Guide
What do Magic cards cost? How a single is priced
Why the same card costs 20 kr at one store and 80 at another: print run, demand, condition, printing and exchange rate — and what you should pay.
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A Magic card has no fixed price. The same card can cost 25 kr at one Norwegian store and 80 at another on the same day, and the price can halve overnight if the card is reprinted. Here are the factors that actually decide what you pay.
Five things that set the price
- Print run. How many copies exist. Cards from small or old sets are more expensive than cards from modern large sets, however good they are.
- Demand. Whether the card sees play. A card that suddenly becomes popular in Commander or Modern can double in a week.
- Condition. A Near Mint card typically costs 15–40 % more than the same card in Good/Light Played. See the guide to card condition.
- Printing and treatment. Foil, extended art, borderless and collector editions cost more than the ordinary printing of the same card.
- Exchange rate. Norwegian stores buy in euro and dollars. A weak krone works its way into Norwegian card prices with a few months' delay.
Price levels, roughly
| Type of card | Typical price in Norway |
|---|---|
| Ordinary cards (common/uncommon) | 2–15 kr |
| Played rares | 20–150 kr |
| Sought-after staples | 150–800 kr |
| Reserved list and old power | 1,000 kr and up |
These are orders of magnitude, not gospel. The only way to know what a given card costs in Norway right now is to check the stores — for example Lightning Bolt, Rhystic Study or Underground Sea.
Trend price versus Norwegian store price
Cardmarket's trend price is a moving average of actual sales in Europe, quoted in euro. It is useful as a reference, but it is not a price you can buy at in Norway. Norwegian store prices generally sit above the trend price, and that is not necessarily expensive: you get the card in a few days, without customs, with a right of complaint, and with postage that is often lower than a single shipment from abroad.
Kortjakt shows the trend price converted to kroner alongside the Norwegian prices, so you can see how big the mark-up actually is. The rate comes from Norges Bank.
When is it worth waiting?
A card's price typically falls in two situations: right after the card is reprinted in a new set, and a few months after a set has been released, when the market is saturated. It typically rises when the card becomes central to a popular format, or when an old set has sold out from distributors.
If you just want to play with the card, speculating is rarely worth it. If you are building an expensive deck, it can be worth checking whether the card is on the list of upcoming reprints before you pay top price.