All-in price. Clear badge. Less guesswork.

What you see on a card page

Open any card with live eBay coverage and the active listings table shows:

• Direct links to each listing (title + thumbnail)
• Item price and shipping
• A buy badge chip next to the ask when we can score it
• An all-in line when shipping pushes the out-the-door cost above the sticker price

All-in is the real number

Badges never score the sticker alone. We use all-in = item price + shipping. Missing or zero shipping counts as $0. That matters: a $120 card with $18 shipping can lose a Good Buy that a $130 free-ship ask keeps.

If you only compare item price to last sale, sellers who bury cost in shipping win the screenshot war. All-in is how you stop that.

The badge ladder

Marketing shorthand says “Good Buy.” The UI has five labels so you can see how good (or bad) an ask looks:

• Great buy

  All-in ask looks cheap versus the benchmark. Worth a hard look if the listing itself is clean.

• Good buy

  Still favorable versus fair value or market. Not a steal signal, but better than average.

• At market

  Ask sits near where similar residuals or market prints cluster. Neutral, not a red flag.

• Fair

  A bit rich versus the benchmark. Fine if you need the copy now; not a value play.

• Bad buy

  All-in is stretched versus fair value or market. Pay that only if you have a clear reason.

How the badge decides

There are two paths. We always prefer Price Signal when the card has a calibrated fair-value estimate.

1. Price Signal path: we place the all-in ask in the residual distribution around fair value (where similar asks usually sit relative to the estimate). Low residual percentiles look cheap; high ones look rich. Roughly: Great buy at or below the 15th percentile, Good buy through the 35th, At market under the 65th, Fair through the 85th, Bad buy above that.
2. Market fallback: if there is no usable Price Signal, we score all-in ÷ market price. Roughly: Great buy at ≤88% of market, Good buy ≤97%, At market ≤108%, Fair ≤120%, Bad buy above that.

No fair value and no market print means no badge. We would rather show nothing than invent a grade.

One more gate before badges: extremely underpriced asks (under ~40% of the reference) and low-trust sellers can be filtered out of the table entirely. A missing row is sometimes the product protecting you, not a bug.

Worked example: Mega Feraligatr ex

On July 22, 2026, Mega Feraligatr ex 274/217 printed near $174 in the market while Price Signal sat around $146. That gap is the filter. Live asks in the $134–$144 band landed near the signal, so badges lit up around At market / Good buy territory versus fair value even though they looked “way under” the market print.

For the full deal-spotting walkthrough, see Finding Pokémon Card Opportunities on eBay.

When not to trust the badge

• Wrong set, number, language, or condition. A Good Buy for the wrong variant is not a deal.
• Thin comps or stale prints. Badges are only as good as the fair value or market reference behind them.
• Platform fees, sales tax, and your exit liquidity still sit outside the chip.
• Scam-looking asks may be filtered, but anything that remains still needs eyes on photos, returns, and seller history.

How to use it

1. Check fair value vs market on the card so you know which benchmark the badges lean on.
2. Sort or scan listings by price, then read all-in + badge, not sticker alone.
3. Prefer Great / Good buy rows that also match set, number, and condition. Open the eBay link and verify before you click Buy.
4. Treat the badge as one input. Your thesis, fees, and liquidity still make the call.

What we don't claim

• Buy badges are informational market data, not financial or trading advice
• A Good Buy is not a promise the card will sell for more tomorrow
• Bands can change as we improve calibration; the product UI is always the live source of truth
• Price Signal coverage is select English Pokémon cards today and expands over time; other cards may use market fallback only