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> Mr. Luber, co-founder of StockX, an online trading platform for sneakers, streetwear, handbags and watches, hates when companies disrupt his market strategy.

> Mr. Luber, co-founder of StockX, an online trading platform for sneakers, streetwear, handbags and watches, hates when companies disrupt his market strategy. “The one thing that breaks the supply-and-demand model and the purity of it in the secondary market is when brands artificially f--- with it when they restock stuff,” said Mr. Luber What purity? You're running a resale market for shoes that are scarce in the same way rare Magic cards are scarce: entirely at the whim of the company. That's what supply-and-demand is like when there's a monopoly on supply!

auspex 8y ago
Except WotC destroyed the printing plates for the rarest cards. So they would only ever be able to reissue but never reprint.
- CydeWeys 8y ago
  Regardless of whether you want to call it a reissue or a reprint, doing so for, e.g., the Power 9, would decimate the secondary market value of those cards, as a lot of that value comes from people who buy them to play the Legacy or Vintage formats. Obviously collectors would still place a premium on the originals (assuming you could actually tell them apart), but it would still have a devastating effect on the "investors".
  - SOLAR_FIELDS 8y ago
    Right, which is why you should never see such things as an “investment”, but rather as a collectors item.
    - CydeWeys 8y ago
      There's plenty of people that make full-time livings on buying, selling, and trading collectibles, Magic cards included. You just have to accept that if you live by the sword, you can die by the sword too. The trichotomy I use is investment, speculation, and depreciating asset. Examples of the first would be stocks in a publicly traded company or an investment property with positive cashflow. Examples of the second would be cryptocurrencies, trading cards, or rare automobiles. Examples of the third would be consumer goods or commonplace automobiles. It really grinds my gears when someone says something like "You need to invest in a good gaming PC." No, that's not an investment. It's not even speculation. It falls squarely into the depreciating asset (i.e. worst) category. You're guaranteed to lose more and more money on that over time, until it loses all value.
hkmurakami 8y ago
Time to create a sneaker reserve list.

auspex 8y ago

Except WotC destroyed the printing plates for the rarest cards. So they would only ever be able to reissue but never reprint.

CydeWeys 8y ago
Regardless of whether you want to call it a reissue or a reprint, doing so for, e.g., the Power 9, would decimate the secondary market value of those cards, as a lot of that value comes from people who buy them to play the Legacy or Vintage formats. Obviously collectors would still place a premium on the originals (assuming you could actually tell them apart), but it would still have a devastating effect on the "investors".
- SOLAR_FIELDS 8y ago
  Right, which is why you should never see such things as an “investment”, but rather as a collectors item.
  - CydeWeys 8y ago
    There's plenty of people that make full-time livings on buying, selling, and trading collectibles, Magic cards included. You just have to accept that if you live by the sword, you can die by the sword too. The trichotomy I use is investment, speculation, and depreciating asset. Examples of the first would be stocks in a publicly traded company or an investment property with positive cashflow. Examples of the second would be cryptocurrencies, trading cards, or rare automobiles. Examples of the third would be consumer goods or commonplace automobiles. It really grinds my gears when someone says something like "You need to invest in a good gaming PC." No, that's not an investment. It's not even speculation. It falls squarely into the depreciating asset (i.e. worst) category. You're guaranteed to lose more and more money on that over time, until it loses all value.

hkmurakami 8y ago

Time to create a sneaker reserve list.