The collectable and trading card community in Prince George can breathe a long-awaited sigh of relief as a bylaw forcing a 30-day-hold on trading cards is on its way out the door.
Currently, the Second-Hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Bylaw requires cards that are traded in must be held for 30 days before they can be resold.
A proposed amendment to this bylaw, which would see collectable and trading cards exempt from the hold (similar to a 2014 amendment that exempted video games), was the subject of a public hearing at city council’s Jan. 4 meeting.
“In its current state the administrative cost compliance with the bylaw is not a viable business option,” explained Game Quest co-owner Julie Howard, who spoke at the public hearing.
“A very tiny card collection could be like 1,000 cards and each one of those cards needs to be individually logged and stored and recorded and those records that have never been accessed.”
She said because of the current bylaw, Game Quest has chosen not to participate in the single’s card trade.
“The community instead goes to the private sector or they go online. Those sales and trades are still happening they are just decentralized and not contributing to the local economy.”
These concerns stated by the presenters at the hearing have been ongoing, as Kelsy Polnik also from Game Quest, first approached council asking for an amendment to the Second Hand Dealer and Pawnbrokers bylaw back in March 2017.
In a November 2018 staff report to council, the RCMP stated their concerns about exempting trading cards form the current bylaw.
“The concerns are that Collectible and Trading Cards can be quite valuable and can also be quite rare or unique, allowing for identification and return to the rightful owner,” states the report. “As such, it is useful for the police to have those items held for the 30-day waiting period, similar to other identifiable items such as electronics with serial numbers.”
However, many of the presenters at the public hearing echoed that trading card theft has not been a significant problem within the tight-knit community.
Leah Hanson, assistant manager at Wonderland Games, spoke about the significance of the Magic the Gathering community in Prince George.
“Every week at Wonderland we have literally hundreds of different Magic players either play in our organized events or who just show up to play casually with whoever might be there and it's really interesting to see all of those people are different age ranges and backgrounds,” says Hanson.
“In town, it would be much simpler for us to not have to abide by the 30-day bylaw and be able to have those cards available to players as soon as they want them.”
Despite concerns from the RCMP, city administration has reported it is in support of the amendment.
After the public hearing was formally closed, council had to vote on a recommendation to grant a third reading of the bylaw, effectively moving the process forward.
“Magic the Gathering, to me, is one of those things like Esports and League of Legends that has an incredible following that we are not really recognizing yet or realizing the full potential of it,” said Coun. Cori Ramsay. “So I am also in support of the motion.”
Coun. Terri McConnachie also noted she would support the recommendation. “I just want to give kudos to all of the presenters here tonight. They are prepared, persuasive, and impactful.”
Council then unanimously approved the recommendation.
