Processed & identified inventory
Cards are scanned, identified, and converted into structured inventory.
For game store owners · inventory opportunity
Your Inventory May Be Worth More Than You Think
You already own the cards. The opportunity is making more of them useful.
The path from a box to a sale
- 01Physical Inventory
- 02Searchable Inventory
- 03Customer Finds Card
- 04Store Retrieves Card
- 05Sale
Processing price
Straightforward processing. Straightforward price.
Simple, transparent pricing for a defined service.
8¢ per card
- 4,000 cards
- $320
- 10,000 cards
- $800
- 50,000 cards
- $4,000
- 100,000 cards
- $8,000
Start with one box.
Initial jobs start at 4,000 cards — $320 at 8¢ per card. See the finished inventory system with your own cards before deciding what to process next.
More than card processing
Eight cents is how the work is priced. The system you receive is much bigger than any one card.
The service is designed to leave your store with a usable inventory system, not merely a CSV or list of identified cards.
Physical locators
Digital records stay connected to physical storage so staff can retrieve the actual cards.
Card Catalog
Inventory-management software for searching, filtering, reviewing inventory, managing inventory state, and building pull lists.
In-store customer search
Kiosk capability lets customers search available inventory inside the store.
Future public web search
Public Web Inventory Search is not included today. A future version is planned for store-controlled infrastructure; Unearthed Value would not host the store's live inventory database.
A different way to look at the math
Don't judge an inventory system one card at a time.
If every processed low-value card has to independently earn back its eight cents, the math can look questionable.
You're right.
That's one way to measure the investment. It just isn't the only one.
Searchable inventory works the same way. The cards are the units being processed. The inventory system is the thing being built.
The return on searchable inventory can exist at the store level, not only at the card level.
Existing labor
If staff already identify, organize, catalog, price, or search for cards manually, that work already carries labor and opportunity cost.
More useful inventory
The store already owns the cards. Digitization can make more of that inventory known, searchable, retrievable, analyzable, and intentionally merchandisable.
Store-level commerce
Searchable depth can affect where players look first, whether enough of an order can be completed locally, and whether the store becomes worth visiting. A visit may also lead to additional commerce.
The completed system
So what does the upgrade change?
01 · First Look
Be the Store Players Check First
Public web inventory search is a future opportunity, not a current Unearthed Value deliverable. If developed, store-controlled search could help players check inventory before a visit.
Knowing a needed card is available could give a player a concrete reason to make the trip and a reason to look locally first.
Player Signals
Shortened excerpts from public trading-card discussions
“I check inventory before deciding which store I'm going to.”
“I only go to the stores where I can search what they have.”
“If I could see what the store actually had, I would buy locally more often.”
02 · More of the Order
Keep More of the Order Local
Search gets consideration. Depth helps keep the transaction. Commons, uncommons, inexpensive rares, older niche cards, and cards in the broad middle may help complete a deck or shopping list.
If too much of the list is unavailable locally, moving the whole purchase online can become easier. Immediate local availability also has value: no shipping, no wait, the ability to inspect a card, and possession today. A store does not necessarily need to penny-match every national listing for every customer.
Player Signals
“The more complete their inventory is, the less likely I am to place an online order.”
“I check the local stores first. Whatever I can't get there goes to TCGplayer.”
“If it's 10¢ online, I'm fine paying 25–50¢ locally if I can have it now.”
03 · Usable Inventory
Inventory Is Most Valuable When It Can Be Found Again
Owning a card, knowing it is present, letting a customer discover it, and retrieving it efficiently are four different states of availability.
Physical locators connect searchable records to the actual cards. Staff can follow a search result back to the right storage location when the card is needed.
- 01Own it
- 02Know it
- 03Make it searchable
- 04Retrieve it
Player Signals
“Looking through pictures of binders isn't the same as being able to search what they have.”
“I search their inventory, submit the order, and they tell me when it's ready.”
04 · Owner Control
Digitization Gives the Owner More Control Over Inventory
Digitization does not mean every card belongs in the same merchandising channel. Searchable inventory and browse inventory can coexist. Browsing can be an intentional strategy.
The dealer decides what stays in dig boxes, becomes searchable, receives an individual value, moves to curated or premium inventory, is pulled from bulk, or is retired from active inventory.
Underpricing or invisibility should be a merchandising decision—not an accident of not knowing what is there.
Browse boxesSearchable inventoryIndividually valuedCurated displayPulled from bulkRetired
Player Signals
“I like searchable inventory when I need something specific... but I still enjoy browsing.”
“My favorite setup has inventory I can search and boxes I can look through.”
From boxes of cards to usable inventory
How Unearthed Value Makes It Work
- 01
Scan & identify
Cards are processed and identified.
- 02
Build searchable inventory
Processed cards become structured, searchable inventory records.
- 03
Assign physical locators
Inventory remains tied to physical locations so staff can retrieve it.
- 04
Use Card Catalog
Search, filter, manage inventory, create pull lists, and support customer search.
Know what you have.
Let customers find what they need.
Retrieve it when it sells.
Capture more of the value already sitting in your store.