Notes from a working dealer.

Inventory workflows, set guides, grading math, marketplace playbooks. Written by people who run a real card store, for people who run a real card store.

• Founder NotesMay 11, 2026

  I listed 487 cards last Saturday. Here is exactly what happened.

  A play-by-play of one Saturday afternoon — 500-card box in, 487 listings out, with the specific times, comps, mistakes, and one card that took 11 minutes to identify.

• Founder NotesMay 7, 2026

  Why we ship every week — the cadence commitment

  Card software users have been burned by tools that go six months without a meaningful update. This is the public commitment to a weekly release cadence — what it means, what it costs, and why it's worth it.

• Founder NotesMay 5, 2026

  What's coming next in the vault — the working roadmap

  The honest roadmap. What we're building this quarter, next quarter, and the ideas in the backlog. No marketing-team release dates, no 'soon™' — just where the dev attention is going.

• The VaultApr 30, 2026

  AI Card Vault vs CardLuma — the comparison after their April 2026 TCG release

  On April 18, 2026, CardLuma shipped TCG/CCG support — Pokemon, Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh, Lorcana. The 'sports-only' argument against them is gone. Here is the honest comparison now.

• Pokemon-FirstApr 28, 2026

  The Pokemon TCG release calendar — a rolling 12-month view

  What sets are coming, when, and what dealers should do to prepare. A working dealer's release calendar for English, Japanese, and Korean Pokemon, updated quarterly.

• Dealer EconomicsApr 23, 2026

  The 1099-K guide for trading card sellers (2026 edition)

  Trading card sellers get 1099-Ks from eBay, TCGPlayer, Whatnot, and PayPal. Most don't know what to do with them. Here is the working dealer's guide to 1099-Ks, the $600 threshold, and what to actually file on Schedule C.

• Pokemon-FirstApr 21, 2026

  Obsidian Flames — hidden value, key parallels, and dealer notes

  Obsidian Flames (August 2023) is the SV-era set most underweight in dealer inventories. Charizard ex Hyper Rare gets the attention, but the real margin is in the under-recognized parallels. Here is the full guide.

• Marketplace MasteryApr 16, 2026

  Custom title templates that actually convert — 12 patterns we've tested

  eBay's 80-character title is the most undervalued asset in card dealing. Here are the twelve title patterns I've tested across 50,000+ listings — which ones converted, which ones flopped, and the field-order rule that matters most.

• Pokemon-FirstApr 14, 2026

  Pikachu cards by year — a value map from 1996 to today

  Pikachu has been printed in every Pokemon set for thirty years. Here is the dealer's value map — which Pikachu cards from which years are worth knowing, the four under-recognized chase Pikachus, and which Pikachus to bulk.

• The VaultApr 9, 2026

  AI Card Vault vs CardDealerPro — a feature-by-feature audit

  I used CardDealerPro for 14 months and then built AI Card Vault. Here is the honest, line-by-line comparison — what CDP does better, what AICV does better, what is genuinely the same, and which one is right for your store.

• Pokemon-FirstApr 7, 2026

  Korean Pokemon TCG — the market most US dealers ignore

  Korea releases its own Pokemon TCG with different print runs, different chase cards, and a domestic buyer base hungry for native-print copies. Here is the playbook on Korean Pokemon — what to source, where to sell, and the pricing premium nobody publishes.

• The VaultApr 2, 2026

  Cross-listing trading cards on eBay + TCGPlayer + Whatnot without channel conflicts

  The double-sell problem — same card sells on two channels in the same minute — is the operational nightmare that keeps dealers off multi-channel. Here is the actual conflict-resolution architecture that solves it, with a 60-second resolution window.

• Slabs & GradingMar 31, 2026

  How to read a PSA label — every line, decoded

  Every PSA-graded card has a label with eight distinct fields, and most buyers ignore six of them. Here is what each line means, why pop number matters more than the grade itself, and the specific label details that change a card's resale value.

