You bet! I am really excited by this one. Tempered by some measure of sanity as I've retained here in Bulksylvania, but still. I just want others who this might be right for not to miss it
@@TCGBulkKings I’m in the market for one now but ROCA is the price of a car. I’m not sure how much use a yes/no sorter will be for me, though. Are there some examples you can share that help your pipeline that I may be missing? I could see value from a yes/no for “rare or not” into a second sort of “certain set or not” then so on to get more fine grain sorting but not sure if that makes efficient sense here.
Had to double take I thought I was watching Rudy when the video started 😆 I appreciate your honest thoughts about the state of the card sorting market especially when the big boy ones are $25k+ just to get started. As a new seller this seems like something I could aspire to buy if I got the point I needed employees.
I didn't even do that on purpose =] That was exactly how I felt about the CardBot too, once I got to looking into it. It's really very reasonable and feels like it can slot in alongside me pretty easily
Everyone’s business is their own so do what makes sense for you. That said your concerns only exist if you’re trying to maintain maximum efficiency. Having a card sorter handle part of the process entirely autonomously does free up time for you to do whatever you want. You don’t need to condition four times as much as a result.
Sure, but if you're going to /pay/ for a machine, then it makes sense that you may /want/ to make sure you're getting your money's worth. And many (if not most) people looking to get one will be looking to at least /increase/ their efficiency
@@TCGBulkKings That perspective makes total sense, yeah. I get that. Personally, card sorting is something that will never cease to be a huge time sink in my day and having that piece of the pipeline handled is worth it to me. But everyone’s business will be different. (Edit: To clarify, saving me four hours a day of alphabetizing inventory is worth more than the cost of the sorter) Appreciate the transparency, though, it helps. Cheers
Not gonna lie ive been considering getting one of these to replace my p-9000 because we use ours to pull value .15c+ and use our roka to sort everything by set/abc Still have a full timer sorting but it definitely has helped in getting more volume out but this basically does the same thing and we pay $750 a month for the p-9000 and we lease it ...
Curious if there is a machine that just sifts for cards over a certain dollar threshold and not sort or organize the cards. Kind of like a dollar counter.
If the robot removes one bottleneck it'll be on to the next one yes. If all your process steps have the same exact capacity a robot doesn't help much at all til you increase the capacity of the other steps. If the sorting stage is a massive bottleneck and all your other stages have much more capacity then a robot can be massive instantly.
That's true. But no one is talking about that particular aspect of this whole thing at all. I definitely appreciate the point about how different steps can be at different levels of efficiency to begin with though
That pricing is insane bro. $250/mo for 3yrs, + $150/mo in perpetuity, let alone the 1800 deposit before you even get the machine, is crazy. There's a 0% chance you would have bought this without them giving it to you for free, right?
As I said in the video, the software is covered by not paying the fees to use a lesser service from TCGplayer, if you're selling at a high enough rate to use it anyway. The bot itself is VERY affordable compared to the rest of the market for this. When I went looking for these kinds of machines a couple years ago, I was put off by the $25k and $30k options on the market, that I know stores use effectively. I would very strongly have considered this then had I found it. This is cheaper than the office/warehouse space I was renting, and definitely worth it in terms of return on the investment /for my business/. I'm not saying it's recommended for everyone, but it is definitely an avenue for scaling a single person or small team type business, without having to fork up thirty Gs
@TCGBulkKings I completely understand what you're saying bro and I obviously agree that it's not going to be for everyone. I did the same research years ago, and recently, just like you. The prices are still crazy. I'm just wondering if you personally would pay for this with where you're at today, the Direct Program issues, etc.?
@@CataractsGaming personally, with my business as it was two weeks ago, no, I wouldn't have bought one at that time. But it would definitely be something I could actually afford once I got finished with this shift I'm going through and can see reaching towards getting one in the next 6 months. Had I learned about it in January, I probably would have gotten one then. 2 years ago? Snap yes, no question. But I personally have been through a lot to put me at a cash-poor place at this very moment. But running like I was then, and like I expect to be soon, I could skip a few collection buys to get this deposit saved up and be much better off for it
Still 1/10th the price of an employee Seems like a great tool for scaling a hobby shop's business, and a terrible idea for a lower volume individual seller
I mean, we're just bulk fracking now, instead of having to climb all the way down in there ourselves (this poor metaphor is getting really stretched out lol)
Just bends it slightly to make sure there aren't multiple cards picked up. My experience with it going through thousands of cards shows zero permanent bends :thumbsup:
You mentioned it doesn't sort sets/organize things, it just more or less sifts through bulk so you have essentially a higher prio of what to list and what to bulk lot. Is my take away correct? I noticed at the end you mentioned you were throwing Battle Styes through it, you meant in the sense that it was skimming pre-sorted (manually) Battle Styles cards and plucking cards above a set price threshold? Cheers!
