Questions and answers

What is GOATLIST?

GOATLIST ranks the inserts and parallels of 1987–2010 baseball, basketball and football cards, set by set, and shows the cards for sale on eBay right now for each one.

Where do the prices come from?

From eBay, through eBay's own API. Every figure on the site is an asking price: what a seller is asking on a current Buy It Now listing, or an auction's current bid. None of them is a sale price, and none is a valuation. Prices are before shipping.

Lowest ask is the lowest Buy It Now ask among a group's current listings.

A listing is shown for at most 6 hours after the search that found it; each set says when it was checked. After that the set says so and shows no listing until the next Refresh. Nothing on the site shows a listing older than 6 hours.

How are sets and insert families ranked?

An insert family is one insert design in one year's product, such as 1997-98 SkyBox Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems, with all its parallels. Each family gets a letter: S is the best, then A, B, C and D. The letter comes from how rare its cards are, how many copies were made and how well known it is, never from its asking prices.

Grails are ranked apart from the letters: G1 named grails, G2 early ghost cards and G3 later 1/1s.

A set is ranked on the sum of its families and what makes it unusual, with no asking price in it. GOATLIST's order is a starting point: My rankings lets you put the sets in your own.

How does the wall work?

The wall is a list of sets, one card each, in the order they are ranked. Press Refresh and GOATLIST runs each set's eBay searches: one for its autographs and relics, and the rest for its inserts and parallels, a few card types to a search. The searches take a minute or two; each set says where it stands ("refreshing…", "checked 12 min ago", "no listings now").

A set that anyone refreshed in the last 6 hours is not searched again until then: its card says "next refresh in …". Everyone sees the same answer for those 6 hours, and each day has a limit on how many searches the site can make; past it, the card says so and Refresh works again the next day. Nothing is searched on a schedule or in the background: only the button searches.

Open a set to see its card types, rarest first, each with its print run or pack odds where a source gives one. Under each card type the listings are grouped by your player tiers: your S tier first, then A, B, C, D and "Not in your tiers", with each group's count and lowest ask, and the lowest ask first within a group. With no tiers of your own the groups are GOATLIST's S and A players. A listing whose title names no player we track shows its title instead. A photo or title opens the listing on eBay; ⤢ opens the full photo.

#s3 on the wall's address opens the third set straight away, so one set can be bookmarked or shared.

Players, above the sets, names up to ten players from the index. Every search on the wall then looks for them (their names go into the eBay search itself, so a player who is not among a set's first 200 listings still shows), each set says who it is searched for, and a set's "all players" box leaves it unfiltered. The names are kept with your wall and travel in its share link.

Can I rank the players myself?

Yes. My tiers, linked from the front page and the wall, lets you drag a sport's players into your own S, A, B, C and D tiers (or start from GOATLIST's), or pick a whole group at once: the Hall of Fame, future Hall of Famers, a decade's rookies. Your tiers are kept in your browser; a free account (we email you a sign-in link; no password) keeps them on every device. Browsing the site needs no account. Copy share link puts the whole list in a link you can send. The wall then groups every set's listings by your tiers.

Can I put the sets in my own order?

Yes. My rankings, linked from the front page and the wall, lets you put a sport's sets in your own order, and the insert families inside each set in yours. Drag them, type a position, or pick several (they are numbered in the order you click) and move them together. Search finds a set or family; Select all matches picks every one it found. Undo takes back a whole move.

You can give any family your own letter too: the ▾ beside its letter offers S to D or GOATLIST's. My sets are up to 12 families you pin with ☆, a shortlist of your own.

Your order is kept in your browser, and in your account if you sign in, so it follows you to other devices. Browsing needs no account. Copy share link puts your order in a link.

What do the card words mean?

Set rarity letter (S–D)

GOATLIST's letter for a card type: how rare it is in its set, S the rarest, D the most common.

Player tier (S–D)

Your own rank of the player, from My tiers; without one, GOATLIST's default S and A.

/N

The print run: /100 means 100 copies were made.

1:N odds

Pack odds for an unnumbered card: 1:288 means about one in every 288 packs.

Lowest ask

The lowest Buy It Now asking price in a group of listings, before shipping; not a sale price.

Do you earn from the links?

Yes. Listing and search links are eBay Partner Network affiliate links: if you buy through one, GOATLIST may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change which listings appear, how they are ranked, or the price you pay. GOATLIST is independent: it is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by eBay. See the privacy and terms pages for the rest.