How the counter used to run
People walked in with binders, boxes, and whole collections, and every one of them wanted a fair offer without standing there all afternoon.
Pricing it meant a spreadsheet on one screen, market lookups on another, sticky notes on the counter, and math in somebody’s head. It was slow, and two people could price the same pile two different ways.
Speed wasn’t even the worst part. One deal at the wrong rate could cost the shop real money, and once the customer left there was no record of what we’d paid or why. When something went wrong, nobody could trace it.
- Spreadsheet on one screen
- Market lookups on another
- Sticky notes on the counter
- Math in somebody’s head
The first version
The first version fixed exactly those problems at that one shop. Open a deal, price it at the shop’s rates, warn me when something looks off, and finalize it with a receipt and a record. That was all it did.
Everything added since then is there because somebody at the counter needed it. I didn’t go interview shop owners and build what they described. I had the problem myself.
How things get built
Nothing goes out to other shops until it’s been used at a real counter. I build it, we use it on actual buys, and I fix what breaks. Then it ships.
That means the bugs I fix are mostly ones I ran into myself, usually in the middle of a deal with somebody waiting. It also means you shouldn’t have to change how your counter works to fit the software.
- 1.Needed at the counter
- 2.Used on real buys
- 3.Fixed where it broke
- 4.Then it ships
What's live and what isn't
The buy counter part (deals, inventory, and reports) is live. SlabTrack and Vendor Mode are still in development, and they’re getting built the same way: at the counter first, then out the door.
- DealsPricing buys, payouts, receiptsLIVE
- InventoryFilled in from finalized deals, POS exportsLIVE
- ReportsCash out, trade out, margin, who ran whatLIVE
- SlabTrackGrading submissions for PSA, CGC, BGS, TAG, HGAIN DEVELOPMENT
- Vendor Mode / ShowsRunning a booth at a card showIN DEVELOPMENT
If something at your counter is a pain and TopLoader doesn’t handle it yet, tell me about it.