YGO is in very early beta, they don't have the pricing worked out with the API yet it seems. The Battle Styles it was doing for me was creating a csv to upload to TCGplayer. It doesn't do set or alpha sorting, so I'm doing that part still, but with it organized to drop into my inventory once it's done, it basically does it like an unmanned QuickList operation. It can also do binary sorts of the type mentioned in the video - price skimming, pulling a single set, rarity, type, &c.
damn those machines are hella expensive then you gotta pay a crazy high monthly subscription probably makes sense for big stores pushing tons of cards. but for the little guy which most likely makes up 90 percent of the market base whos NOT gonna get one how do these companies stay viable i can see a lot of these companies going under in a few years as the ccg world keeps sliding back to a regular market from the pandemic highs.
I don't think the little guy is 90% of the market. The 80/20 rule says the majority of online sales are probably going through 20% of producers. Plus once you have one machine the productivity compounds so you can put your earnings towards more machines. Machines aren't silver bullets and won't replace smart business practices but they can help you expand without hiring humans.
Im reading these comments and am appaled by them. People must not value their own time or work for free. This thing works when you are sleeping. And basically pays for itself in one weekend (10-15 hrs) running
It does need someone working it, but not nearly as much as actually doing what it does manually, that's for sure. As I said in the video, I've been very reluctant to push for automation, simply because it doesn't free up your time as much as you think it would. But this one works a lot better alongside my existing processes, and the pricing makes a lot more sense to me so that I can recommend it without feeling like I'm shilling something I'd never use
I would get rid of the cardbot while you still can, most of ours and other LGS people stopped working after like 6 months. I'd switch over to the Magic Sorter, or ROCA.
One of the biggest problems with the cardbot is its inferior plunger material, where it will scan your cards many times until you manually adjust it. I'd switch to a vacuum powered bot.
I'd stay away from the magic sorter as well. It came to me very uncalibrated. The machine hand would SMASH against the little dividers, and then after like 6 months of use after recalibrating it myself it just died on me. The camera just stopped working and it wasn't a cable issue, because I bought a brand new one to try and use, but to no avail so I just quit using it altogether. Not worth the hassle
I've heard about the older CardBots having an issue like this, but my understanding is that they've upgraded designs. The suction is actually vacuum powered, so it sounds like that may be the last that they've upgraded
I've been doing it myself for years, this just helps out a little so that I can do more in the same amount of time, without having to hire an extra person. And this machine is much more affordable compared to pretty much the rest of the market.
This product sucks and clearly there is a gap in the market if you think this has any value. I'll make a better product and sell it for 1/10 the price, watch lol.
SortSwift is doing just that, 4 bins for $2500 at 1200 cards an hour, with machines in plans up to 52 bins, and a 29 bins at 2500-3500 cards per hour in production right now
As one of the only card machines I haven't messed with, I'm interested in seeing how this works out for you!
This actually seems very reasonable for mid-high volume sellers. Thanks for the inside look of this new machine.
You bet! I am really excited by this one. Tempered by some measure of sanity as I've retained here in Bulksylvania, but still. I just want others who this might be right for not to miss it
@@TCGBulkKings I’m in the market for one now but ROCA is the price of a car.
I’m not sure how much use a yes/no sorter will be for me, though. Are there some examples you can share that help your pipeline that I may be missing?
I could see value from a yes/no for “rare or not” into a second sort of “certain set or not” then so on to get more fine grain sorting but not sure if that makes efficient sense here.
Would love to hear how well it's working for you. Also curious if you have tried it with Yu-Gi-Oh and how well it recognizes those. Best of luck!
YGO beta is still quite a ways behind the other two, it recognizes the cards for the most part, but their database functionality is quite a bit lower
Had to double take I thought I was watching Rudy when the video started 😆
I appreciate your honest thoughts about the state of the card sorting market especially when the big boy ones are $25k+ just to get started. As a new seller this seems like something I could aspire to buy if I got the point I needed employees.
