>>51191545You have to go into Troll and Toad with extremely low expectations, and you have to base your purchases around those expectations. When I'm just looking to complete my sets with commons and uncommons, I don't normally mind if the odd 25-75 cent card comes slightly more played than I was anticipating.
Apart from that, it's mainly a convenience thing. It's where I go if I want to buy a bunch of fairly inexpensive cards without paying for shipping on each card (like I'd have to with, say, eBay). If the price is right, it's usually fine to buy off T&T, though you should always pay sub-market value for NM cards, especially vintage cards, since there's a decent chance that card is going to be more worn than you'd expect.
Anyhow, I've had mixed experiences with T&T, but it's how I finished my 1st ed Jungle, Fossil, and neo sets. It was the cheapest and most convenient option open to me, and the vast majority of cards came in their described condition (and for cards that didn't, I just complained and received a partial refund on my order lol).
Just saying, don't write it off completely. It does some things pretty well. Just don't go buying, like, 1st ed vintage holos or something unless they're way cheaper than alternative sources.
