Guide · Buylist
How to run a buylist and store credit without a spreadsheet.
Buying cards is where a shop's margin starts, and store credit is money you owe until it's spent. Both deserve better than a printed list and a notebook. Here's how it's usually done, and how Foil Haven does it on the free plan.
Last updated: September 2026 · By Foil Haven · support@foilhaven.com
What does a good buylist need to do?
Four things. Quote a fair price fast, including for the played copy. Let you stop buying what you're drowning in. Pay the way the customer picks, cash or credit. And afterwards, tell you exactly what you paid for each card and how much credit is still out there.
How do card shops usually run a buylist?
The common setup is a printed or posted list of hot cards, a phone open to a price site for everything else, and store credit tracked in a spreadsheet or a notebook behind the counter. Every step is manual, and the credit balance is only as right as the last person who wrote in it.
Card-store systems automate this, but BinderPOS has been closed to new stores since February 2025 (details), and CrystalCommerce starts with a $599 setup fee (compared here). General registers like Square and Shopify POS don't know card prices, so the buy price is still your spreadsheet.
How Foil Haven does it
How does the Foil Haven buylist work?
- 01
Set your buy rates
Pick what share of market price you pay in cash and, separately, in store credit. Set it store-wide, then override by game or by card, and adjust by condition.
- 02
Post prices on the cards that matter
For any card, pin a dollar buy price per condition. Leave one blank and the rate applies; set it to $0 and you're not buying that condition.
- 03
Let customers build the list
Turn on your public buylist page and put the printable QR sign on the counter. A customer searches their cards, picks conditions, flips between cash and credit to compare totals, and submits.
- 04
Review and accept
You check the cards against the request and accept. Each card becomes its own inventory copy at the price you paid, and a credit payout posts to the customer's store-credit balance.
Because each bought card becomes its own copy with its own cost, you can later see what that card made when it sold. More on tracking singles by condition and cost.
How is store credit spent?
On Pro, the register takes store credit as a tender, alongside cash and gift cards, and trade-ins can go straight onto a sale. On Counter and Growth, you draw credit down from the dashboard, and every adjustment is a line in the ledger with a note.
What doesn't the buylist do?
It doesn't pay anyone: cash comes out of your drawer as it always has. It doesn't accept a request on its own; a person checks the cards first. And quotes lean on market prices, which Flesh and Blood and Riftbound don't have yet, so for those games you post prices by hand.
Questions about buylists and store credit
Is the buylist free in Foil Haven?
Yes. The buylist, the public buylist page and the store-credit ledger are on every plan, including the free Counter plan. Trade-ins rung up at the register need Pro ($149 a month), and gift cards need Growth ($79 a month).
How does Foil Haven calculate a buy price?
Market price for that printing, times your buy rate for cash or for credit, adjusted for condition. Rates cascade from store to game to card. Where you've posted a dollar price for a card and condition, that price wins.
Can I offer more in store credit than in cash?
Yes. Cash and credit rates are set separately, and the customer sees both totals before choosing.
How do I stop buying a card I'm overstocked on?
Post a $0 buy price for that card in the conditions you don't want. The buylist page and the counter lookup then show you're not buying it.
How do I know how much store credit I owe?
The store-credit ledger is append-only: every issue, redemption and adjustment is a line, and a customer's balance is the sum. Outstanding credit is money you owe, and the ledger is where that number lives.
Can customers check their own store credit?
Yes, if you have the $10 a month hosted website. Customers sign in with an emailed link and see their store credit (including loyalty credit), website holds and event sign-ups.
Run your buylist on the free plan.
Counter is $0 with no card: buylist page, store-credit ledger and kiosk included. Or get the brochure first.