I didn't even do that on purpose =]
That was exactly how I felt about the CardBot too, once I got to looking into it. It's really very reasonable and feels like it can slot in alongside me pretty easily
Everyone’s business is their own so do what makes sense for you.
That said your concerns only exist if you’re trying to maintain maximum efficiency.
Having a card sorter handle part of the process entirely autonomously does free up time for you to do whatever you want. You don’t need to condition four times as much as a result.
Sure, but if you're going to /pay/ for a machine, then it makes sense that you may /want/ to make sure you're getting your money's worth. And many (if not most) people looking to get one will be looking to at least /increase/ their efficiency
@@TCGBulkKings That perspective makes total sense, yeah. I get that.
Personally, card sorting is something that will never cease to be a huge time sink in my day and having that piece of the pipeline handled is worth it to me. But everyone’s business will be different.
(Edit: To clarify, saving me four hours a day of alphabetizing inventory is worth more than the cost of the sorter)
Appreciate the transparency, though, it helps.
Cheers
This looks really good!
Not gonna lie ive been considering getting one of these to replace my p-9000 because we use ours to pull value .15c+ and use our roka to sort everything by set/abc
Still have a full timer sorting but it definitely has helped in getting more volume out but this basically does the same thing and we pay $750 a month for the p-9000 and we lease it ...
Oh wow. I thought it was Graham Stark from Loading Ready Run from the thumbnail. Ah well, guess I'll watch this video about sorting cards.
Sorry to disappoint =]
Curious if there is a machine that just sifts for cards over a certain dollar threshold and not sort or organize the cards. Kind of like a dollar counter.
This one will do that, for sure, pulled a whole bunch of Legends and The Dark cards out of a big stack of played vintage cards for me the other day
that bend is crazy
Nah, it doesn't hurt the cards at all. Keeps the machine from picking up multiple cards at once from static electric forces
If the robot removes one bottleneck it'll be on to the next one yes. If all your process steps have the same exact capacity a robot doesn't help much at all til you increase the capacity of the other steps. If the sorting stage is a massive bottleneck and all your other stages have much more capacity then a robot can be massive instantly.
That's true. But no one is talking about that particular aspect of this whole thing at all. I definitely appreciate the point about how different steps can be at different levels of efficiency to begin with though
That pricing is insane bro. $250/mo for 3yrs, + $150/mo in perpetuity, let alone the 1800 deposit before you even get the machine, is crazy. There's a 0% chance you would have bought this without them giving it to you for free, right?
As I said in the video, the software is covered by not paying the fees to use a lesser service from TCGplayer, if you're selling at a high enough rate to use it anyway. The bot itself is VERY affordable compared to the rest of the market for this. When I went looking for these kinds of machines a couple years ago, I was put off by the $25k and $30k options on the market, that I know stores use effectively. I would very strongly have considered this then had I found it. This is cheaper than the office/warehouse space I was renting, and definitely worth it in terms of return on the investment /for my business/. I'm not saying it's recommended for everyone, but it is definitely an avenue for scaling a single person or small team type business, without having to fork up thirty Gs
@TCGBulkKings I completely understand what you're saying bro and I obviously agree that it's not going to be for everyone. I did the same research years ago, and recently, just like you. The prices are still crazy. I'm just wondering if you personally would pay for this with where you're at today, the Direct Program issues, etc.?
@@CataractsGaming personally, with my business as it was two weeks ago, no, I wouldn't have bought one at that time. But it would definitely be something I could actually afford once I got finished with this shift I'm going through and can see reaching towards getting one in the next 6 months. Had I learned about it in January, I probably would have gotten one then. 2 years ago? Snap yes, no question. But I personally have been through a lot to put me at a cash-poor place at this very moment. But running like I was then, and like I expect to be soon, I could skip a few collection buys to get this deposit saved up and be much better off for it
Still 1/10th the price of an employee
Seems like a great tool for scaling a hobby shop's business, and a terrible idea for a lower volume individual seller
i agree anywhere the OP can make a buck he will pushing these garbage robots way to expensive. If this is your fulll time job do it yourself.
so what your saying is I can leave the bulk mines? Dobby is a free elf!
