Booster DealsHow we work
Booster Deals records what trading cards really sell for, every day, and compares cards with the stock market, bonds and inflation. We never buy or sell cards, and nobody pays us to mention a product.
Where the prices come from
Once a day we save the TCGplayer market price (based on recent sales) of every card and sealed product in 16 games, collected through TCGCSV. We record forward, so our history grows every day. Stock market (S&P 500 with dividends), Treasury bill and inflation figures come from FRED and Robert Shiller's public data.
Our rules
- Every price we record is calculated by code from the saved data. The one exception: "Retail" on sealed products is the store's list price, copied by hand from its listing and dated.
- No picking winners after the fact: groups of cards are fixed by rules known on the start date (for example every card worth $1 or more on our first day), never "the cards that became famous".
- Selling costs count. Marketplace fees and shipping take a real bite, so we show results with and without them.
How we pick deals
Once a day we look at every Pokemon, Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh! card. A card is listed as a deal when the cheapest copy that TCGplayer checks and ships itself (TCGplayer Direct), in any condition, costs at least 10% less than the card's usual near-mint price (the TCGplayer market price, from recent sales). Our price feed doesn't show that copy's condition, and a played copy's own usual price can be lower, so check the listing. The card is worth $20 or more, and its usual price has not dropped more than 5% in the past week (so a card that is simply crashing is not called a deal). Gaps over 50% are skipped as likely errors. We are testing these rules too: a month of deals, checked two weeks later, result on December 11, 2026, published whether the deals turn out real or not. PSA graded cards: we link to eBay searches but show no graded prices, because no free source of real graded sale prices exists.
The tests we are running
- Day-one basket vs the S&P 500: every single card worth $1+ on our first day, in each game, against the stock market with dividends. First result on April 23, 2027.
- Sealed vs singles: every sealed box vs every single card, after fees. First result April 23, 2027.
- Pre-orders: does a new set's pre-order price hold up 30 days after release?
- Early warning: when cheap copies of a card dry up, does its price rise next?
- Are the deals real? Every deal from our first month, checked 14 days later: was it still cheaper than the card's usual price? Result December 11, 2026.
Money
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We may earn a commission when you buy through our TCGplayer links, at no cost to you. As an eBay Partner Network Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Sealed box pages link to Amazon searches and the deals link to TCGplayer and eBay; if you buy something, we may earn a small fee at no cost to you. It never changes which products we list: the lists come from fixed rules, not from fees.
Prices are past market prices, for information only. Not financial advice: buy cards to enjoy them.
What we count
We count visits and clicks on shop links, using no cookies and no advertising trackers, to see which pages help people. Privacy.