I like the look of old school foils. I pulled 1 or 2 retro frame foils recently and they look so nice. I know theyre different from actual old foils, but I only started mtg recently so theres no nostalgia factor there for me even though I do like old foils too
I filled a binder over the years buying all the old border 50 cent foils I could find... No one has the worst common in old border foil for cheap anymore, they are gorgeous to look at, new retro border foils just don't look even close to as nice
They absolutely do not. These old foils will hold value in the long run too. Every week an old foil just spikes on mtgstocks market foil page. I saw four the past 7 days and I’m hoping to run into more of those in this 390,000 collection.
Are you conditioning the cards before you put them in the sorter or after? TCGplayer been really cracking down on my direct conditions and I'm just thinking of listing all NM as LP to avoid them getting sent back.
I grade all cards before listing them. These days I grade all cards of the same grade into the machine to sort and list for me. It all sells no matter the condition so I sort ahead of time so the uploading is more efficient.
@JankNDthings I set out folding tables, empty 800ct boxes and simply dig into boxes. I go for groupings of the same set to place into the 800ct boxes. That’s how I do it manually. Now that I have a sorter running I will take the cards I don’t want to sort by hand and perform a set sort. Then I place those in the 800ct boxes too. My ultimate plan is to organize alphabetical every set so I’m not too concerned with which sets go first. If I find 10-200 of the same copy of cards from these collections I will list that immediately. The work is already done it’s takes very little time to scan one card and count the extra copies. Once those are accounted as inventory and out of the way it begins to thin out what is left to be sorted. I will post a video of a typical efficient layout of my preferred method.
The program is designed by Magic-Sorter a card sorting developer out of Italy. Magic-Sorter.com is their address. I use both the Magic-Sorter robot and TCGplayer Quicklist with my laptop. If I have a bunch of the same card from the same set it’s faster to do that with Quicklist. If I have to sift through sets upon sets the robot is best for that. I’m faster than the robot but I cannot tell the pricing and art variations like the robot can. So I just use my skill to compliment the automation of the card sorting system. You’re welcome about the tokens! This is why I created this channel, I want to educate folks about the benefits of selling your bulk cards so you can become a reselling vendor. (If that’s what you like)
I am interested in getting a sorter myself. Reddit paints this sorter as a massive disappointment with little customer support. Is it still too early to tell for you? Many thanks!
This is a great question. I bought this me used in non working condition. I cannot speak for how a brand new one would work. In the experience I have had it seemed cheaply made at first. Now that I’ve dive into it and understand its functionality a lot more I appreciate it. There were some Pi Ethernet and Pi camera issues that became known to be manufacturer issues not from the sorter manufacturer. They sent me the updated Pi Ethernet and Pi camera for me to install. It didn’t immediately fix the issues I was experiencing, or so I thought.. Just this evening I was able to successfully run this machine for 2.5 hours and it sorted 485 cards without any problems. So I reloaded it with 800 cards and set it to sort again. So far it has been working perfectly on a reload and no rebooting. I can’t say if it is too early to buy one yet. I have a brand new one on order that I placed before I found this one. I want to test the new one then offer an opinion. I will say this, if you do not like tinkering with stuff then this would not be a good solution for your needs. I like building and tearing down electronics like this because it’s fascinating to me. I can see why people would not like it. Folks looking to start using a device like this and expecting it to work flawlessly may be unsatisfied with this machine. I think for its simplicity and price it’s exactly what I want. I don’t mind the initial tinkering. Overall I am happy with it.
@@RenaissanceGameSupply thank for the detailed answer! I do not mind tinkering at all! I’m a full time engineer but electronics/coding aren’t my strong suit lol. Any other issues? Does this treat the cards well with little to no damage ?
@@FernandoSanchez-tp9gp at the moment I notice the XYZ axis movement of the arm does have a few spots where it strikes the card against the 3D printed card pockets. I’m currently sorting 1994-1996 era cards that are DM/HP anyway. So for me this is a non issue at the moment. However, there are some folks on the official user Facebook group who have 3D printed a much nicer card pocket. These are typically $30 for a row. The current or stock pocket consists of 4 thin plastic towers, so to speak. The problem with these is the robot arm can strike these or the card scrapes against these if the arm is not calibrated properly. You can fix the calibration easily enough by adjusting those settings. The newer pockets are designed to hold the corners of the cards, not the top/bottom, and the sides of the cards. I think it’s a wonderful upgrade. I cannot recall if the.stl file is public or not for this part. That is a great question for the official user group. I plan to upgrade all 30 card pockets to the corner versions once I am more comfortable with the continued success of the sorter. I don’t want to waste the $ if it can’t sort properly as is. I hope this helps.
How does one even get their hands on a 390k card collection ? The largest ive seen on Ebay and the likes at least in the past week or so goes up to about maybe 10k cards at a time :p
In my experience I joined Facebook groups involving MTG cards for sale, bulk groups, and such. I waited until I had some cash to spend then made a post about buying bulk. I listed my rates and folks started PMing me with what they had. A store owner reached out to me about buying 2,000,000 from their store. So I drove 4.5 hours away and picked up 390,000 to start with but I plan to buy all 2,000,000 cards. I also bought their card sorting robot as part of the deal.
