Profit model
Card-Grading Profit Calculator
A large raw-to-graded price gap can disappear after the cost of the card, submission, shipping and the selling fee. Profit should be calculated from net proceeds, not the final sale price alone.
Use conservative completed-sale evidence and test a lower official grade. This is a planning model, not an investment forecast.
Dated CardRevive starting prices and planning assumptions
Assumptions reviewed 13 July 2026. PSA and BGS defaults use CardRevive's published middleman starting prices effective 11 July 2026. TAG uses an illustrative external planning placeholder because TAG is not a currently listed CardRevive middleman service. Every value remains editable: final fees, declared-value rules, eligibility, insurance, shipping, upcharges and turnaround can change. Replace every default with the confirmed service and shipping quote before deciding.
Verify current CardRevive middleman services and starting pricesCompany context for this decision
PSA
- Editable fee default
- A$172.00 AUD
- Illustrative turnaround
- 5–95+ days
- • CardRevive models PSA as a single overall 1–10 grade estimate, not an official result.
- • A straightforward overall grade can be easier to compare, while it provides less condition detail than a subgrade-oriented label.
- • The default fee is CardRevive's published middleman starting price; confirm the service level, declared-value rules, final fees and card eligibility before dispatch.
BGS
- Editable fee default
- A$55.00 AUD
- Illustrative turnaround
- 5–75+ days
- • CardRevive's BGS-style estimate separates centering, corners, edges and surface before deriving an overall estimate.
- • Condition detail can help explain why a card may not reach the next grade, but CardRevive cannot predict an official label.
- • The default fee is CardRevive's published middleman starting price; confirm label options, declared-value rules, final fees and card eligibility before dispatch.
TAG
- Editable fee default
- A$31.00 AUD
- Illustrative turnaround
- 2–45+ days
- • CardRevive presents a TAG-style estimate mapped from its own condition model; it is not TAG's proprietary photometric result.
- • TAG is not a currently listed CardRevive middleman service, so this editable fee is an illustrative external planning placeholder rather than a CardRevive price.
- • Compare the report and holder experience you want, rather than treating a numerical estimate as interchangeable across companies.
- • Check current supported cards, service features, shipping and eligibility directly before submission.
Use net proceeds, not the headline sale
The model subtracts a percentage selling fee from the entire graded sale, then subtracts submission, shipping and raw-card value. That prevents revenue from being presented as profit.
Stress-test grade and price together
A lower grade often means a lower sale price, not just a different label. Build a paired downside case and avoid using the record sale as your default.
- • Likely case: conservative grade and median-like sold value.
- • Downside case: one grade lower with matching sold evidence.
- • Delay case: lower expected price if the market cools before return.
Worked illustration
Example: revenue that becomes a smaller net profit
This worked case makes the raw card an investment and charges the selling fee against the full expected sale.
- Starting value
- A$75.00 AUD
- Expected graded value
- A$260.00 AUD
- Service + shipping
- A$198.00 AUD
- Selling fee assumption
- 13.0%
Modeled result: sell. Break-even versus selling raw is A$302.59 AUD, and the modeled difference versus selling raw is -A$37.05 AUD. This is an illustration, not a forecast.
Anonymous calculator
Estimate net profit and return
Enter the value tied up in the raw card and every cash cost. The calculator returns economic profit, incremental value versus selling raw and ROI.
Planning assumptions only. Replace the company fee and turnaround with your current quote. All amounts are AUD.
The likely-grade and one-grade-lower sale values create a transparent local grade/value slope for the break-even-grade estimate. Replace both with sold evidence; card prices are not reliably linear.
Modeled next step
Sell
Under these assumptions, selling raw retains A$37.05 AUD more value than the graded path.
- Versus selling raw
- -A$37.05 AUD
- Estimated economic profit
- -A$46.80 AUD
- Break-even versus raw sale
- A$302.59 AUD
- Simple modeled ROI
- -17.1%
- Approx. break-even grade
- Above grade 10
PSA fee and 50-day turnaround are editable assumptions. Break-even versus raw sale includes the raw alternative's modeled selling fee.
- • The likely grade and future sale value are estimates, not guarantees.
- • Taxes, insurance, currency conversion by your payment provider, and unexpected service charges are not included.
- • The break-even grade uses your two sale values as a local A$65.00 AUD-per-grade slope. Real card prices can jump or flatten between grades, so verify sold listings at each grade.
Questions collectors ask
Is the ROI annualized?
No. It is simple modeled profit divided by raw value plus grading and shipping costs. It does not adjust for turnaround time.
Should I use my purchase price or today's raw value?
Use today's raw value for the grade-versus-sell decision. Use purchase price separately when reviewing your historical investment performance.
Does a positive modeled profit mean I should submit?
Not automatically. Check the downside case, data quality, liquidity, card authenticity and non-financial reasons before acting.
Improve the grade assumption before trusting the ROI
Use an image-based condition estimate, then rerun profit at the likely outcome and one grade lower.
Start with this card