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What is the total value on the secondary market of all Magic the Gathering cards every printed
Hello! Thanks for your question about the total value on the secondary market of every Magic Card ever printed. I was not able to provide even an estimation of the value because Wizards of the Coast does not provide any number on print runs, and there are no well documented estimations of print runs.
METHODOLOGY:
As a Magic the Gathering player, I had a unique perspective on what motivates MtG players in purchasing via the secondary market.
My first step was to find the total number of magic cards. Deckbox.com is a site for players of MtG to create inventories of their collection. The site requires that you make an account to use it, but it is free to do so. I then did a database search with an empty field to find their total number of entries for Magic cards. There are 16,766 total unique cards at this time. This number increases about every two months as Wizards of the Coast releases new expansions.
I then tried to locate the number of total Magic cards printed, but that number is not released by Wizards of the Coast, the creator of the game. They specifically do not release the sizes of their print runs.
Without this number, there is no way to create an estimate of the total secondary market share.
I also searched for an estimate of the 2016 secondary market for Magic the Gathering, but, because sales predominately occur in local game stores that split their income between several card games, board games, and tabletop role playing games or via online auction sites like Ebay, there is no hard data to pull from.
HELPFUL FINDINGS:
While I could not find the answer to your question, I was able to provide some information that may be helpful to your topic.
Secondary market value of a specific card is based on many factors. The rarity of the card is a part of that, but its utility in the game is another factor. There is no exact formula for how much a card will sell for on the secondary market.
Additionally, prices fluctuate on the secondary market due to new strategies winning in tournaments or whether the card came from an edition that is still playable in tournaments. There are several styles of tournament play that allow cards from different sets based on age or type to be used. The most common is Standard which only allows the last three blocks into play. A block contains two expansions. This approximately covers the last year of released cards. I included in the sources the article "How do cards get their value?" where Magic players explain blocks impacting magic prices from their own experience.
In most brick and mortar game stores, most common and uncommon cards often sell for $0.10 to $0.25 each while foils of those cards are sell for more. Foil commons are more rare than a regular rare. Their value is still variable based on utility of the card in play.
POSSIBLE CONTINUED RESEARCH:
While information on the exact financial value of the secondary market related to Magic the Gathering card does not exist, I have suggested some other routes you may be interested in searching:
-Given that so many brick and mortar locations invest in selling secondary market cards, you could look into why they find it profitable to do so.
-Given that there are many different types of play styles of Magic the Gathering, it may be pertinent to look into what types of players predominately purchase cards via the secondary market.
CONCLUSION:
To wrap it up, after searching extensively through secondary market trends in Magic the Gathering, a direct answer to your question is not publicly available because there is no data on print runs or collection on total secondary market values for Magic the Gathering. However I learned that secondary market value of Magic the Gathering cards is based on utility in the game, rarity, and foil. If you’d like to continue research on any of the other topics I’ve outlined above, just let us know!
Thanks for using Wonder!