Question 1

What is CardBreakCalculator.com?

Accepted Answer

CardBreakCalculator.com is an AI-powered calculator that helps you analyze sports card breaks before you buy. For NFL, MLB, and NBA breaks we work out each spot's share of what the boxes cost, built from the product's full published checklist — an allocation, not a prediction of what a box returns — and turn it into a max bid using one dial you set. Clear, data-backed analysis to help you make smarter decisions.

Question 2

How does the calculator work?

Accepted Answer

The calculator builds each team's share of the product from its full set checklist: every card the team has in the product, weighted by that team's share of the set's value, with card values drawn from real completed sales where coverage exists. We factor in MSRP, box count, break type, and platform fees to work out what each spot's share of the boxes' cost is — an allocation, not a prediction of what a box returns — then apply your bid dial (the share of box retail you'll pay, 68% by default) to reach the max-bid recommendation. What you get back is a comparison, not a return: your bid against that spot's share of the bill, where 0% means the two are equal, so you can see whether a spot is priced above or below what the boxes cost.

Question 3

Do I need to create an account to use it?

Accepted Answer

No! We offer free trial calculators for NFL, MLB, and NBA that require no signup. You can test the tool immediately. However, creating a free account unlocks additional features like saving breaks, tracking history, logging results, and using the AI break analysis and assistant within daily limits. The free account is 100% free forever—no credit card required.

Question 4

Is CardBreakCalculator.com really free?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Our core calculator features are free forever. You can see each spot's share of what the boxes cost, see team valuations, get AI insights, and save as many breaks as you like without paying anything. Paid tiers (Pro and Breaker) add the completed-sales evidence behind each value and higher AI limits — and the free tier will always remain available.

Question 5

How accurate are the calculations?

Accepted Answer

Our numbers are built from each product's full set checklist: every card a team has in the product, weighted by that team's share of the set's value. Where coverage exists, card values come from real completed sales, and every calculator shows how much of its value is sales-backed and when pricing was last updated. Be clear about what that produces, though: it is an allocation — how the boxes' cost divides across the spots — not a prediction of what a break returns. The main calculator does not estimate a box's yield (the separate Sapphire overlay at /sapphire shows a modeled estimate, labelled as such), and no calculator can predict the outcome of any single break.

Question 6

Which sports do you support?

Accepted Answer

We currently support NFL, MLB, and NBA breaks, with a growing library of set checklists across major brands like Prizm, Select, Topps Chrome, Bowman, Optic, and more. The full list is at /sets. We add new sports and sets based on user demand.

Question 7

How do I calculate a break?

Accepted Answer

It's simple: (1) Select your sport and product, (2) Enter the break details (number of boxes, break type), (3) Input team prices from the breaker's listing, (4) Select which teams you're considering, (5) Review the max bid, each spot's share of what the boxes cost, how your bid compares with that share, and the AI's read on the risks. The whole process takes 2-3 minutes.

Question 8

What if my product isn't listed?

Accepted Answer

Use "Request a set" on the set library at /sets and we'll research and add it by hand — Breaker includes priority requests. A manual custom break builder (entering MSRP, box count and break type yourself) is planned but not available yet. If your break mixes several products we already carry, Pro's custom break board at /breaks/custom pools them into one break with a row per player.

Question 9

What are team tiers (S, A, B, C, D)?

Accepted Answer

Team tiers compare each team's share of the product's checklist value to the average priced team in the pool you selected: S-tier is at least 2x the average, A-tier at least 1.2x, B-tier at least 0.6x, and anything below that is a filler team. A tier ranks teams against each other; it says nothing about what a spot will return. Tiers are relative to the product — the same team can be S-tier in one set and C-tier in another, depending on its rookies and checklist presence. Teams without enough pricing data are shown as unpriced rather than guessed.

Question 10

Can I compare multiple products?

Accepted Answer

Side-by-side comparison of several products is on the roadmap but not available yet. Today you can open each product's calculator in turn, and every plan keeps your saved breaks together in the dashboard's break history. Any comparison you make that way is about price, not payout: which product's spots are asking least against their share of what the boxes cost. No calculator can tell you which product will return the most.

Question 11

What's included in the free plan?

Accepted Answer

The free plan includes: NFL/MLB/NBA calculators, basic team value analysis, each spot's share of the boxes' cost, unlimited saved breaks, team tier rankings, basic data visualizations, and limited AI insights. This is perfect for casual collectors who break a few times per month.

Question 12

Is Pro available, and how much does it cost?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Pro is live at $19.99/month and adds the completed-sales evidence behind every available value — sale dates, confidence, and coverage — plus CSV export, higher AI limits, and access to our MCP server so your own AI assistant can use our data. Breaker is live at $49.99/month and adds the highest AI and MCP limits and priority set requests.

Question 13

Do you offer refunds?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We offer a 30-day money-back guarantee on both paid plans. Contact support within 30 days of your first charge for a full refund. We don't promise the product will make you money — the calculator does not predict what a break returns — so try it and judge it on whether the evidence it shows is worth the price.

Question 14

Can I cancel anytime?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. You can cancel your subscription at any time from Settings → Billing (Manage billing opens the Stripe portal), with no penalties or fees. You'll retain access until the end of your current billing period. If you cancel, you can always rejoin later and your saved breaks will still be there.

Question 15

What happens to my saved breaks if I downgrade to Free?

Accepted Answer

Nothing is deleted. Every saved break stays readable in your dashboard, including any results you logged, and Free keeps saving new breaks and results with no limit. CSV export needs a paid plan again.

Question 16

Do you offer team or enterprise pricing?

