whats the point of epack?

[Avalanchefan21]

ok n00b question...

What's the point of epack? Sure its great for ppl that look to open and sell what they get right away and dont want the base cards and it saves ppl from going to the store but how does UD determine what cards are held back? Its annoying for them to send cards out Im sure but it probably saves them $$$ in printing costs

IF anything they probably hold back a bunch of the super big mega hits for epack just to make more$$$

 

[frankiefives]

You answered your own question ; )

"its great for ppl that look to open and sell what they get right away and dont want the base cards and it saves ppl from going to the store"

UD holds back a determined % of hobby hits (except the hobby only stuff of course) for epack. It's essentially as if e-pack is a hobby shop that gets a set % of cases. It's obviously quite lucrative for UD as they are getting retail price on their wax instead of wholesale. Because I'm an old school hobbyist, I'm not a huge fan but I get this is the new age.

 

[go_leafs]

Everything you pulled has valued because of Archievements.

Usually in a physical box, only the hits matter, but in epack, your inserts can go into archievements for extra cards, even combining your digital base for exclusive parallels.


plus, realistically, i feel you actually stand a chance to pull something huge by buying loose packs.

 

[habscards]

I am on epack but not nearly as big into epack as many.

There are many benefits of epack. Take Series 1, 2, Extended for example. You can foil (10 base) and speckle (100 base) cards. For YGs it is 5 to foil and 15 to speckle. Base cards actually carry some value.

There are achievements available which can have some pretty big prizes.

There are a few Facebook groups for buying, selling and trading.

Most importantly for me is that trading is free to do. Sure it can be very difficult at times but there are no shipping costs. Imagine all of the free trading that you can do.



Now there are some negatives in that it is expensive to ship your cards home and that it can be difficult to trade at times. There are many people who are out to blatantly rip you off in a trade. It’s easier for someone to lowball you in a trade when they sit behind a username and you don’t know who they actually are.

 

[99goals]

There is a lot to love and hate about ePack. I will list and you make your own decisions.

1. It is a digital platform that allows you to rip packs and trade for cool achievement cards.
2. They are well integrated with COMC so that if you don't want to get your cards shipped home, you can send to COMC to sell on your behalf.
3. Trading is hard unless you are well connected. You need to build relationships with traders and build a micro community within a large community. I highly recommend finding facebook groups that are dedicated to ePack. Easier to build rapport.
4. Packs are in US dollars. You will get killed on exchange but its better than being killed by high priced boxes at the LCS and a gracious thank you to the distribution model in Canada. Don't get me started.
5. Price of packs stay the same for the entire time they have the product. Again another reason to not buy locally in Canada. You don't have to become the favorite buyer to get a break.
6. You don't need to store any of the cards at home and they host it for free. Essentially your pack price counts for storage
7. It is open 24 / 7. Got an itch to scratch, go buy a pack
8. It's a bit like gambling and people do get addicted. I know a few who had to get help (I am not kidding)
9. COMC integration is a massive win as its a market place added to ePack that lets you get rid of junk.
10. Achievement cards are great but hella expensive to get. It is NOT a way to make money unless you can find for cheap. People are still not in tune with Achievements yet. It will get there but not yet.
11. You can join group breaks for those who break epack. Kinda cool
12. Special effects of opening packs is great except with ear buds and you want to committ SEPUKU after pack 30.
13. You can buy packs and hold them for an eternity and sell on secondary market.
14. The smart buy is to to wait for 2 months after release to buy cards at a fraction of what they cost upon release with exception of the big chase cards
15. epack breakers once they hit their big card, will dump everything for pennies or close to pennies.
16. There are NO DISTRIBUTORS involved. You won't get spanked to pay 3x for boxes after release.
17. Shipping is friggin expensive. No need to send home $1 card that costs $6 to ship.


I could go on but it think there is enough ammo there to draw your own picture.

 

[junyab]

1 - prices stay the same until the product is sold out
2 - prices are cheaper than all of the many LCS' near me
3 - you can actually do something with base and inserts (foil up or use for achievements)
4 - the number of people available to trade with far exceeds anything possible anywhere else
5 - you can send cards directly to PSA
6 - you don't have to organize, inventory and store all of the cards in my basement

The list can go on and on.