You bring a stack of cards to your local shop, they look them over, and they give you two numbers: one in cash and a bigger one in store credit. Which should you take?
There's no single right answer. It depends on what you plan to do next. Here's how to think about it.
Why the credit number is higher
Cash leaves the shop the moment you walk out. Store credit comes back to the shop as a purchase, usually on cards, sealed product or supplies the shop already has on its shelves. Because the shop keeps part of the margin on that later sale, it can afford to offer you more up front.
That's why a shop might pay, say, 60% of market value in cash and 75% in store credit. The exact rates are up to each shop. In VaultXchange, a shop sets its own cash and credit buy rates, and every trade-in ticket shows both offers side by side before anything is final.
Take store credit when
- You were going to spend it there anyway. If you're trading in to pick up a booster box, a single for your deck or entry to Friday's tournament, credit gets you more for the same cards.
- You play or buy at that shop often. Credit you'll use within a few weeks is close to cash, plus the bonus.
- The shop has what you want in stock. Check before you trade. Credit at a shop that doesn't carry your game isn't worth much to you.
Take cash when
- You need the money for something else. Rent, a car repair or a card at a different shop. Cash works everywhere.
- You're not sure you'll be back. Credit at a shop you're moving away from, or rarely visit, can sit unused.
- You're selling to fund a bigger purchase elsewhere. If the card you're chasing isn't at this shop, cash keeps your options open.
A simple test
Ask yourself: "If they handed me the credit right now, what would I buy with it today?" If you can answer in a few seconds, take credit. If you can't, take cash.
Keep track of credit at every shop
The hardest part of store credit is remembering it. A slip of paper in a binder or a note on a register screen is easy to lose, and if you shop at two or three stores, it adds up.
In the free VaultXchange app, your store credit shows up for each shop you do business with on VaultXchange. Balances stay separate, shop by shop, because credit at one store can only be used at that store. When a shop pays you in credit, your balance updates in the app.
You don't have to set anything up. A shop links to you automatically the first time you trade in or buy there with the same phone number or email you use in the app.
Selling from your phone
If you'd rather see offers before you leave the house, you can start a sale from the app with Sell Your Cards. Pick cards from your collection, choose credit or cash, and see estimated offers from shops where you're already a customer. Then bring the cards in so the shop can check them in person.
We wrote a full walkthrough here: How to sell your cards to a local card shop.
The short version
- Credit is worth more if you'll spend it at that shop soon.
- Cash is worth more if you won't.
- Whichever you choose, keep your credit in one place so none of it goes to waste.
Get the free VaultXchange app to see your store credit at every shop you use.