• Marketplace MasteryMar 26, 2026

  PWE vs bubble mailer — a dealer's shipping decision tree (with eBay cost math)

  Plain White Envelope or bubble mailer? The answer is a $1.45 vs $4.85 decision that compounds across thousands of orders. Here is the full decision tree, plus the three card-value tiers where the right choice flips.

• Pokemon-FirstMar 24, 2026

  Paldea Evolved set guide — chase cards, current comps, and the parallel that quietly doubled

  Paldea Evolved (June 2023) is the Scarlet & Violet set most dealers underweight in their inventory mix. Here is the chase tier, the under-radar mid-tier, and why the Tera Iono parallel matters more than the alt-arts.

• The VaultMar 19, 2026

  The card scanner buyer's guide for 2026 — from iPhone to Fujitsu 8170

  A working dealer's no-fluff rundown of every card-digitizing option in 2026. Phone, flatbed, autofeed, and which one is actually right for your volume — with the honest break-even math.

• Pokemon-FirstMar 17, 2026

  Native-script Pokemon titles on eBay — when Japanese letters move cards faster

  Putting Japanese characters in your eBay title costs nothing and moves Japanese Pokemon cards 2-3x faster. Here is exactly when to do it, when to skip it, and the four-character set codes that matter most to JP buyers.

• Marketplace MasteryMar 12, 2026

  eBay business policies for trading card sellers — the 2026 setup

  Business policies are where most card sellers leak money. Here is the exact shipping, payment, and return policy setup I use for a 10,000-card store — copy-pastable into your own eBay seller account.

• Slabs & GradingMar 10, 2026

  Is grading a Pokemon card worth it? The break-even math

  The single equation every dealer should run before submitting any Pokemon card to PSA or CGC — with the actual decision thresholds, plus four real examples from my last submission batch.

• The VaultMar 5, 2026

  Migrating from CardDealerPro to AI Card Vault — a 1,000-card stress test

  I migrated 1,043 cards from a CardDealerPro account to AI Card Vault in one Sunday afternoon. Here is exactly what happened, what broke, what was faster, and what to expect if you're considering the switch.

• Pokemon-FirstMar 3, 2026

  Crown Zenith set guide — chase cards, current comps, and dealer notes

  Crown Zenith (January 2023) is the modern Pokemon set that built generational demand. Here is the full set guide a working dealer keeps next to his desk — chase cards, the Galarian Gallery subset, current comps, and the cards I refuse to sell raw.

• Marketplace MasteryFeb 26, 2026

  Whatnot streaming for card dealers — the pre/show/post playbook

  Whatnot moves more Pokemon volume per hour than any other channel, but only if the show is prepped right. Here is the full playbook from a dealer who streams weekly — what to do the day before, during the show, and the morning after.

• The VaultFeb 24, 2026

  Inventory management for card dealers — the 10,000-card mental model

  Inventory above 5,000 cards breaks the brain of anyone using a spreadsheet. Here is the mental model that scales — batches, locations, and the four states every card lives in.

• Slabs & GradingFeb 19, 2026

  PSA vs CGC vs BGS vs SGC — the 2026 grader matrix

  PSA still moves the most volume. CGC is gaining on Pokemon. BGS is rebuilding. SGC owns vintage. A working dealer's honest take on which grader to use for which card in 2026 — with turnaround times, fees, and resale premiums.

• Pokemon-FirstFeb 17, 2026

  Selling Japanese Pokemon cards on eBay: the complete US-seller setup

  Most US sellers list Japanese Pokemon cards with English-only titles and miss the buyers who actually want them. Here is the full setup — native-script titles, eBay Japan region, and the JP-specific keywords that move cards 2-3x faster.

• Dealer EconomicsFeb 12, 2026

  How to price a trading card: the five-source comp method

  Pricing a card by checking 'recent sold on eBay' is how dealers leave money on the table. Here are the five sources I check on every card above $20, in order, and what each one tells me.

• Founder NotesFeb 10, 2026

  Why we built AI Card Vault — a working dealer's manifesto

  I run a 10,000-card eBay store. I built AI Card Vault because every existing tool wanted me to pay more, type more, or wait for a sales call. This is what I want the software to be.