How Cardinal prices a card.
Every number in Cardinal can be traced back to a sale that actually happened. Here's the whole method, with a worked example.
1. Match the exact printing
Set, number, rarity, language and finish. A Japanese card is matched on its Japanese printing but stored under its English name, so search and reporting still work.
2. Read real sold comps
Recent completed sales are weighted more heavily than active listings, because an asking price is an opinion and a sold price is a fact. Outliers at both ends are trimmed before an average is taken.
3. Apply condition and currency
The blended market figure is adjusted by the condition multiplier for the copy in front of you, then converted into your display currency at the day's rate.
4. Apply your own rules
Your buy, trade and sale percentages turn a market value into three numbers you can actually say out loud at the table — and Cardinal shows the margin behind each one.
A worked example
A lightly played modern chase card, priced the way Cardinal does it. Figures are illustrative, the method is exactly what the app runs.
Sold comps, last 30 days (trimmed mean)
9 sales
$412.00
Active listing floor (sanity check)
not used in the average
$449.00
Condition: Lightly Played ×0.85
adjusted market
$350.20
Cash offer at 70%
what you'd hand over
$245.14
Trade credit at 80%
against your stock
$280.16
Your sale price at 100%
before fees
$350.20
Every one of those lines is visible inside the app, so when a customer asks why you're offering what you're offering, you can show them instead of arguing about it.
Common questions
Where do the prices come from?
Cardinal blends completed sales and current listings from multiple marketplaces, including eBay sold comps, TCGplayer, Cardmarket and local listings, weighting recent sold prices most heavily.
How are Japanese cards priced?
Japanese printings are matched against Japanese catalogue data and Japanese-market sources, then displayed under the English card name so inventory, search and reporting stay consistent.
What happens when a card has no recent sales?
Cardinal widens the window and falls back to listing data, and flags the value as thin so you know the number is an estimate rather than a tight comp set.
Does condition change the price automatically?
Yes. Changing the condition on an item re-applies the condition multiplier and refreshes the market figure, so your position updates immediately.
Keep reading
Make better deals with your own stock.
Know what you own, what it's worth and what you're making on it.