Transparent by default

Every signal should be explainable.

Sealed Signal keeps source data, calculation assumptions, and recommendation thresholds separate so you can inspect—and replace—each one.

Core calculation

Profit is more than market minus MSRP

selling fees = market price × fee rate + fixed feenet proceeds = market price − fees − seller shippingprofit = net proceeds − purchase cost − purchase taxROI = profit ÷ acquisition cost × 100

The default purchase price is retail / MSRP. Entering the actual shelf price immediately replaces that assumption. All stored currency amounts use integer cents.

Default profile

Editable selling costs

Platform fee
13.25%
Fixed fee
$0.30
Seller shipping
$0.00
Purchase tax
Excluded

These are a generic starting profile, not a claim about any specific marketplace. Adjust them to match where and how you sell.

Recommendation engine

Dollar profit and ROI must both clear the bar

Strong buy
$25.00 + 40%
Buy
$10.00 + 20%
Marginal
$3.00 + 8%
Skip
Anything below

This prevents a tiny-dollar flip from looking attractive just because its percentage return is high.

Market data integrity

Manual snapshots today; licensed providers tomorrow

V1 never fabricates a quote and never labels a stale or manual value as live. A quote stores source, retrieval time, currency, optional source URL, and optional sample size. Missing is a valid state.

Product imagery

Authorized product photos, stored locally

Seeded products use locally stored TCGplayer catalog imagery under Sealed Signal's written authorization. Each asset is mapped to its TCGplayer catalog product ID, and the illustrated reference remains available when a future product has no rights-cleared image.

Known limits

What this estimate does not know

  • Your actual sell-through time, returns, discounts, or promoted-listing spend.
  • Whether a public marketplace snapshot matched the exact regional variant or case size.
  • Income tax, storage cost, mileage, labor, or capital tied up while inventory sits.
  • Whether retailer inventory is currently available; no restock monitoring is active.