Pick a drop the desk forecasts, type what it retails for, and see what the forecast says it resells for. The number is retail times the projected multiple — the same multiple on the drop's forecast page — with the call and the desk's confidence beside it. Try it before you decide whether to stand in line, and remember that fees come off the top of whatever it sells for.
Should you even grade it? Real 2026 fees + turnaround, weighed against your grade odds.
You lose 28–35% to fees. Here's your real take-home on each platform, ranked.
Momentum × sales velocity × incoming supply → a decision.
Sending a card to a grader only pays when the grade you are likely to get is worth more than the grading bill. The calculator treats it as a bet. You set your honest chance of a PSA 10. It assumes up to 45% of the rest comes back a 9, and anything lower is priced as if you had sold the card raw. It multiplies each outcome by what that grade sells for, takes 13.6% off for the sale, and subtracts the grading tier you picked. Then it does the same for selling raw today. The difference is your edge.
Two things decide most answers. The first is the gap between a 10 and a 9. On a lot of modern cards a 9 sells for barely more than the raw card, so every submission that misses a 10 loses the fee. The second is your odds. Centering, corners and surface flaws that look fine in hand are what separate a 10 from a 9. If you cannot see the card under a loupe, set the odds low. The model does not count shipping to the grader, insurance, or the months your money is tied up. On a thin edge, those three costs usually settle it: do not grade.
A $120 sale is never $120. Each venue takes a different cut, and the gap between them is often bigger than the price difference you would get by waiting a week. The table ranks five routes by the cash that actually reaches you. eBay charges a final-value fee of about 13.6% plus $0.40 per order in most categories (trading cards run a little lower, and sneakers over $150 have their own rate). StockX takes a transaction fee near 9% for a new seller plus about 3% payment processing, and you ship to its authentication center. Whatnot takes an 8% commission plus about 2.9% + $0.30 processing, and live auctions can go under your number. Consignment shops keep around 18%. The calculator assumes they sell about 10% higher because they reach buyers you do not. Selling locally or on a forum costs nothing in fees but is slower, and you carry the risk of the trade.
Your shipping cost comes off every route except local. If you enter what you paid, the profit column shows which venues still make money. Fee schedules change and often vary by category and seller level, so check the venue's current fee page before a large sale. Income tax is not modelled. Resale profit is taxable whatever form the platform sends you.
The hold-or-sell check scores three things you can read off any sold-listings search. Momentum is the 30-day price move. A rise of 10% or more is strength you can sell into. A falling price means it is already bleeding. Velocity is sales per week. Under one a week, a "hold" can leave your money stranded, because nobody is there to buy when you change your mind. Incoming supply is the one people miss. A reprint, a new set or a restock inside 60 days floods the market, and prices usually give way before the new stock arrives. Unless momentum is very strong, incoming supply alone turns the verdict to sell.
None of these tools knows your item better than a live sold-comps search does. They make you put your assumptions into numbers so that you can see them. For a product we forecast, the when-to-sell pages apply the same logic to real sold data, and the track record shows how our past calls turned out.
