ONLINE WORLD - 2kewl4yourma, a frequenter of the trade and auction rooms in the Magic Online world, was horrified on Monday to learn that he was only making approximately $0.30 an hour in his online trading business.

"Frankly, I was shocked," 14-year-old 2kewl informed MiseTings in an exclusive interview. "I mean, I thought all along that my crafty trading and eye for deals would net me untold riches off of the generous backs of the Magic community. But when I actually sat down and looked at the data, I had only netted about 100 tickets after three months of solid trading."

After an initial $50 investment in tickets – the makeshift currency in MTGO - 2kewl swiftly began scouting prices and looking for deals from other players. Within several weeks, he had upped his trade binder to an approximate value of 70 tickets after only about 50 hours spent online.

"It was riches at first, man," said 2kewl. "I started on the same day Legions was released, and trading then was easy; people were selling rares all over the place to keep drafting. One time I bought a Visara for 3 tickets and after about an hour of haggling I sold it for 4. I was kicking ass."

But 2kewl's success was fleeting, as the Legions secondary market stabilized. "After I bought that Visara for 3, I bought a whole bunch more for 3 from people. I only sold a couple more for 4 tickets, and eventually dumped them off to people here and there and made my tickets back."

2kewl's story is not uncommon, economists report. "It's easy to think that you're making money online," says North Carolina University professor of Economics, John Akin. "But the sad truth is that you're not. It's ridiculously unfeasible and even the best day traders on Wall Street wouldn't even consider such an asinine idea."

Alan Comer, programmer for MTGO the development company Leaping Lizards, agreed. "We really didn't mean for people to try and make money on this thing. It's more for your fun and our profit."

Nevertheless, Akin says, people will probably continue to think that they can make a profit online. This is attributable to what he calls "The Timmy Effect". "The Timmy Effect is when idiots think that they can be successful traders even when all available evidence shows to the contrary," Akin said.

2kewl, nonetheless, is undeterred. "I think that maybe I'll invest some in IPA," 2kewl said. "It seems to be going for a lot."

2kewl then opened three packs of Invasion that he had bought to find Phryexian Infiltrator, Temporal Distortion, and Thicket Elemental in the rare slots. "Oh well," 2kewl said. "I think Thicket Elemental sells for a ticket."

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

ONLINE WORLD - 2kewl4yourma, a frequenter of the trade and auction rooms in the Magic Online world, was horrified on Monday to learn that he was only making approximately $0.30 an hour in his online trading business.

"Frankly, I was shocked," 14-year-old 2kewl informed MiseTings in an exclusive interview. "I mean, I thought all along that my crafty trading and eye for deals would net me untold riches off of the generous backs of the Magic community. But when I actually sat down and looked at the data, I had only netted about 100 tickets after three months of solid trading."

After an initial $50 investment in tickets – the makeshift currency in MTGO - 2kewl swiftly began scouting prices and looking for deals from other players. Within several weeks, he had upped his trade binder to an approximate value of 70 tickets after only about 50 hours spent online.

"It was riches at first, man," said 2kewl. "I started on the same day Legions was released, and trading then was easy; people were selling rares all over the place to keep drafting. One time I bought a Visara for 3 tickets and after about an hour of haggling I sold it for 4. I was kicking ass."

But 2kewl's success was fleeting, as the Legions secondary market stabilized. "After I bought that Visara for 3, I bought a whole bunch more for 3 from people. I only sold a couple more for 4 tickets, and eventually dumped them off to people here and there and made my tickets back."

2kewl's story is not uncommon, economists report. "It's easy to think that you're making money online," says North Carolina University professor of Economics, John Akin. "But the sad truth is that you're not. It's ridiculously unfeasible and even the best day traders on Wall Street wouldn't even consider such an asinine idea."

Alan Comer, programmer for MTGO the development company Leaping Lizards, agreed. "We really didn't mean for people to try and make money on this thing. It's more for your fun and our profit."

Nevertheless, Akin says, people will probably continue to think that they can make a profit online. This is attributable to what he calls "The Timmy Effect". "The Timmy Effect is when idiots think that they can be successful traders even when all available evidence shows to the contrary," Akin said.

2kewl, nonetheless, is undeterred. "I think that maybe I'll invest some in IPA," 2kewl said. "It seems to be going for a lot."

2kewl then opened three packs of Invasion that he had bought to find Phryexian Infiltrator, Temporal Distortion, and Thicket Elemental in the rare slots. "Oh well," 2kewl said. "I think Thicket Elemental sells for a ticket."

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!