What's the current lowest possible price to buy the starter pack cards separately from market?

Sup fellow Steem Monster-lovers! This brief post is going to answer a question many have wondered about: If you were to buy all the 30 cards included in the $10 @steemmonsters Starter Pack separately, how much would it run you?

Since card prices fluctuate quite a bit on a daily, weekly, and monthly timescale, I'm only going to look at the cheapest possible buys for exactly right now (8 AM UTC on November 24th, 2018.) Consider this as the idealistic minimum, with an average cost slightly above or slightly below this (if the crypto markets continue to descend in the short term.)

So, as you can see, you can currently purchase the cards in the starter set for $3.81 separately. However, even a week or two ago this amount was quite a bit higher as the bearish market and Season 2 Pack Rewards have somewhat lowered card prices. Therefore, paying $10 for a Starter Pack, we see an "instant" deficit of $6.19. [Caveat: right now until the end of the year you will receive 10% SP back upon purchasing. So the true deficit is $5.19 or less if affiliate bonuses/@smartmonsters are involved.]

However, with a Starter Pack you gain the opportunity to "mine" booster packs by completing a quest every 24 hours, so you will break even, on average, after 4 days. (You also receive a free STEEM account, which is of subjective value.) Additionally, it is quite likely that the value of the cards in the Starter Pack will increase over time. Lastly, you gain future access to tournaments when they come out with large daily and weekly prize pools.

Although at current market conditions there is an instant net loss upon purchasing a Starter Pack, this can quickly turn into a gain in a short number of days given basic knowledge of the game. Moreover, as a speculative investment, there is a good possibility the Starter Pack cards will exceed the value of $10 eventually. There any many factors, and this is not investment advice.

If you liked this article, give it an upvote, comment below, follow, and resteem. Also consider using my referral link to sign up for @SteemMonsters if you found my analysis convincingly enticing! The game is still in Beta and we could use your input. There's also a much more dynamic version of the gameplay being released very soon. Follow this link to join the thriving Discord Community and take part!