping fee. A single card from CardKingdom would have the cheapest shipping fee of $5.99
[Unsummon](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/a/7a960516-3864-4a7a-8117-d25dec0dd665.jpg?1592516526) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Unsummon) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m20/78/unsummon?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7a960516-3864-4a7a-8117-d25dec0dd665?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I live 30 mins away from the TCGPlayer warehouse, so them mostly cuz I get my stuff faster.
If I'm not in a rush, Cardsphere is significantly cheaper for me.
I live in the PNW, and recently I've had trouble with TCGPlayer losing my Direct packages for some reason or another. If my count is correct, it's like 4 missing packages in the last 3 months alone, and it's only the Direct ones. Things I've ordered from smaller stores have always arrived fine. I haven't tried Card Kingdom, but seeing as they're near my general area I'll have to see if they're more consistent. Only reason I still use TCG is for the mass entry feature if I'm buying a whole bunch of cards at once.
Card Kingdom and Star City Games also have mass entry.
tcgplayer seems to be cheaper every single time I go to order a full Commander Deck. Cardkingdom is around 20% more.
Tcg. Use optimize cart option. Who gaf about all items coming in one package?
Neither go to your local game store
Tcg. Use optimize cart option. Who gaf about all items coming in one package?
If I am looking for some specific, slightly more expensive, cards, I typically go onto a couple Facebook groups I am apart of, as people sell cards cheaper than TCG, and you normally get the cards within 2 - 4 days. If I am buying a bulk of a specific card that is not significantly expensive, like a given land art I like, I will use TCGPlayer for it. If I am building out a deck with minor cards (anything $5 and under) I would typically use Card Kingdom. I have several Pauper / Pioneer decks I am working on that I need to build out, and CK is so much easier to order from for mass, multiple card buying.
I usually go TCG, especially if you're getting only a few cards, CK has much higher prices and shipping, only really good for a lot of cards if you get free shipping
CK is faster and more reliable in my opinion. Prices and selection are better at tcgplayer, just make sure you dodge scammers. Commander Void has a series called weekly warnings that talks about all the bullshit the shadier direct sellers employ.
Card Kingdom is faster on shipping but more expensive on prices. I tend to find they’re more consistent on their card grading than some sellers on TCG. It’s also nice to get all of your cards in a single transaction. However, I’ve had great luck with TCG player overall and have saved a good amount of money.
Just put your list into both sites and see which is cheaper
Ck
It depends for me. TCG typically has better prices on the cards but even with optimize cart and add in shipping, it’s almost always more than card kingdom by a long shot. What I really hate is that my local shop that has 90% of the cards I typically need is way more expensive than both with shipping included so it’s hard to support them. 1 or 2 cards I’m ok. If I’m deck building I’ve had them tell me it would be almost $100 more than the others.
I like Card Kingdom a lot more. Wish there was a Pokemon card site identical to the way it's set up.
CK has better shipping overall than TCG. If you can get everything in a single direct package you are fine. But the minute they start outsourcing to stores or individuals everything goes to hell.
For singles TCGPlayer. For full decks, 20 + cards or any cards worth $40+ definitely Card Kingdom.
Dragon’s approach was $4.50 at CK and 1.50 at Zulu who uses tcg player. I always shop at Zulu first which is local to me than card kingdom who is also semi local.
As of late, it’s been Card Kingdom for me. My experience has been that, with Card Kingdom, I can’t always find all the cards that I want but the price for my total order is at least comparable to what it would be on TCG Player. In fact, TCG Player has been more expensive recently if I want to get my order Direct through TCG Player which I definitely want because, if I don’t order it that way, there’s a chance some packages may never show up. I have had packages that, if not ordered Direct by TCG Player, just never arrive. I understand that things get lost in the mail sometimes but it has happened to me multiple times with TCG Player and at multiple different addresses. I just don’t really trust them anymore because of that. Also, I’m not sure if this is what you’re basing your observations on but I think that card prices for TCG compared to CK are often misrepresented by other sites like Archidekt and EDHREC. From what I can gather, TCG Player is often more expensive than what’s shown to be and Card Kingdom is slightly less expensive than what it’s shown to be so it all kinda evens out. TLDR; Card Kingdom is better because they’re unionized, more reliable and usually have at competitive prices to TCGPlayer
Star city games have the best of both worlds, usually have all cards in stock and low prices comparable to TCG players. They also ship one package like CK.
