Graded Magic Cards/ Daniel Chang / MTG Stores

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vintagemagic
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Post by vintagemagic » Tue Aug 26, 2014 9:18 pm

Hello Everyone,

It has been brought to my attention, there have been concerns, complaints or issues with business practices of my companies in the past - GMTG: Graded Magic Cards, LLC | MTGStores.com, LLC | VintageMagic.com, LLC

I would like to discuss any and all issues and ensure every member of the community has been wronged in anyway; a swift solution will be reached to rectify any concerns/issues.

Please contact me direct at: daniel@vintagemagic.com or my cell phone: 206.914.7974

I look forward to addressing any issues you may have and building a stronger community for the future.

Sincerely,

Daniel Chang
President and CEO of VintageMagic.com, LLC

daniel@vintagemagic.com | Email
206.914.7974 | Cell Phone

cataclysm80
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Post by cataclysm80 » Wed Aug 27, 2014 2:27 am

Wow, old thread, hadn't seen this before.

I can't comment on that stuff that happened more than 3 years ago, but I recently purchased some cards from Daniel and everything went pretty well. I requested 600 DPI scans of the cards and received them. (had to ask twice for one of them, no big deal, I have the impression that he's a busy guy) He seems to like to talk on the phone, which may be inconvenient for people in other countries, but there's plenty of other ways to get in touch with him. I feel that prices were high, but I fully expected that for items which were not available anywhere else. (I had been looking for almost a year.) One of the cards was actually priced lower than another copy I had missed out on a few months before. He sent an invoice and paid for the shipping with tracking cost himself. Shipping was delayed about 2 days due to him being out of town (again, no big deal, he's busy). Cards very well packaged in individual toploaders inside a bubble envelope which was inside a pretty good sized box full of packing peanuts.

Additionally, he's been helpful with other questions I've had after the sale.

I would fully expect anyone to try and get the most money they can for any item they are selling. (which is how this thread got started with someone considering how best to sell their collection) This is especially true of a business.

Tav

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Post by GlobalBoosterHunter » Wed Aug 27, 2014 7:21 am

Well it is always a concern when a company changes names multiple times but continues doing essentially the same thing, it usually means they have gone bankrupt or they are trying to avoid past issues or distance themselves from websearches.

The newest incarnation on eBay has 100% feedback, I have no idea what the GradedMagicCards feedback was like but most people wouldn't throw away a solid eBay reputation for the sake of it.

There are probably other very valid reasons for changing a company's name but when you do a websearch and the first page has several negative hits then it isn't a great sign, certainly not when you are looking for expensive items.

My only experience has been on eBay and I took one look at the prices and decided that I didn't need it that bad. However even though I wouldn't buy at those prices, I haven't seen any more crop up on eBay recently so if you own a hard to find item them you can pretty much ask whatever you want for it.

I think the main thing is reputation, I have bought items from members on this forum at far higher prices than I have ever bought from eBay. I do check the reputations before spending big and I would certainly think twice before buying from this seller, or even selling to him.

I look forward to all the positive resolutions in response to his offer and I can understand why he would like to do it off-forum but really if you are trying to show that you are keen to change then you need as much transparancy as you can get.

People act very differently when there is a lot of money changing hands.

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Post by Alien_Starfighter_Pilot » Wed Aug 27, 2014 11:06 am

All,

I have not completed a transaction with Daniel yet, and my main hesitation is due to all the negative discussion regarding his business practices and attitude toward the game. I can't think of any other buyer/seller with so much negative discussion in the last 5 years as our member Mr. Chang.
GlobalBoosterHunter wrote:My only experience has been on eBay and I took one look at the prices and decided that I didn't need it that bad.
That's my opinion, too. Although, I've seen other members here do the same thing to see if the market really has that high of a level of interest/demand, or atleast open the door to negotiation. This practice works for Scott Boras, too.

I just want to say that sentimental value does not equal actual value.

I also want to say that if someone else (that does not own the card) values it at a price of 'X', but does not buy it, I don't want to hear it. price is based on current availability plus previous known transactions. if someone bought something for $50 yesterday, and now there's one left, it does not mean the last one is worth $500. especially if the other one took 2 years to sell at the price of $50.

