Different inventory profiles
Sealed boxes and graded slabs both come from the same Japanese market, but they behave like different businesses on your shelf. Sealed is a volume game: steady demand, predictable turnover, margin made on the cost stack. Slabs are a curation game: fewer units, bigger tickets, margin made on knowing which card your buyers want before they ask.
Four comparison points
- Capital per unit — sealed spreads your budget across many boxes; one slab can hold a whole restock budget.
- Risk shape — sealed carries reprint risk; slabs carry swings in single-card demand.
- Shelf time — sealed sells on a rhythm; a well-chosen slab can sell same-week — a poorly chosen one sits.
- Effort — sealed is list-driven and repeatable; slabs need card-level judgment every time.
Use of each format
Stores that restock sealed monthly build a base of repeat customers, then add slabs where they already know the buyer. The reverse — starting with expensive singles and hoping a buyer appears — is where we watch new sellers get stuck.
Starting allocation
Start sealed for cashflow. Add PSA 10 asks once specific customers are requesting specific cards — that is what our ask-based PSA lane is for: you name the card, we quote it from the live Japan market.
CHECK BEFORE ORDERING
Use sealed boxes for repeatable restocks and add graded cards when a buyer has named a card.
PSA 10 SLABS — THE OTHER SIDE OF THE INVENTORY QUESTION