Level Up Games — Local services in Glen Burnie

I have edited my previous review here Im not sure what has changed at level up, but it absolutely isn't the same LGS that i remember from a year ago. I stopped in today to trade some singles and buy some products. I had around 93 magic cards totaling $285 tcgplayer prices. I think a typical expected trade in for store credit at most lgs is 50% of TCG LOW. For 83 of those cards they gave me $53... Obviously i didnt have to take this value but i planned a bloomburrow night with my wife and she wanted the deck's. Level up had the two in stock and my plan was to cover the precons cost with old cards i had lying around. I ended up paying for the other one out of pocket because i wanted it anyway. I didnt intend to sell the singles on tcg and ship them out myself so i accepted the store credit, but i was a little shocked by the value given. Im not sure if they lowballed me or just didnt care. i fully understand this is a business, with overhead, they need to make a profit. But $53? Thats not even 25% of the value. Even if the cards are estimated at tcg low of $200 that'd be TWENTY FIVE percent of THAT. They absolutely took advantage of the trade values here. My last visit their website a year ago (and the last 30 transactions i had made) had a buylist portal, you could log in, select your cards, and get a rough estimate of what the trade value would be. This felt fair and honest, and at least you knew what to expect. They've removed that entirely from their website. I felt like this was maybe a mistake or changing the website. Thats feels intentional now. Inventory also looked a lot smaller for MTG now, and the sleeve/deck box selection was minimal. Did they change owners again?

Level Up is about 45 minutes from me, not super far but not close. On the way in i pass two well loved and respected stores in Timonium and Pikesville. I go out of the way because before level up just felt like a different store. I know i made the choice to sell the cards, but i post this so that anyone else that reads it may be aware of what my experience was. I doubt i'll be making the trip back for anything other than a few singles.

Don’t even take my word for it if you believe this may be a one off case of remorse. The recent reviews here look to have shifted in similar fashion. Scrolling recent reviews seem to be a lot of similar issues. I know tcg market has shifted, and times are very tough all around. But taking advantage of your core customer base will just alienate them. Hope they figure it out

Edited

This place is absolutely a must visit. I've been to a lot of card stores for magic but level up is just different. I personally only go to buy and sell singles and sealed. But they always have events going. The selection AND the prices are very good. I've gone out of the way to visit them 3 times the first week I found them. The staff is attentive and super easy to engage. They also have no issues just spending the time to reccomend something if you're stuck. Honestly wish they were in my neighborhood because I'd be here all the time. They don't seem burdened by me bringing in my bulk rares for store credit and THAT is my number one reason for returning. Just a solid...

I've been going to Level Up Games since the day the store opened- it is the best it has ever been.

New ownership has not only made the space even nicer than before (New Wooden Tables, Refurbished Bathrooms, Hardwood Floors, TVs, etc.) but they have added a website where you can see their singles inventory and buy cards that can be ready for pickup when you go in the store.

In terms of community the store has a Discord where members can ask staff/judges questions, share deckbuilding ideas, and many other channels. From time to time the employees will post sales/specials for Discord members and it's a great way to stay up to date on everything happening at the store and interact with other members of the community. My favorite channel is the Box Breaks that the store does on WhatNot!

Their staff is very friendly and super knowledgeable on all of the games they carry, and are willing to help answer questions on things like trade-ins or how to get started playing a game. I love being able to exchange cards I'm not using for store credit so that I can trade up to better cards or enter tournaments!

My favorite part about Level Up is that there are people playing at the shop every day of the week, and as a Magic player I can play all of my favorite formats. Their weekend Magic 2K tournaments are a lot fun, especially when you do well and make the top 8 to get your picture on their Wall of Fame!

All in all, if you are anywhere close to driving distance of Level Up, I highly recommend the trip. If you aren't, their prices on the website are very competitive and you can still interact with the store on the Discord.

10/10 Store,...

I’ve gone to this store ever since it was called Squabbles and was in the Glen Burnie mall, been there since it moved to where they’re at now and was called MTGFirst and then Level Up and this place has fallen downhill so hard. Many cards are marked up higher than the highest value and not even by a couple bucks just for them to profit.

I started coming here as a Yugioh player, and they are an OTS store only by name and OTS entry packs, they don’t do any Sneak Peek events for new sets to drop, they don’t even host any larger tournaments for Yugioh under the OTS name and don’t give anything back to their player base which is why their local scene has been dying to the point they only do 1 night a week now.

Their staff either doesn’t care about keeping up with inventory, or take things off to mark prices higher to try and scam you. I’ve ordered cards from them online multiple times and went to pick them up as I live close by, just to get to the store for someone to tell me “we actually messed up our inventory and we didn’t have the cards you ordered” and said they emailed me about a refund which I never received one or actually got, then they’d “magically” have the cards I was trying to buy two days later at nearly double the value.

The only thing Level Up has going for it is the fact that it’s in a convenient spot that’s close by to a lot of people, I guarantee if any other card shop nearby opened up and offered in seat tournaments for play they’d lose plenty more business than they already have. The new owners that run Level Up don’t even interact with their customers, and they’re honestly running the place...