In light of Daniel recently putting the Summer set out for sale, I'm going to use the completed transactions compiled by kalle, the comments since then, and make a reasonable offer to him.

Daniel, (presuming your cards are NM condition) here's my offer for some of the cards I sent you an inquiry about earlier this month (and which you said on August 2nd that you'd be in touch, although I haven't heard anything from since):

Summer Nightmare $2,200
Summer Timber Wolves $800

I will, of course, want to see scans before I send payment. and I want the shipment registered. And although I live in Korea, I will provide a physical (i.e. non-PO) U.S. shipping address to send the cards to if you have a concern with sending the cards to my home.

The other members on this board that I have had deals with can vouch towards my reliability to fulfill my end of any deal. and I am a pure collector. these cards will not be resold, they will go into my global collections.

So if you want to demonstrate that you are interested in the "building a stronger community for the future", for the record, I'm calling you out on that statement now. And if there are no problems, I'll be happy to let everyone here know that I had an easy and pleasant transaction with you, too.

Clay
Last edited by Alien_Starfighter_Pilot on Wed Aug 27, 2014 4:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Magic61983
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Post by Magic61983 » Wed Aug 27, 2014 1:59 pm

I've personally done $100k+ worth of business with Daniel. I haven't had an issue to date besides a few inventory issues which I believe have been resolved.

I've purchased many high end graded cards from Daniel and even though I've paid high prices for them currently every single card I've purchased is more valuable then what I've paid. Basically your paying a premium to have piece of mind at least I know I am.

For the Summer prices some that were quoted were high others not so much. I feel Daniel is trying to figure out the values on the Summer cards since he's been around Magic for a while now but is new to Summer prices. With that being said I have nothing against Clay but the prices you offered are far below market value on those 3 cards.
BGS 9+ Alpha set 282/295 (97.29%) Avg 9.41
BGS 9.5+ Beta set 283/302 (93.71%) Avg 9.58
BGS 9.5+ Arabian set 35/92 (38.04%) Avg 9.62
BGS 9.5+ Antiquities set 82/100 (82%) Avg 9.64
BGS 9.5+ Legends set 279/310 (90.00%) Avg 9.61

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Post by Alien_Starfighter_Pilot » Wed Aug 27, 2014 2:01 pm

What are fair prices for these cards?

Timber Wolves is a "crap" rare, so I can't see it being more than $500.

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Post by Magic61983 » Wed Aug 27, 2014 2:03 pm

Alien_Starfighter_Pilot wrote:What are fair prices for these cards?

Timber Wolves is a "crap" rare, so I can't see it being more than $500.
Even junk rares are $750 these days the others would be at least double your offers because they're both iconic cards. I know 5 people looking for a Doppleganger and wouldn't hesitate to spent $3k+ on one.
BGS 9+ Alpha set 282/295 (97.29%) Avg 9.41
BGS 9.5+ Beta set 283/302 (93.71%) Avg 9.58
BGS 9.5+ Arabian set 35/92 (38.04%) Avg 9.62
BGS 9.5+ Antiquities set 82/100 (82%) Avg 9.64
BGS 9.5+ Legends set 279/310 (90.00%) Avg 9.61

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Post by Alien_Starfighter_Pilot » Wed Aug 27, 2014 2:15 pm

ok, so (reasonable offers) the wolf would be $750 and the Nightmare $2,000?

there was someone wanting $4,000 for a Summer Vesuvan in Excellent condition. wonder if someone else bought it.

the prices went up 50% in a year???

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Post by Magic61983 » Wed Aug 27, 2014 2:26 pm

Alien_Starfighter_Pilot wrote:ok, so (reasonable offers) the wolf would be $750 and the Nightmare $2,000?

there was someone wanting $4,000 for a Summer Vesuvan in Excellent condition. wonder if someone else bought it.

the prices went up 50% in a year???
We saw the good cards explode price wise in I believe 2010. With the growing community and more people starting to realize what Summer is yes the prices have increased over the past year. With the Facebook group for misprints and rarities we've already seen some cards spike in value. The community as a whole is growing at exponential numbers.
BGS 9+ Alpha set 282/295 (97.29%) Avg 9.41
BGS 9.5+ Beta set 283/302 (93.71%) Avg 9.58
BGS 9.5+ Arabian set 35/92 (38.04%) Avg 9.62
BGS 9.5+ Antiquities set 82/100 (82%) Avg 9.64
BGS 9.5+ Legends set 279/310 (90.00%) Avg 9.61

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Post by Alien_Starfighter_Pilot » Wed Aug 27, 2014 2:37 pm

Magic61983 wrote:We saw the good cards explode price wise in I believe 2010. With the growing community and more people starting to realize what Summer is yes the prices have increased over the past year. With the Facebook group for misprints and rarities we've already seen some cards spike in value. The community as a whole is growing at exponential numbers.
With the exception of the Vesuvan, I haven't added any cards to my Summer want list in several years.

