To flip a sports card for profit, your max buy price must be the expected sale price minus platform and selling costs, minus shipping and supplies, minus your target margin, minus a market risk buffer. Profit on a flip is made at the buy price, not the sell price. MaxBid AI's max-bid calculation applies the same logic and works on a card photo in under 10 seconds.
The MaxBid AI flip max-buy formula: Max Buy = Expected Sale Price, minus selling fees (12 to 15 percent), minus shipping and supplies, minus target margin (20 to 30 percent), minus market risk buffer.
Take the expected sale price, subtract platform and selling fees (typically 12 to 15 percent), shipping and supplies, your target margin (20 to 30 percent for a normal flip), and a market risk buffer. That's your max buy price. Anything above it kills the flip.
20 to 30 percent is a normal flip target. 10 to 15 percent is acceptable on fast-moving liquid cards. 35-plus percent is the margin you should demand on illiquid, damaged, or speculative cards because they'll sit in inventory longer.
Profit is made at the buy price. Dealers who can't buy under their calculated max buy price either walk or accept they're paying for inventory, not flipping. Inventory that sits more than 60 days usually returns below the calculated profit.