Howdy, it’s not surprising that having hobbies can be very expensive. Magic The Gathering is one of those expensive hobbies, and for good reason. Great cards that can really change the tide of your deck are on the pricier side of things and can run you over a few dollars more than you are willing to give up for some cardboard. I, myself, feel a great sense of distress when I am deciding whether it is a good idea to spend 15 dollars on a card that more often than not ends up in my binder anyway. However, being the cheapskate that I am, I have found a great way to keep the hobby cheap while also giving you a great reason to go out and explore the world around you. In this post, I will be giving you a helpful guide to spending less on cardboard. 

Your friend, the binder

Before I can give you the best way to save some money, you’re gonna have to make a bit of an investment. Now, depending on how you want to go about this is totally up to you. There’s definitely more than one way to skin a cat. Luckily for you, this hobby has many ways to accomplish the mission I have for you. 

It is important that you start making yourself a trade binder to hold all of the good rare, and mythic cards you will run into while you enjoy Magic The Gathering. How you want to make the binder is again up to you. You can just get a couple of cheap binder sleeves that can hold your standard trading cards and get a cheap binder to go along with it. Or if you got a bit more cash on you, you can get yourself a fancy name-brand binder made by Wizards themselves.

As far as collecting cards go, there are tons of ways to slowly grow a decent collection to trade with. You can do what I did, which was attend different events that give you booster packs as prizes. This is a great way to play a few games, meet new people, and get your collection going all at once. Again, this will cost you some money but I promise you it will pay off in the long run. You can also buy mystery bulk boxes or go on whatnot and gamble a few times to see if you get anything good. Now I don’t really recommend this to be your first option seeing as how it really is just cardboard gambling. I would rather you go out to your local game shops and just buy a booter pack or two here and there and see what you get. 

Once you get yourself a good collection, you can then sort them out through TCG player, which is usually the way people price their cards, and start organizing them by the value of the cards. Once you do that, you’ve got yourself a hefty trade binder that can potentially save you a few dollars. Now I can go ahead and tell you what you can do with that bad boy.

Adventure to your local game store

Now, what are you going to do with this binder? That, my friend, is the best part, and it all starts with you visiting your local game store. Some, not all, game stores have a trade-in system in their stores. You can bring your cards in and trade them for either cash or in-store credit. Usually, you will find that they will give you more of the card’s value if you decide to go with the in-store credit. You have the option of going to your store and trading in your card for some in-store credit, and trading it for a card you could really use to boost that deck you are building. Some stores offer 70% trade-in value, which can really make the difference in the cards you decide to get. This can either cheapen it enough to where you don’t have to pay to much of a difference. Or, if you are like me, you can save enough cards to trade for other stuff and not have to pay a single dime. One of my favorite game stores to go to has a great deal on Wednesdays. During those days, trade-ins were 80% of their value, so that ten percent more made a great difference. 

Some stores may have better offers than others, so it’s a good idea to start traveling around and see which store offers you a good deal. Maybe you can even catch a game or two while you are out and about. 

Special Events

There is also a chance you can take that trade binder and go to an event that’s happening around your area. Examples being San Japan in San Antonio or card shows like Star City Game’s trading card event that was in Houston back in October. Plenty of vendors are looking to trade their cards with yours; you may even find yourself with better deals and a wider selection of cards to choose from. 

Conclusion

Like most hobbies, it gets expensive at the beginning. But with a bit of time saved to make yourself a decent trade binder, I believe you can save some money on the upgrades you will need once you have built your first couple of decks. Trust me, if you’re into the hobby, it is nearly impossible not to start an accumulation of cards. I hope this was helpful to you and that I have saved you a few dollars.