Frequently asked questions
Including the awkward ones.
The numbers
- What is EV, and which ratio actually tells me if a pack breaks even?
- Expected value is the average value of a pull, computed from pulls we have actually recorded. The EV ratio is that average divided by the pack price at sticker FMV — but 1.0 there is not break-even, because Courtyard buys pulls back at roughly 85–95% of FMV, not at FMV. The cash-out ratio takes that haircut off first, so 1.0 on it means the pack returns exactly what it costs. That is the figure every pack page leads with. The average is not your rip. Most individual rips return less than the average, because a small number of large pulls carry it.
- What is cash-out EV, and why is it lower?
- Sticker EV is what the cards are notionally worth. Cash-out EV is what you would actually receive taking the instant buyback, using the real offers we record rather than an assumed percentage. Every verdict uses the cash-out figure, because that is the money you can actually get.
- Why does this pack show NO DATA when it has a price and an EV?
- Because the sample behind it is too thin, the data is too old, or its data-quality score is below our threshold. A pack with one recorded pull has an EV — it is just the value of that one card, and it tells you nothing. We would rather show nothing than put a confident label on a number that cannot support one. The thresholds are published.
- Why is so little marked BUY?
- A BUY has to clear three bars: enough reliable data, a cash-out EV that beats the pack price after the buyback haircut, and a margin that survives removing the single biggest recent pull. Most packs most of the time clear none of them, and often nothing on the site is marked BUY at all. That is a real answer, not a gap — when the honest reading is that nothing is worth buying, saying so is the whole point of the site.
- Does AI generate any of these numbers?
- No. Every metric comes from fixed, documented formulas. AI is used only to explain already-calculated numbers in plain language. It never produces, adjusts or estimates a metric, verdict, price or probability.
The data
- Where does the data come from?
- Every figure is indexed from publicly recorded Courtyard pulls. There is no second source to cross-check against, so an error at source becomes an error here. Current pipeline state is always visible at /status.
- How often does it update?
- Pulls are indexed continuously and pages refresh within minutes. If ingestion stops, /status says so rather than letting stale numbers pass as current.
- Why do some packs have no price?
- Courtyard does not publish pack prices in the data we index, so they are recorded by hand. A pack without one cannot be ranked at all, however many pulls it has — there is no ratio to compute.
- Do you show resale value or how fast a card sells?
- No. We have no listing depth, no sold comps and no time-to-sell data, so any resale value or liquidity score would be invented. Those fields read “unavailable” and will keep reading that until a real source exists.
Free and Pro
- What is actually free?
- Core methodology, limited rankings and educational tools are free. Pro unlocks complete coverage, personalized intelligence, advanced monitoring and faster delivery. The methodology and the data-quality information are never behind the paywall — you can always check how a number was produced.
- What does Pro cost?
- $19.89 a month, or $190.94 a year which works out at $15.91 a month. Full comparison.
- How do I cancel, and what happens to my data?
- One click from your billing page — no retention flow, no required reason, no email to anyone. You keep Pro until the end of the period you paid for, and nothing you recorded is deleted. Refunds and cancellation in full.
Using it responsibly
- Is this financial advice?
- No, and it is not investment advice either. PullValue publishes statistics. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell, and we are not licensed to advise on anything. Full disclaimer.
- Can PullValue tell me I should not buy anything?
- Yes, and it does. The budget tool will recommend holding your cash when no allocation has a positive expected return, and the homepage will say no pack qualifies when none does. Waiting is a valid answer and we surface it as one.
- I think I am spending too much.
- You can set monthly and per-session budgets, a stop-loss, cooling-off periods and a temporary self-lock in your account, and they are enforced rather than advisory. If it feels out of control, help is available at BeGambleAware. Never spend to recover a previous loss — PullValue will never suggest that you do.
Not answered here? Ask us directly.