Expected value per card. Every card's graded expected value uses its real PSA population split by grade — not a model. EV = P(10)×PSA-10 price + P(9)×PSA-9 price + … down through PSA 5, where P(grade) is that grade's share of the card's actual PSA population. Outcomes below PSA 5 are valued at the card's raw (ungraded) price. Half grades (9.5, 8.5, …) are excluded and probabilities renormalized over whole grades.

Prices. Each grade is priced at the median of its newest 3 sales within the last 30 days (60 or 90 days when a card trades less often), from recent sales of graded cards across eBay, Fanatics and other marketplaces. Each sale is checked against the sales around it and junk or mismatched sales are dropped. A grade with no sale in 90 days uses PSA's own current estimate; with neither, it counts at the grade below it or at raw, so a gap can only understate a card. Every graded price is floored at the card's raw price — a slab never counts for less than the ungraded card. Raw prices are current market prices for ungraded near-mint singles.

Bulk. The bulk line values a pack's commons, uncommons and non-hit rares at current NM retail singles prices. That is a ceiling: realizing it means selling stacks of cheap singles (fees, shipping, time) or wholesaling, which typically nets 50–70% of list. Sets whose EV leans on bulk — most vintage WOTC packs — should be read with that haircut in mind.

Grading decision & fees. A pulled card is graded only when its expected graded sale minus the expected grading fee beats selling it raw: contract value = max(raw, graded EV − expected fee). Fees follow PSA's value tiers, applied per grade outcome: outcomes worth ≤$1,500 pay the base rate (Regular, $79.99 — the slider), ≤$2,500 pay Express ($149), and anything above pays Super Express ($349, insured to $5,000). So a card's cheap outcomes are costed at the base rate while its monster outcomes carry the premium tier — e.g. a secret-rare PSA 10 worth $5k+ is costed at $349, its PSA 9 at the base rate. The slider adjusts the base tier live.

Gradeable hits. The gradeable-hits slider models pack-fresh condition: only that share of pulled hit copies is in submittable shape, and the rest sell raw. At 100% every worth-grading pull gets submitted; drag it down to see how a rough print run (nicked corners, print lines) erodes the pack's return.

Pull odds. Set-specific community pull-rate data — not era-wide templates — assigned by card number block. Source: set pull rates. These are community estimates, not manufacturer-published odds.

Pack EV. Pack EV = bulk value (commons, uncommons, non-holo rare and reverse slots at current market prices) + Σ over hits of pull odds × contract value. Return % divides by the pack's current market street price.

Caveats. Population grade rates reflect cards collectors chose to submit — pack-fresh grading rates likely run lower (survivor bias). Grades with no recent sales are flagged in each card's breakdown. Populations and prices are snapshots as of the date in the footer.