I will admit that I am very much out of the MTG commodities market, and the best guide I have is what is posted in the thread I mentioned previously. I am not part of any of the misprint or high-end trading groups. Anything other than very well known misprints (i.e. blue Hurricane) or Legacy tournament staples (i.e. Underground Sea) I would have a hard time believing are worth more than $3K.

So, I freely admit I am not very knowledgeable about Summer Magic values, and I also don't want to get ripped off because of that lack of knowledge.

So, if the Vesuvan is easily over $3K, that's already out of what I'm willing to pay for the card at this time. Are the prices for the Nightmare and Wolf good though?

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Post by Magic61983 » Wed Aug 27, 2014 3:58 pm

Alien_Starfighter_Pilot wrote:
Magic61983 wrote:We saw the good cards explode price wise in I believe 2010. With the growing community and more people starting to realize what Summer is yes the prices have increased over the past year. With the Facebook group for misprints and rarities we've already seen some cards spike in value. The community as a whole is growing at exponential numbers.
With the exception of the Vesuvan, I haven't added any cards to my Summer want list in several years.

I will admit that I am very much out of the MTG commodities market, and the best guide I have is what is posted in the thread I mentioned previously. I am not part of any of the misprint or high-end trading groups. Anything other than very well known misprints (i.e. blue Hurricane) or Legacy tournament staples (i.e. Underground Sea) I would have a hard time believing are worth more than $3K.

So, I freely admit I am not very knowledgeable about Summer Magic values, and I also don't want to get ripped off because of that lack of knowledge.

So, if the Vesuvan is easily over $3K, that's already out of what I'm willing to pay for the card at this time. Are the prices for the Nightmare and Wolf good though?
I think the Wolf price is pretty spot on being essentially a junk rare. The only hard part will be finding one. Nightmare I'm honestly not sure. I can see it going higher but it all depends who's looking for one when ones comes up for sale.
BGS 9+ Alpha set 282/295 (97.29%) Avg 9.41
BGS 9.5+ Beta set 283/302 (93.71%) Avg 9.58
BGS 9.5+ Arabian set 35/92 (38.04%) Avg 9.62
BGS 9.5+ Antiquities set 82/100 (82%) Avg 9.64
BGS 9.5+ Legends set 279/310 (90.00%) Avg 9.61

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Post by Alien_Starfighter_Pilot » Wed Aug 27, 2014 4:13 pm

Magic61983 wrote:I think the Wolf price is pretty spot on being essentially a junk rare. The only hard part will be finding one. Nightmare I'm honestly not sure. I can see it going higher but it all depends who's looking for one when ones comes up for sale.
Ok, adjusted some prices a little bit in my original post.
Magic61983 wrote:With that being said I have nothing against Clay but the prices you offered are far below market value on those 3 cards.
I have no issues with you letting me know that I was wrong with my offer. I appreciate you taking the time to share with me the agonizing reality that Summer is even more cruel now.

Clay

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Post by vintagemagic » Wed Aug 27, 2014 5:46 pm

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for your comments and feedback.

I am still trying to figure out how to respond to everyone the fastest way, so please bear with me as I'm use to Facebook real time messenger. A friendly reminder, if you have questions, please go to:

www.facebook.com/vintagemtg & message me. I will respond normally less than 1 hour or most times within minutes.

As for comments:

1. As for changing of business names, I can understand this, but in every business things change.

Let me know explain. In 2009 I started with Graded Magic Cards, this was to sell and focus on high-end magic cards and collectibles. I had a small art collection, but never thought about launching an art gallery.

Also in 2009 we decided to started MTG Stores, the first social network of Magic. This project wasn't completed due to the size of the project and it would be millions to program.

