Live MTG Buyout Alerts
Magic: The Gathering cards being bought out across TCGplayer, Card Kingdom, and eBay. Free, no signup required. Detection runs every hour and we surface the last 7 days of activity.
Last updated May 18, 2026, 1:11 PM. Detection runs hourly at :15 UTC.
Recent buyouts (last 7 days)
No active MTG card buyouts in the last 7 days.
SpellBook scans every tracked Magic card on TCGplayer, Card Kingdom, and eBay every hour for buyout signals (25%+ jump in 24 hours, $2+ absolute move, $1+ floor). Subscribe above to be alerted the moment a card is being bought out.
What is an MTG card buyout?
A buyout is when one buyer or a small coordinated group sweeps every available copy of a single Magic card off TCGplayer, Card Kingdom, eBay, and Star City Games in a few hours. Supply collapses to near zero. The buyer then relists at the new, much higher price, and anyone who needs the card has to pay it.
The economics work because Magic singles markets are thin. A card that sells 5 to 50 copies a day across all platforms can be cleared by one motivated buyer with a few thousand dollars. Once supply is gone, the lowest remaining listing IS the new market price. There is no central market maker to step in.
Famous examples include the Reserved List spikes of 2020 to 2021 (Mox Diamond, Lion's Eye Diamond, Gaea's Cradle), post-tournament Modern spikes when a new deck wins a Pro Tour, and reprint-induced reverse buyouts where a card crashes on a reprint, then gets bought out months later.
How SpellBook detects buyouts
Every hour, SpellBook walks every tracked Magic card and applies a composite score to its last 24-hour price window. Three gates decide whether a candidate qualifies:
- At least 25% gain in 24 hours. Smaller moves are normal volatility.
- At least $2 absolute change. Filters out bulk-card noise where percentages look big but dollars do not.
- Minimum $1 price. Cards under a buck are too noisy to track.
Above the gate, qualifying cards are ranked by a score that multiplies percent gain by the log of TCGplayer daily volume. A real buyout on a card that moves 50 copies a day ranks above an isolated spike on a card that moves 2 a week.
Want to see the methodology in detail? Read the full guide on how MTG buyouts work.
What to do when you see a buyout
If you own the card: sell into the spike. Buyout-driven prices usually revert within one to four weeks as normal sellers refill supply. Capture the premium quickly through Cardconduit, BinderPOS, or direct-to-buyer listings on eBay or TCGplayer.
If you need the card: buy it now from any seller who has not relisted at the new price yet. There is usually a six to twelve hour window where local game stores and casual sellers have not noticed the spike. After that window, you are paying the new price.
If you are a speculator: by the time a buyout shows up on a public alerts page, you are late. Public alerts are for reacting to your existing inventory or completing your own decks, not for chasing.
Frequently asked questions
What is an MTG card buyout?
An MTG buyout is when one buyer or a small group purchases every available copy of a single Magic card across major marketplaces (TCGplayer, Card Kingdom, eBay, Star City Games) in a few hours. Supply collapses, the buyer relists at the new, much higher price, and anyone who needs the card has to pay it. The price typically holds for one to four weeks until normal sellers refill supply at the new equilibrium.
How does SpellBook detect buyouts?
An hourly job applies a composite score to every tracked card's last 24-hour price window. Three gates must pass: at least a 25 percent gain, at least 2 dollars of absolute movement, and a minimum price of 1 dollar to filter bulk noise. Volume from TCGplayer feeds into the ranking score, so liquid cards with real activity rise above illiquid spikes.
Why do MTG card buyouts happen?
Three common drivers: Reserved List cards, where Wizards has committed to never reprinting so supply is permanently fixed; post-tournament Modern or Pioneer spikes, where a winning deck creates instant demand for its key cards; and reprint-induced reverse buyouts, where a card crashes on a reprint announcement, then gets bought out months later when supply dries up faster than expected.
What should I do when I see a buyout?
If you own the card, sell into the spike. Most buyout-driven prices revert within one to four weeks, so capture the premium quickly. If you need the card for a deck, buy it now from any seller who has not relisted at the new price yet. There is usually a six to twelve hour window before local game stores and casual sellers update their listings.
Are buyout alerts free?
Yes. The live page updates hourly, no signup required. The daily email digest is also free. Premium real-time alerts, watchlist filtering, and SMS notifications are part of SpellBook Premium at 5 dollars per month.
How do I avoid getting fooled by fake buyouts?
Real buyouts hit multiple platforms at once. A spike on TCGplayer alone, with no movement on Card Kingdom or eBay, is usually a data feed artifact. Look for cross-platform confirmation. Also watch listing counts: a real buyout drops a card from 50 listings to 5. Volume context matters too. A buyout on a card that already moves 30 copies a day is much more meaningful than a buyout on a card that moves 2 copies a week.
Other SpellBook market intelligence
- All-Time High tracker : cards just hitting peak prices, sister signal to buyouts.
- Daily movers : top gainers and losers across the full tracked set.
- Card screener : filter every Magic card by price, format, finish, and EV.
- Sealed product prices : booster box EV, backtests, and pack rankings.