I may be completely wrong, but I can't understand why people hold countless single or low BCX cards. This is especially the case when people simply hold them in their accounts, or even try to rent or sell for peanuts on an over-saturated market. It can't all be about liquidity to dump at rock bottom prices during the bear market, is it?
I've always viewed card combining as an urgent step to do my part to gradually increase the value and demand of what I hold. These are deflationary assets after all, especially if we treat them that way. In most cases (especially for those with larger resources), aren't single/low BCX cards wasted potential, missed opportunity, and possibly even detrimental to their individual card supplies?
With value and price appreciation as a common goal, combining seems like the no-brainer. At scale, this would also increase demand and card value for higher purchase and rental returns. If that's obvious, then what am I missing?
Observing many larger and legacy players sitting on single/low BCX, especially some who are public-facing, makes little sense. Be the change! Instead, many even try to rent or sell them for peanuts, some even publicly complaining about over-supply at the same time. This excludes soulbound cards of course.
Would buying cards to improve them and ultimately increase their scarcity be a bad move? When there are 300K BCX available, it might feel like a joke to chip away. However, if 500 players each did this with 100 BCX, now we're talking. I can't imagine that lack of funds would be an ongoing issue with SPS faucets and LPs everywhere.
...Maybe one card can be promoted for such attention one a month by guilds or SPL.
I'm dwelling on this since my card accumulation strategy over the last year has been to combine nearly everything to max level. If I'm not there yet on any expensive cards, I will get there. I know no other way. This helps me, my win rate, rental returns, land returns, and the overall card economy -- helping everyone. While we can't all obtain max copies, especially in gold foil, I think more leaders and "influencers" in our community can do a lot more to tackle this. At the very least, get cards up to certain league levels!
Hopefully land will address some of this, but people would be doing this only to maximize their land rewards. If they saw the bigger picture, they'd have already done it. Perhaps the math shows that it's more profitable to sell singles, or it may simply feel that way. The reality is that many have been dumping them in a race to zero during bearish conditions.
I'll continue doing my part, but as I start blogging again, this was something I wanted to toss out there. Noting that very few will read this, hopefully a Good Samaritan will enlighten me. I've spent enough, and am thankful for the cheap cards people have offered, but I can't help but wonder why more didn't realize their potential throughout their years of holding them -- before letting them go at their weakest point.
Thanks,
@steemmatt
I combine literally all my cards as soon as I get them... I don't know specifically why people would keep hundreds of low level cards, but I'd guess it's because they're easier to sell?
You always fight the good fight, Sir. Thanks for carrying your weight. One day, we will line up on the battlefield, and I'll surrender out of respect.
Hahaha, I would never want that of you.
Single cards sell for higher BCX than combined cards. So if you are a seller of cards it makes sense to keep separate.
But low BCX cards are useless in battle so if you want to win and earn you need to combine.
Maybe some players already have a full maxed out set so then keep the singles to sell.
I hear that side and can see that's the strategy for many. I think I alluded to that, or meant to, but removed it.
I feel that there must be some sort of intersection where collectively combining cards raises their floor value as singles and combined copies. In this happy medium, it could theoretically be more profitable in the long term. With so many wanting to keep singles for the scenario you described, it feels like a race to zero with the over-saturation. There typically aren't enough players to soak them up at meaningful prices. It also feels like selling singles for more can sometimes not be how it pans out, especially during bearish conditions. I think it's more in our control than we give ourselves credit for.
good to see you posting again, how is live in NYC?
greetings from Germany