We have decided MTG Stores will be used, but later on as the Marketplace for Magic, still under development.

In 2013, I had a conversation with Stephen Menendian about writing for our website, and he had a great idea, why not streamline the name to Vintage Magic. I checked the URL and it was for sale, and bought it per his advice.

It was the best decision I ever made, as the name wasn't vague or too specific, Vintage Magic - it allowed us to reach the broad spectrum of what I had passion for art, cards rarities. But I realized that the players really drive the force of the game and cards, so I made certain we were involved with the community even deeper than before.

Our slogan "Game. Collect. Invest" speaks about what we are. We all game or start this way. We collect as we game and trade with our friends. And as we get older we invest in the rarities. Our site hopes to give the community the ones stop shop of all of that.

You will find an art gallery, collectibles/rarities, store, articles of artist/collectors/investors/player strategies, calendar/events/tournament reviews, MTGO and much more.

With any new website there are phases for a launch. In December 2014, you will see the the first phase - store, gallery, calendar/events, membership, articles. The next phases will be the powerhouse of data that will really be the game changer for the marketplace. That I will reveal in 2015.

I hope this summary gives you all insight of the direction of the company.

I'm proud to be a part of the community and by the way Team Vintage Magic took 1st Place in the team competition at the Mana Drain 16 last week! Go to our Facebook page for all the pictures.

2. Tav - Moving forward EVERY item you buy is free shipping. Thanks for your kind words and understanding of business logistics to get information out.

3. Brian - Thanks for your kind words. I enjoy working with you. I know you don't like signed cards, so I have a lot of Alpha's that will be graded and unsigned. Although I like the signed cards, I'll hold off moving forward.

4. Clay - In regards to summer cards and pricing, please contact me at: daniel@vintagemagic.com

I think you can understand sometimes we price things based on condition, and what it will grade. Thus, we may be off compared to other market data.

We are all about making sure collections are fulfilled and completed, ask the community members, I have been a big part of helping most of the graded collections filled.

But with any rarity set, the bar must be set higher to increase not only your value but everyone else's. Prices must change and grow, because our cost has grown, it is wise to price to future values.

As a customer, you can choose if you wish to buy from.

We hope everyone would consider Vintage Magic for their collecting needs, but we are a business and it is important to understand we need to make a living like everyone else.

I will always try to make special concessions for any client, but it needs to make fair, business sense.

Thank you all for reading my post, happy collecting and have a great week!

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Post by Alien_Starfighter_Pilot » Thu Aug 28, 2014 3:06 pm

Magic61983 wrote:Even junk rares are $750 these days the others would be at least double your offers because they're both iconic cards.
in my opinion, 95% of the cards printed in Alpha/Beta are "iconic". And some of the cards I am looking for carry a premium due to their artwork (I will admit again, as I have previously, that I love the art for the Vesuvan and the Shivan). the art premium and iconic qualities are translating into increasingly painful prices for SM.

{hums some Bananarama}

So unless I win the lottery sometime soon, I'm going to have to remove the SM cards from my want list because they are creeping into the $$$ zone where I just can't justify to myself spending that much money for cards that are "junk" in any other printing.
Alien_Starfighter_Pilot wrote:I also want to say that if someone else (that does not own the card) values it at a price of 'X', but does not buy it, I don't want to hear it.
I want to correct the above statement with this: if someone else offered X for a card, take them up on that offer; I feel in no way obligated to pay a price that someone else backed off of, and I treat the information as bogus. (I also, on general principal, do not accept 2nd chance offers unless I know for certain that the BIN price is lower than what the item(s) are worth at that time.)

With that said, I can imagine the following for breaking up and moving out high value sets such as SM: an online silent auction would likely be rather lucrative; or if the seller were so inclined, a series of eBay auctions would probably bring the total sale price up higher (due to reaching farther out into the market), but might/might not be overall more profitable due to sales & PayPal fees and the sellers feedback score.

anyways, I sent an email. awaiting a response.

Clay

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Post by cataclysm80 » Thu Aug 28, 2014 3:32 pm

I saw that he added images of the wolves & Nightmare to his photo album with other Summer Cards on Facebook yesterday. I'm not sure if you saw that yet Clay, but it was probably so that you could see them.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 951&type=1

Tav

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