Very informative! You have some great information, the biggest roadblock is format, I recommend trying out a free recording software like OBS and using a free video editor so you can go in and cut the video if you need to re-record any section of the video. Also, this would allow you to show your screen much clearer! You can also have your camera still displayed in the corner. With the shop I personally list every card there is, I do this because I have a $0.69 floor price. This floor price gets me a large amount of 10 card orders and allows me to ensure I am not wasting my time on an order with one card where I might only make a couple cents.
I appreciate your advice and thank you. I’ve always thought there was missed value in bulk and just want to show folks how to find it. I will look into this software tonight when I get home.
It truly is. I’m still experiencing an issue where it stops sorting before it completes the feeder stacks. However, it’s getting closer to completing its task. This is a used machine.
I’m not sure I would recommend yet. This one is used. I have ordered a new one awhile back. I’m holding off until that one arrives before I form an opinion about whether or not to recommend. I want to be fair.
What platforms do you sell on? Do you have a physical store? And your buying, what type of places/people have you found the most success with profitability?
I sell on TCGPLAYER. I do not have a physical store. I have an office I’ve converted into a small shop. Our store has the most success as a supply store for singles/Pauper/ Commander/Pioneer customers. I’d would say the most success with profitability comes from buying large volumes of cards. Anything less than 40,000 cards isn’t worth pursuing. If you are starting out that is a respectable amount of cards to pickup. I’d also add that being super organized is the key to the success I’ve found.
I’m new to selling bulk on TCGPlayer and wanted to ask how you store your cards once listed. Do you condition everything and store them together (NM and LP of the same card next to each other)? I almost exclusively sell Pokémon on eBay so I’m having a hard time figuring out how to store bulk cards with different conditions.
This is a great question. I condition the cards first, then I store them in the same set box alphabetically, I do not separate the conditions. I can tell if a card is MP, DG, or LP.
Physical tweaks - ideas: Are you happy with the picking method? Drawing suction might be faster and more reliable to pick cards. If a single LED is too bright, face that upwards, bouncing that off of a white or foil surface to provide more diffusion.
I do like the action of how it picks up the cards. I will try your light diffusion idea. We’re waiting for a new part to arrive it appears that the camera assembly is the whole issue due to manufacturing issues not Magic Sorter.
We all realize that bulk takes time to sort through. One thing I discovered in this collection was a lot of it was sorted already with large chunks of sets. There were boxes in alphabetical order and groups of the same printings already organized. So far it’s the best collection I’ve picked up and the easiest to add to inventory. The Assbox was a hit! lol. I hope to post more when I get home.
By hand yes. The sorter sorted about 100 in total due to its camera issue. I’ve swapped out the camera ribbon cable with a known working spare. It appears it truly does have a pi camera issue so I ordered a new one. I leave for New Mexico Thursday afternoon and the new camera is delivered at home so I’m hoping Thursday night I can have another go at it.
@@mdcclix I did, it’s slow at the moment as I wait for the replacement camera module to arrive from Italy. It should be here by May 26. I have a PTZ camera I’m working on getting installed that will record the robot working. Lots of background and behind the scenes stuff but it’s tedious to film and post.
I’m not going to thumbs up this comment because your experience with these hasn’t been very positive. I’m sorry it’s a paperweight at the time being. I’m hoping to find some answers for folks who can avoid the situation you mentioned. That’s super unfortunate that you can’t use yours. This motivates me more now to keep dialing it in. If you want to share the reason or reasons you can’t use yours. FYI, there’s a Facebook group dedicated to just this machine if you’re not a member yet. Folks are sharing their experiences and ideas to help others.
@@RenaissanceGameSupply I'd really love to join the group as so far I've also received nothing but negative feedback from other users. I'll do a write up of our issues as soon as I can.
Hello, the firmware is not mine. I do plan to swap out the towers at some point once this machine starts sorting continuously without issue. Then I’ll do the same with the brand new one when it arrives. Any useful modification or tweak I’ll learn from this will be applied to the second one. My goal with these are to help them along with being as efficient as possible while not reverse engineering them. So far I like them.
I’m aware of the pricing difference but I haven’t seen a Roca in person. I’m sure each of these types of machines have their own issues. The reasoning behind my choice is that I can own 8 Magic Sorters for the same price and do more volume of sorting in the long run. Also if one or two need service I’d still have 6 running. If one Roca went down nothing is getting sorted. But then again I like to run decks with cheap creatures that can go wide. This is by far not a diss to Roca I’m just a fanatic of multiplicity.