Accepted Answer

Not today. Our plans are Free, Pro, and Breaker — there is no separate team or enterprise tier. If you run a shop or break group and want to talk about what would help, email cards@cardbreakcalculator.com — we'd genuinely like to hear from you.

Question 17

Where does your data come from?

Accepted Answer

Two places: published product checklists (every set page links its sources, so you can see who published each one), and real completed sales via our pricing integration, which we use to value individual cards where coverage exists. Every calculator shows what share of its value is sales-backed and when pricing was last updated, so you can judge the data quality for yourself.

Question 18

How often is data updated?

Accepted Answer

Checklist pricing is refreshed from completed sales on a rolling basis as our pricing coverage expands. Every calculator shows when its product's pricing was last updated and what share of the value is backed by real sales, so you always know how fresh the numbers you're looking at are.

Question 19

Can I upload my own checklists?

Accepted Answer

Not yet. Checklist uploads are limited to our team for now, and every product in the library is researched and checked by hand. If a product you need is missing, use "Request a set" on the set library at /sets.

Question 20

How do you calculate rookie class strength?

Accepted Answer

We don't score rookie classes with a draft or prospect-ranking model. Rookie cards count the same way every card does: through their share of the product's checklist value, priced from real completed sales where coverage exists. Signed-in users can also open the dashboard's Rookies tab, a market leaderboard of rookie-card prices for a chosen sport and rookie class.

Question 21

What about variance and luck?

Accepted Answer

The dollar figures in the calculator are an allocation of what the boxes cost across the spots — they are not a prediction of what you will pull. You could buy a spot for well under its share of that cost and pull nothing, or overpay badly and hit a huge auto. Because the calculator does not estimate what a box returns, there is no projected payout for your results to converge on: the allocation tells you how the bill is split, and the cards decide the rest. Card values are also heavily right-skewed — a few big hits carry most of a product's value, so the typical spot lands well below the average. This is why we recommend a portfolio approach to reduce variance.

Question 22

Is my data secure?

Accepted Answer

Your account and saved data are stored with Supabase, and access to your saved data is restricted to your account. Payments are processed by Stripe, so your card details never touch our servers. We never sell your data. We do share what is needed to run the service with the providers named in our Privacy Policy — for example, text and photos you send to the AI features go to our AI providers to generate a response. To delete your account and its data, email cards@cardbreakcalculator.com; there is no self-serve delete button yet.

Question 23

Do I need a credit card for the free plan?

Accepted Answer

No! The free plan requires only an email address to create an account. No credit card, no payment info, no trial that auto-converts to paid. When you're ready to upgrade to Pro, you can add payment information then. We believe in earning your business through value, not tricky billing.

Question 24

Can I export my data?

Accepted Answer

Pro and Breaker users can export their saved breaks, including any results they've logged, to a CSV file from the dashboard. There is no PDF export. It's useful for tax records, tracking your measured ROI over time, or your own analysis. Free users can view their saved breaks in the dashboard.

Question 25

What if I forget my password?

Accepted Answer

Click 'Forgot password?' on the sign-in page and we'll send a reset link to your email. The link expires after about an hour, so use it soon. If you don't receive it, check your spam folder or contact support.

Question 26

How do I get help if I'm stuck?

Accepted Answer

Two ways: (1) the Learning Center at /learn has guides on how a spot's share of the boxes' cost is built, ROI, break formats, and strategy; (2) email us at cards@cardbreakcalculator.com and a human will get back to you. The in-app AI assistant can also answer questions about how the calculator works.

Question 27

Do you offer training or tutorials?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Our Learning Center has comprehensive guides on: how a spot's share of the boxes' cost is built, using the calculator, break strategies, what ROI does and does not mean, common mistakes to avoid, and worked examples with illustrative prices. All free, no signup required.

Question 28

Can I suggest new features?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely! We love user feedback. Email your ideas to cards@cardbreakcalculator.com or use the contact form. Many of our best features came from user suggestions.

Question 29

Can I use CardBreakCalculator from Claude or another AI assistant?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on the Pro and Breaker plans. Our MCP server gives an AI assistant the same data the calculator uses: product checklists, pack odds for each box type, parallel ladders, sales-backed card values and comps, price history, market trends, and your own saved breaks. You can ask it to verify a card before you list it, compare spots in a break, or log a break and its hits for you. It signs in as you, so it only sees what your account can see. Pro includes 300 card verifications and up to 100 live price lookups a day; Breaker includes 1,000 and up to 300. The Free plan does not include MCP access. Card values are estimates, not offers: a value is a market price only when it is backed by sales.

Question 30

How do I connect my AI assistant to the MCP server?

Accepted Answer

You need a Pro or Breaker plan and an app that supports remote MCP connectors. In Claude (claude.ai or the desktop app), open Settings, then Connectors, choose Add custom connector, and paste https://prtsojqsxgyyuyoarula.supabase.co/functions/v1/mcp-server. In other apps, add a remote MCP server of type Streamable HTTP with the same address and leave the token and header fields empty. Your browser then opens cardbreakcalculator.com: sign in with your usual account and press Approve. You can remove the connector from your AI app at any time.

Question 31

Do you have an API for developers?

Accepted Answer

We don't offer a public REST API today. Pro and Breaker accounts can use our MCP server, which lets an AI assistant such as Claude or Codex, or any app that supports remote MCP, read our checklists, odds, parallel ladders and sales-backed values while signed in as you. If you'd like to integrate our calculations into your own website or tool, email cards@cardbreakcalculator.com and tell us about your use case — interest helps us prioritize.

Question 32

Is there a mobile app?

Accepted Answer

Not yet! The website is fully mobile-responsive and works great on phones and tablets — add it to your home screen for an app-like experience. A native mobile app is something we're considering based on user demand.

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