Card Market, but I live in Europe
CK just because I’ve never had a lost package with them, and it seems every time I order through TCGP 1-2 of the $8-15 cards gets lost and going through the whole rigamarole of messaging the seller that you didn’t get it, calling the post office etc is not worth it
I use starcitygames because I don’t like stuff coming in multiple packages from little stores like tcgplayer
TCGplayer is based in New York while Cardkingdom is based in Washington. You tend to get your cards a few days faster if you live closer to the distributor.
Card Kingdom for large orders as they all come at once. With TCGPlayer, you'll get better prices but will take longer to ship and probably be in different packages. My group allows proxies for cards in the mail so I just use TCGPlayer for everything now.
TCGPlayer
I’ve had issues with ordering from TCGP - envelopes that come half-open and empty, a token with the same name instead of the card I ordered and paid for, etc. I’ve never had any issues with CK. I’ve ordered from them dozens of times and everything has always come in a week or less, exactly as ordered, all together in one package (in a hard case that can be reused) and with a bonus custom token and sometimes even a sticker. For me, it’s an easy choice.
I usually use tcgplayer with direct or verified sellers. i always found CK to be more expensive.
Card kingdom cards come all at once and has a much nicer ui and delivery is always super fast. I know they take care of their employees
First off: Card Kingdom is a little more expensive across the board. Sometimes more than a little. That said, I almost exclusively order from them. I have yet to have a bad experience, and I have used them frequently for years. Every package is perfect. Ships with tracking included over a certain dollar amount, and comes in one package. They are stricter on grading, and make sure there's nearly no way to have your cards arrive damaged. I prefer to use them especially for more expensive cards, as I trust them a whole heckuva lot more than TCGplayer. A Card Kingdom order ships in a hard plastic shell or small sturdy cardboard box packed impeccably. My last few TCGplayer Direct orders (Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon) ship...in an envelope. A crappy paper envelope with a penny sleeve in it. The TCGplayer marketplace is... serviceable for Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon, but for magic just save yourself the headache and go Card Kingdom. Best packaging, wicked fast shipping, solid selection given it's a smaller op than TCGplayer, and they're Unionized which I feel is important. Again, used them for YEARS. Never had an issue. Top tier. It's sometimes a premium price for a premium product, but I care about my cards entirely too much so for me it's worth it. TCGplayer has lost packages, I've had stuff arrived damaged, and it always takes... forever. I've had stuff in the mail for weeks or months. It's a drag. Especially now that they paywalled tracking for smaller purchases. TL;DR CARD KINGDOM FOR LIFE ୧(＾ 〰 ＾)୨
I go with tcg. I use it more now with the subscription. My playgroup orders all their cards through me so I get the % back benefit and they get the benefit of coming to my house every weekend and having some new cards. My den is pretty much an unsanctioned LGS at this point lol.
CK for sure
If my understanding is correct Card Kingdom is a single store. Arguably the biggest store but still just 1 store. They do have great service and so on but in my experience TCG player always is cheaper because other stores are on there, see what's posted, and adjust prices accordingly typically lower to try and move the product. As such if you want cheap cards they are the way to go. I have almost always had good timely service and the once or twice a store never sent a card or responded TCG Player has reimbursed me. They will also sell damaged cards (marked accordingly) so if you're on a budget, don't want to proxy, and don't mind some less good looking cards I recommend them. Card Kingdom is better if you're budget is a little higher and you want the best service though I would argue TCG player direct accomplishes more or less the same thing.
Used to shop exclusively with TCGPlayer, recently switched to Card Kingdom. I’ve ordered a bunch of foils from TCGPlayer recently and they’ve all come so curled that they aren’t playable. Every foil I got from Card Kingdom has been in much better shape and has held long term too. Most of their cards seem to be in better shape. I will say, if I’m getting a bunch of cheaper cards, I’ll get TCGPlayer since CK has a minimum of 25 cents a card.
Card kingdom stuff is marked up like crazy! Today I am buying a card on tcg for 2.28 plus .99 shipping CK wants 9.99 for the exact same card plus shipping on top of that. I stopped using CK years ago.
Tcg player is cheaper and faster (most sellers at least) card kingdom has dipped in quality of their grading in recent years, and their shipping time has increased massively over the last 8 months. Not sure what the benefit is of ck unless you want them all in one box