How this works, in plain terms.

What is Cardonomics?

A set of decision tools for trading card game collectors. The grader estimates a card’s condition from phone photos; Rip or Not shows whether a sealed box is worth opening; Bid Buddy works out your max for a live auction. Each one shows its working.

Which games?

Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, One Piece, Disney Lorcana and Star Wars Unlimited first. The grader measures any standard-size card.

I already use a collection app. Do I need this?

Your collection app tracks what you own and what it is worth, and you should keep using it. Cardonomics is for the decision in front of you — grade it, rip it, or how much to bid — and works alongside it.

What does the grader measure?

Centering — how the card’s borders split left to right and top to bottom, as the ratios graders use — and its corners, edges and squareness, each against the published grading bands. Surface is not measured.

Is it a grade?

No. It is an estimate to help you decide whether paying to grade is worth it. Only a grading company gives a grade, and a photo cannot see everything a person with the card in hand can.

Where do my photos go?

Nowhere. The preview runs in your phone’s browser, and your photos are not uploaded. It asks for the camera only when you press its button, and your browser asks you first.

What does Rip or Not show?

Two numbers, always side by side. First, what the cards in a sealed box are worth on average against what the box costs: on average, opening gains or loses this much. Second, the odds collectors rip for: the chance the box holds at least one card worth $50, $100, $250 or more, and how often the most valuable cards turn up, with their prices.

Which boxes can I check?

Any sealed product whose pack odds are known: the maker’s published odds where there are some (Magic’s Play and Collector Boosters), or odds measured by collectors who opened and counted packs. A box with no known odds is listed as “odds not available yet” and left out rather than guessed at. Pick one on the Rip or Not page.

How far can I trust the numbers?

Every figure says what it rests on and when it was measured: how many card prices and from when, how many listings the sealed price comes from and on which day, and whether each odds figure was published by the maker, measured by collectors or estimated. Where collectors measured the odds, the result is shown at both ends of the measured range. A card with no price yet counts as nothing, so the average is then a floor, and it says so.

Does it cost anything?

No. Rip or Not is free for every collector, with or without an account. Magic results stay free for good under Wizards of the Coast’s Fan Content Policy, and card prices whose sources may only be shown free are never put behind a plan.

What does Bid Buddy do?

It is a free Chrome extension for live auctions. It finds the market price of the lot on the block, works out your max from your own rules and keeps it in view, so the last few seconds do not decide for you. How to add it to Chrome.

Will it bid for me?

No. Bid Buddy is advice: it suggests a number and says why. You decide whether to bid, and you place your own bids.

How do I know a number is any good?

Every figure says how much it rests on and when it was measured. If a result is built on a handful of sales, you will see that, and can judge it yourself.

Why is a number sometimes blank?

Because we did not have enough to show it. Where that happens the page says so and why, rather than guessing — a wrong number costs you more than a blank one.

Will this tell me what I am going to pull?

No. Odds describe many boxes, not the next one. That is why the odds of a big pull are always shown beside what a box returns on average, and nothing here is financial advice.

Do I need a card to start?

No. A free account needs no card, and nothing turns it into a paid plan on its own. The grader preview needs no account at all. What Free includes.

How do I sign in?

With an email address and a password. Where Google sign-in is offered on the sign-in page you can use that instead, and you can manage both from settings.

How do I cancel a plan?

From settings, which opens our payment processor's billing page — cards, invoices and cancellation all live there. This site never sees your card details. Cancelling drops you to free at the end of the period; nothing is deleted.

What do you record?

Only what your account needs: your settings, your plan and anything you log. Card lists and prices come from the games’ community card databases and from marketplace listings, never from you.

An earlier version of Cardonomics recorded live breaks on streaming platforms. We’ve stopped, and we’re deleting what it kept. Questions about it go to [email protected].

What about my data?

Your settings, your plan and anything you have logged. You can download a copy of your account data or delete the account outright from settings, and the Privacy Notice says what is kept and for how long.