I mean, we're just bulk fracking now, instead of having to climb all the way down in there ourselves (this poor metaphor is getting really stretched out lol)
what is that thing at 13:00 called, the alphabetized box
It's a card sorting tray, this one is from a kit made out of wood, but plastic ones work well too. This one was from MTech Cave
These machines are just craziness. Way to pricy for what they are.
yup
Most of them are - this one I actually feel like is useable, and it's already helping me out a bunch
it's a card bending machine
Just bends it slightly to make sure there aren't multiple cards picked up. My experience with it going through thousands of cards shows zero permanent bends :thumbsup:
I was sad when I saw that only MTG was supported... BUT SINCE I LAST CHECKED A YEAR AGO THEY ADDED YGO AND PKM :D
You mentioned it doesn't sort sets/organize things, it just more or less sifts through bulk so you have essentially a higher prio of what to list and what to bulk lot. Is my take away correct? I noticed at the end you mentioned you were throwing Battle Styes through it, you meant in the sense that it was skimming pre-sorted (manually) Battle Styles cards and plucking cards above a set price threshold? Cheers!
YGO is in very early beta, they don't have the pricing worked out with the API yet it seems. The Battle Styles it was doing for me was creating a csv to upload to TCGplayer. It doesn't do set or alpha sorting, so I'm doing that part still, but with it organized to drop into my inventory once it's done, it basically does it like an unmanned QuickList operation. It can also do binary sorts of the type mentioned in the video - price skimming, pulling a single set, rarity, type, &c.
damn those machines are hella expensive then you gotta pay a crazy high monthly subscription probably makes sense for big stores pushing tons of cards. but for the little guy which most likely makes up 90 percent of the market base whos NOT gonna get one how do these companies stay viable i can see a lot of these companies going under in a few years as the ccg world keeps sliding back to a regular market from the pandemic highs.
I don't think the little guy is 90% of the market. The 80/20 rule says the majority of online sales are probably going through 20% of producers. Plus once you have one machine the productivity compounds so you can put your earnings towards more machines. Machines aren't silver bullets and won't replace smart business practices but they can help you expand without hiring humans.
🤖interested to see how this one works
Im reading these comments and am appaled by them. People must not value their own time or work for free. This thing works when you are sleeping. And basically pays for itself in one weekend (10-15 hrs) running
It does need someone working it, but not nearly as much as actually doing what it does manually, that's for sure. As I said in the video, I've been very reluctant to push for automation, simply because it doesn't free up your time as much as you think it would. But this one works a lot better alongside my existing processes, and the pricing makes a lot more sense to me so that I can recommend it without feeling like I'm shilling something I'd never use
I would get rid of the cardbot while you still can, most of ours and other LGS people stopped working after like 6 months. I'd switch over to the Magic Sorter, or ROCA.
One of the biggest problems with the cardbot is its inferior plunger material, where it will scan your cards many times until you manually adjust it. I'd switch to a vacuum powered bot.
thanks for the feedback!
I'd stay away from the magic sorter as well. It came to me very uncalibrated. The machine hand would SMASH against the little dividers, and then after like 6 months of use after recalibrating it myself it just died on me. The camera just stopped working and it wasn't a cable issue, because I bought a brand new one to try and use, but to no avail so I just quit using it altogether. Not worth the hassle
I found the Magic Sorter painfully slow. It also doesn't sort the way a Roca would. It just sifts categories into piles.
I've heard about the older CardBots having an issue like this, but my understanding is that they've upgraded designs. The suction is actually vacuum powered, so it sounds like that may be the last that they've upgraded
lmfao what garbage just do it yourself smh takes the fun out when some random robot does it way to expensive
I've been doing it myself for years, this just helps out a little so that I can do more in the same amount of time, without having to hire an extra person. And this machine is much more affordable compared to pretty much the rest of the market.
Buy an overpriced card sorting machine to free up time -> Spend newly created free time on trouble shooting said expensive machine.
This product sucks and clearly there is a gap in the market if you think this has any value. I'll make a better product and sell it for 1/10 the price, watch lol.
Cool, I'll take 2
doubtful, but please do
I'll take 3
SortSwift is doing just that, 4 bins for $2500 at 1200 cards an hour, with machines in plans up to 52 bins, and a 29 bins at 2500-3500 cards per hour in production right now