TCG investing glossary
Short definitions for sealed TCG, fees, and how people talk about returns. Use it as a reference—not a prediction of what will go up next.
Sealed product
Factory-closed TCG product—booster boxes, bundles, cases—not opened as singles. HitVault is built around tracking sealed units, not individual cards.
Singles
Individual cards sold or traded by name and condition. Different from sealed: grading, spreads, and liquidity work on card time, not case quantity.
Booster box
A sealed box of booster packs for a set. Often the unit collectors compare for “price per pack” and long-term holds.
ETB (Elite Trainer Box)
A sealed Pokémon (and similar) bundle with packs, dice, sleeves, and sometimes a promo. Smaller than a case; useful for entry-level holds.
MSRP
Manufacturer’s suggested retail price at release. Useful as a baseline; street price often diverges once supply and hype move.
Acquisition cost
What you paid to own the item—purchase price plus whatever you choose to include, like tax or inbound shipping. This is the cost basis in HitVault.
Gross ROI
Return measured from list or market price without subtracting selling costs. Fast to quote; misleading if you ignore fees and shipping on exit.
Net ROI
Return after typical selling fees, payment processing, and outbound shipping—what you would likely pocket after a sale, not headline list price.
Fee-adjusted return
Same idea as net ROI: a return number that bakes in marketplace take rates so you are not comparing sticker price to your cost basis.
Marketplace fees
Final value fees, payment processing, and optional listing upgrades charged by eBay, TCGplayer, and similar venues. They vary by category and seller tier.
TCGplayer
A major marketplace for TCG cards and sealed. Fee schedules and seller levels change; your actual take depends on your account and category.
eBay final value fee
A percentage eBay takes on the sale price, plus payment processing. Often the largest line item when you sell sealed on eBay.
Liquidity
How quickly something sells near the listed price without deep discounts. Hot sets can be liquid; niche SKUs can sit for months.
Hold period
How long you plan to keep sealed before exit. ROI math is incomplete without a sense of time and opportunity cost, even if you do not model it formally.
Price history
How a product’s market estimate moved over days or weeks. HitVault charts this next to your cost so you see movement, not one snapshot.
Portfolio (TCG)
Your sealed holdings as a set of line items with quantities and costs—treated like positions, not a wishlist.
Set
A named TCG release (e.g., a main expansion). Products in the catalog are grouped by set and game for search and comparison.
Reprint risk
The chance a supplier prints more of a product later, adding supply. It can cap upside on sealed that was scarce mainly because of a short first print.
Spread (bid–ask)
The gap between what buyers pay and sellers ask. Wide spreads mean “the price” is noisy; use ranges, not one number, when deciding.
Arbitrage
Buying where a price is low and selling where it is higher after fees and shipping. Rarely risk-free; timing and venue rules matter.
Slab / graded card
A card graded and encapsulated by a company. HitVault focuses on sealed product inventory, not slab portfolios.
Allocation
When distributors limit how much product a store can order. It can keep supply tight early and shape street prices.