Buy to play: Sell to live
Just the local card kingpin, Kevin. | PC: Jorrdan Bissell
Column like I see 'em
Recently, I've been introduced to the world of collectable card games. Specifically, I have been purchasing, playing and, more importantly, selling cards and dice from the game Star Wars Destiny.
As with most collectable card games, or CCG’s, a player buys small packets of randomly bundled cards attempting to gather enough desirable cards to build a proper deck.
This is a great deal of fun and, and as Bob Iger surely knows, it’s addicting. It’s hard to keep up with this addiction with limited funding. That's where selling cards comes in handy. Each card pack costs like $3. As of writing this article, I've sold 11 cards for $128.47.
Buying and selling collectible objects is invigorating. I now completely understand why my mom always bought action figures and Barbies I was never allowed to touch. Keeping the condition mint is key.
Unbeknownst to me, I've been taking part in this kind of stuff for years. Remember Pokémon? I don't remember ever playing Pokémon. All I remember was gathering cards, trading, and eventually selling a collection. That's where the fun was. If you play video games on a computer then you've probably heard of Steam.
Steam is a digital market for purchasing video games, and many of the games available through steam offer digital trading cards themed around their game. You earn your first few cards by playing a game, and you get the rest through trading or purchasing the remaining cards needed for a full set. An entire set can be crafted into a badge for that particular game.
The badges aren't necessarily worth anything, and neither are the cards. Most cards go for around 7¢; some have been known to sell for almost 20¢. That might not sound like much, but if you play games as frequently as I do, you might be sitting on hundreds, possibly a thousand cards.
That money adds up. I was able to buy an entire new game (it was on sale for like, 40 bucks) just from pawning off those old digital cards. Some games offer in game digital items such as hats for your character or “skins” which change the way certain objects or characters look.
I once had a hat in the game Team Fortress 2 that was worth $80, and I didn't know it. I traded it away for something worth 60¢. I later earned a hat worth $30 that I promptly sold. Players of Counter-Strike Global Offensive can earn gun skins that are worth literally hundreds. Some are even worth thousands.
Of dollars.
Those skins eventually evolved into an illicit online gambling system. I'm not really sure what the point of me telling you this is. I don't think I would recommend this to anybody. It's more of an update. If you're ever wondering late at night just before bed what your ol’ pal Kevin is up to, know I'm out prowling the streets for collectable cards that aren't in print any more to sell them on eBay with overpriced shipping fees to still afford more random card packs for myself. I know I'm making a profit, but at what cost?
About two percent sell price to eBay and PayPal, and another $2.67 for shipping and handling.
Shipping and handling is expensive.
Kevin Niederman is a junior studying nursing.