@@RenaissanceGameSupply The only argument is with all the time wasted fixing or adjusting the magic sorter. You’d 100% be 1000s of cards deeper with the roca. I’m sure someone has a farm of magic sorters, and has it down to a science though. Owned the roca for about 2-3 months. The only issue it really has is more within the card reading its self (reading non stamped cards as stamped cards). I’m 100% Pokémon right now, and they seem to really appeal more to magic.
@@Walkerresell I can see that. My goal with this used one is to see if the upfront investment of time will pay off down the road. I can sort by hand faster than this machine. I knew this when I started researching card sorters. However, I can’t sort if I’m not home. I’m also ready to gain my time back from being spent on sorting. My favorite hobby is to tinker and build things.
Ive been sorting and sleeving around 1600 cards the past 2 weeks for hpurs at night making a commander cube because i want to play it in time formy friends bday next week
Hey Bobby, can you do a review and analysis of the machine? Would love to know the cost, and what your perceived ROI is due to time saved and efficiency gained. Thanks!
I would love to do this on the new machine I’ve ordered. I think a review on a used one wouldn’t be fair to the manufacturer or anyone who wants information about it. I can say so far I like it, but I’m a bit of a tinkerer who loves challenges.
Thank you! I’ve got it to start sorting successfully twice now but it locks up after awhile so now I’m chasing that issue down. So far I’m pretty happy with it. I’m sure it’s just a few calibration tweaks away from working very smoothly.
@@RenaissanceGameSupply I hope so. This has been my fear when I get mine because there are so few videos for it. I am glad someone is posting literally anything on it!
I think it’s fascinating. My goal is to help the sorting community with their issues. Some of these may simple and just need someone to help. I will keep posting about what I’m learning. Maybe it will help someone.
@@mdcclix I may not be the authority on these but I can be just a guy trying to figure out like the rest of us. I’m fascinated though because I want to sort through 2,000,000 cards.
Did you get this up and running? I am hoping to have one around July but can't find too many videos and would love to see some more of it in action, or longer videos in general about it.
It’s connected now but it doesn’t seem to be sorting properly yet. It could be calibration issues with the camera or the camera itself. I sent the log file to support an hour ago for them to take a peek. I feel like it’s getting so close. All the firmware is updated now too.
All by hand for the last 10 years. Now in the coming days it will be by machine and sorting by set will be by hand. Our second machine won’t arrive until late June or July.
I’ve been finding a lot of value but I won’t find much over $10 type cards. This was supposed to be a bulk C/UC collection. I’m finding 1,000s of rares and DG rares over $1-$8. Mainly, I am getting a ton of older stuff that I didn’t have in inventory. There is a lot of newer sets and Masters set cards. It’s helping to reduce reorder costs. To be honest there’s so much left to look at still.
Great question. I start with large runs of the same sets. In this instance with this collection a lot of it is organized by set already. I just start adding it via Quicklist. Then set those scanned cards into empty 5k boxes and mark those inventory. I just keep plugging away at it and organize by set using card sorters by BCW. I’m hoping to have this done in about 30-45 days.
There is value in this. You be surprised what’s on CKs buy list. It might be less than ten cents buylist but the trade in bonus and turning a huge volume, you can do well. Turn this chaff into sealed boxes
I’m not a fan of sealed. There’s way more value organizing and listing this for oneself. I’m creating a replacement income to become self-employed eventually. Once the second sorter arrives I can rip through collections like this in about 30 days.
@BensonMTG the card sorter is used and it’s in the midst of ownership transfer by the manufacturer. It will up and running soon I hope. I have a new one on order. My eventual goal is to own 3 under the same subscription account and sort 9,000 cards among the 3 simultaneously. I cannot speculate on how fast they sort through 3,000 cards yet. I’m hoping in an hour or two.
Glad you like them! I enjoy finding value from collections. Hoping to have a couple sorters up and running soon. Then I can add more content just like this.
Your account seems not to be connected to the internet. (offline) If you think you have camera issues try to calibrate it first so you can check if it's making a picture. Good luck by a fellow LTS ;-)
I noticed it does take a pic. I reached out for support since there was no subscription for this device. I was able to adjust the camera calibration settings but now I get unauthorized access messages. At least we’re getting closer
@RenaissanceGameSupply machine without the subscription doesn't work. The software is cloudbased. They send the pictures to their server to recognize the card and send back the sorting result to the machine. You will get a .csv document with the results on the mail. It's pretty genius actually. The machine needs a lot of diy to be honest. Had to replace wires, sensors en even the raspberry a couple of times myself. But in the end it saves a lot if time and therefore money (bigger collection to sell, and easier to sort bulk). Good luck!
@@ComputerBestel1 it fascinated me the first time I saw one. I can’t wait to get it subscribed to the server and then watching a t work. I work with electronics daily in access control and already plan to make a couple modifications to help it along. Once it starts communicating I’ll get some use out of it before installing a power rocker switch. I saw it get hung up on some conductors in the front left corner so I’m going to route that bundle differently to avoid binding up. I hope these subtle changes help. I also put a usb wireless mouse/keyboard into the Raspberry Pi so I can play with it more easily.
