At GAMA 2023, TCGplayer held a seminar on processing singles efficiently. Vince Scalabrino, Principal Product Manager for In-Store Solutions at TCGplayer, and Kevin Lipkin, CEO of Roca by TCGplayer presented suggestions and alternative approaches on how to stay on top of and digitize your inbound inventory to manage the drawer, room, or dungeon of doom. These tips are aimed to turn your drawer of doom from a liability into an asset.

Watch The Seminar

This seminar covers: 

  1. Lifecycle of singles inventory and key tasks involved
  2. Common workflows for processing “small” batches
  3. Our recommendation on the most efficient workflow for small batches
  4. Processing large batches of inventory
  5. Our recommendation on the most efficient workflow for large batches

Vince and Kevin share practical tips we’ve learned firsthand from operating the Authentication Center, where we ship out over 100,000 cards a day, with a total of 38.5 million cards shipped in the 2022 year. The thought process is simple: the more efficient your card processing is, the better your margins and profit will be. In turn, with more profit comes more flexibility you have to invest in your business.

The Key To Processing Inbound Inventory
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You need a workflow that scales. It should be a defined process that’s quick and profitable, accurate, does not rely on needing encyclopedic knowledge of the product, and reliable.

Definitions of Inventory Tasks
We will be using the following terms to refer to processing inventory:

  1. Sift: Finding and separating worthwhile cards 
  2. Digitize: Creating a digital list associated with a catalog item 
  3. Condition: Determining value based on how well-used the card is, based on the TCGplayer Conditioning Guide
  4. Sort: Physically organizing cards into a sequence (e.g set/alphabetical)

For Direct by TCGplayer inventory, we recommend sorting your cards to mirror our Authentication Center: alphabetized by set in reverse chronological order. For inventory that is not in Direct, choose a process that works best for you and requires the least amount of product knowledge to support. 

Recommended Workflow: Small Batches 


Our primary recommendation for small batch trade-ins utilizes the BinderPOS buylist cart functionality. This method shifts some of the labor to customers, and cards are automatically added to your inventory when the transaction is complete. Additionally, customers find this process valuable as it gives them transparency into what you’re willing to buy and what you’re willing to pay, before they make the trip to your stores.

Another solution we recommend is using the TCGplayer mobile app combined with BinderPOS and coming soon, Seller Portal. Did you know that you can directly import CSVs from our mobile app into BinderPOS today? We’re also adding the ability to import a mobile app CSV directly into the Seller Portal. 

Recommended Workflow: Event


For the most efficient inbound inventory processing at events, we recommend a variation of the ad hoc workflow, leveraging the TCGplayer mobile app and BinderPOS. We suggest sifting and digitizing during the event, and then uploading and sorting afterwards.

Want to learn more about BinderPOS? Fill out our interest form! 

Automation with Roca by TCGplayer
What if your drawer of doom becomes a room of doom? Luckily we have automation to help. Roca by TCGplayer is a technology solution that quickly sorts and alphabetizes your Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, or Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. This solution has the ability to sift for valuable cards, fully sort or alphabetize inventory, and digitize for an easy import to TCGplayer or other e-commerce platforms, while ensuring the inventory can be efficiently filed away.

Roca is the backbone of the TCGplayer Authentication Center’s operations, allowing us to support handling 100,000 cards per day. Here are the specific steps the Authentication Center goes through when we receive a mini room of doom:

 

With Roca, on average we save 3-4 cents per card, including the cost of operating the machine, the labor, and electricity. In addition to this solution being cost-effective, it is also: 

  1. Accurate. Since we started using Roca in our Authentication Center, customers receiving the wrong card has dropped by half. 
  2. Requires minimal expertise. We don’t need to have subject matter experts for the TCGs we are supporting. 
  3. Dependable. On average, an employee takes 10 days of sick time off in a year. With Roca, there is no time off. 

When Does Automation Make Sense?


There are currently 300 Roca Sorters in the world currently being utilized, with over 160 million cards processed last year. Of those Roca Sorters, the average robot sorted 60,000 cards per month. If your Roca Sorter is sorting 60,000 cards per month, it then pays for itself in 12 months.

Interested in learning more about Roca by TCGplayer? Schedule a meeting with us!

Seminar Summary

 

  1. Batches can be either small or large, depending mostly upon whether or not you are processing them on the spot, ahead of purchase. 
  2. For batches of all sizes, you need a repeatable process that is efficient, accurate, doesn’t require expertise, and is dependable. 
  3. For small batches, you’re most efficient if you can convince your customers to do the work for you (via BinderPOS Buylist)! If not, the TCGplayer mobile app and BinderPOS/Seller Portal can work.
  4. At events, speed is key, and there are shortcuts you can take to make the process efficient, while still avoiding the drawer of doom. 
  5. Adopting automation can reduce costs by 3-4 cents per card. 
  6. When deploying automation, there can be tradeoffs between machine time and cost/labor time.
  7. Establish a process for effectively and efficiently quality checking. 
  8. The average Roca Sorter customer achieves positive ROI after 12 months.