Pricing
TCG Card Shop Simulator Pricing Guide
Your selling price affects whether customers accept the price — but markup is only part of whether a sale can happen.
Two checks decide a potential sale: the price and the money.
Pricing · Market Price vs Your Price
- Market Price
- $100.00
- Your Price
- $120.00
+20%
Price Acceptance: 60%
Price acceptance only represents the pricing part of the decision. Customer affordability and other game conditions can still prevent a sale.
Why a customer may not buy
A listing has to pass two independent checks before a sale is possible. Passing one does not imply the other.
Price check
Is the markup acceptable under the game’s pricing rule?
Money check
Can this particular customer afford the price?
↓ Potential purchase
A reasonable markup does not guarantee a sale if the customer cannot afford the price.
A wealthy customer does not guarantee a purchase if the price itself is rejected.
Price acceptance only represents the pricing part of the decision. Customer affordability and other game conditions can still prevent a sale.
Market Price vs Your Price
You never change the Market Price. You set your own Listed Price, and the game compares the two.
Quick prices
Price vs Market
+20%
Price Acceptance
60%
This is a quick preview. The calculator adds scenarios, reverse pricing and the full curve.
Market Price vs Your Price
- Market Price
- $100.00
- Your Price
- $120.00
- Price vs Market
- +20%
- Price Acceptance
- 60%
You never change the Market Price. You set your own Listed Price, and the game compares the two.
How markup changes price acceptance
Closer to market means more price acceptance. Further above market means less. The rule is not one smooth curve, because the game applies different bands across markup ranges.
Price acceptance only represents the pricing part of the decision. Customer affordability and other game conditions can still prevent a sale.
See the pricing mechanics
The game reads different purchase-chance rules across markup ranges and interpolates between them. This is the verified table behind the curve.
| Price vs Market | Price Acceptance |
|---|---|
| -20% | 100% |
| -10% | 95% |
| 0% | 90% |
| +10% | 75% |
| +20% | 60% |
| +30% | 45% |
| +40% | 15% |
| +50% | 5% |
| +60% | 1% |
| > +60% | 0% |
Each band is read between the two points shown, and the value after the last point is lower still, so a listing far above market has almost no price acceptance.
Below $2.00 Market Price the cheap-item adjustment applies first, so the curve reads an adjusted markup instead of the raw percentage.
Cheap items can behave differently
Low-priced items can receive an additional pricing adjustment under the game’s rules, so the same percentage above market does not always behave identically across every item price. Below $2.00 Market Price the adjustment is applied before the price rule reads the markup.
This is why the markup calculator asks for the Market Price as well as a percentage.
Price acceptance is not the same as affordability
A customer can accept the price and still not have enough money to pay it.
Customer accepts the price
Customer can cover the price
Shop state
- Shop Level
- Shop rooms
- Warehouse
- Warehouse rooms
↓ Customer money range
Can this customer afford the item??
Example
Listed Price
$5,000
Even if the price check passes, customers whose available money is below $5,000 cannot afford this purchase.
Customers do not all carry the same amount. The game rolls a range, and that range depends on your shop level and size, so the useful answer is a range or a profile — never one exact number for every customer.
Estimate Customer Money →Why won’t my expensive card sell?
A high Market Price pushes the Listed Price up, and both checks get harder at the same time.
1. Is the markup too high?
Check Price Acceptance at your Listed Price before you discount anything.
2. Can typical customers afford it?
Compare the price with the money customers actually bring into your shop.
3. Would a lower price widen the buyers?
A lower Listed Price raises acceptance and lowers the money barrier at the same time.
4. Has the Market Price moved?
A price that was close to market yesterday may not be close to market today.
Do not assume “lower the price” is always the fix. One card may be blocked by the markup, another only by affordability, and a third by both.
Market Price can change
Your Price and Market Price are two different numbers, and the game’s Market Price can move over time.
Daily movement
Market events and random movement can shift a card’s Market Price.
Corrections
A large cumulative move can be corrected back over time.
Bounds
Movement stays inside fixed limits, so a price cannot run away forever.
History
The game keeps a rolling window of recent Market Prices.
Simulation is not prediction. A simulator explores possible movement under the known rules; it cannot tell you tomorrow’s price.
Pricing terms
Five terms cover the whole pricing decision. The rest of the site uses them the same way.
- Market Price
- The game’s current reference value for the item.
- Listed Price
- The price you put on the shelf or card table.
- Price vs Market
- How far your Listed Price is above or below the Market Price.
- Price Acceptance
- The pricing-side chance that a customer accepts that price under the game’s rule.
- Affordability
- Whether a customer has enough money to cover the price.
Pricing questions players run into
These five are the misunderstandings this page exists to clear up.
“Market Price is what I must sell it for.”
Market Price is only the reference. You set the Listed Price yourself.
“+20% means +20% profit.”
Price vs Market is not a profit margin, and it subtracts no cost. It only describes the tag against the reference value.
“If the markup is accepted, someone will buy it.”
Price Acceptance is one check. Affordability is the other one.
“Customers all have the same amount of money.”
Customer money is a range that depends on your shop, and rare high spenders carry far more.
“Market Price stays fixed.”
The Market Price can move over time, so yesterday’s price may already be wrong.
What are you trying to figure out?
Each question belongs to a different tool. Pick the one you are actually asking.
- I know the Market Price. What happens if I charge more?Markup Calculator →
- I want to know what customers can afford.Customer Money Calculator →
- My expensive card won’t sell.Sell My Card →
- I want to understand changing Market Prices.Market Simulator →
What are you pricing?
The pricing rule is shared, but the question is usually different.
Pricing
Pricing, customer money and market rules come from the verified TCG Card Shop Simulator 1.0 game database. Price Acceptance describes the pricing check only — it is not a guarantee that a customer will buy.
Price acceptance only represents the pricing part of the decision. Customer affordability and other game conditions can still prevent a sale.
Pricing questions players ask
How does pricing work in TCG Card Shop Simulator?
You set a Listed Price and the game compares it with the current Market Price. That comparison produces Price Acceptance. Separately, every customer carries their own amount of money, which decides affordability. A sale needs both checks to pass.
Is Market Price the same as my selling price?
No. Market Price is the game’s reference value. Your selling price is the Listed Price you set, and the difference between the two is your Price vs Market.
Does a higher markup reduce purchase acceptance?
Yes. Price Acceptance falls as the Listed Price moves further above the Market Price. The rule is piecewise rather than one smooth curve, so the drop is steeper in some bands than in others.
Why won’t customers buy my expensive card?
Usually one of two checks: the markup is too high, or the customer cannot afford the price. An expensive card can fail both at once, which is why lowering the price often helps twice.
Analyze the card →Do all customers have the same amount of money?
No. Customer money is a range built from your shop level and size, with rare high spenders on top, so the useful answer is a range rather than a single number.
Estimate customer money →Can Market Price change?
Yes. The Market Price can move over time, so a price that was close to market yesterday may not be close today.
What is the best markup?
There is no single universal markup. The rule changes Price Acceptance, while the absolute price and customer affordability matter separately. Test a specific price instead of copying a fixed percentage.
Test a price →