Break cost allocator
Enter the box price and your pulls with their market values. Each card gets its share of the cost, the shares add back to what you paid, and you can save the result to your ledger.
| Card or lot | Qty | Market each | Share | Cost basis | Per card | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47.8% | $241.04 | $241.04 | ||||
| 9.8% | $49.30 | $49.30 | ||||
| 19.6% | $98.61 | $98.61 | ||||
| 15.7% | $78.89 | $13.15 | ||||
| 7.2% | $36.16 | $0.16 | ||||
| Career totals | 229 | $460.00 | 100.0% | $504.00 | of $504.00 | |
Allocated $504.00 of $504.00, to the cent. The pulls are worth $460.00, 91% of what you paid: a paper loss of $44.00 before fees.
Three ways to split the cost
| Method | How it works | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Relative market value | Cost × card value ÷ value of all pulls | Hobby and retail boxes, cases, random breaks. The default most preparers suggest. |
| Equal split | Cost ÷ number of cards | Lots of similar cards, such as a stack of commons bought together. |
| Specific identification | You assign a cost to each line | A break spot priced per team, or a lot where you agreed a price per card. |
A worked example
A $480 hobby box plus $24 of shipping and tax costs $504. The pulls are worth $460 in total: a $220 auto, a $45 Silver, a $90 insert, six $12 parallels and 220 base at $0.15. The auto carries 220 ÷ 460 = 47.8% of the cost, $241.04. The base lot, worth $33, carries $36.16, about 16 cents a card. The lines add up to $504.00 exactly: rounding cents go to the lines with the largest fractions, so nothing is lost or invented.
Cost includes everything you paid to get the cards: the price, shipping, sales tax and any break fee. Save a screenshot of the comps you used on the pull date. When you sell, the card's basis comes off the sale price along with fees, which is the number the IRS and your P&L care about.
Read the full guide: cost basis for cards from breaks, boxes and packs. The same allocator lives in the Breaks tab of the ledger, where the cards go straight into inventory.
Figures checked against the sources below on . Calculators and checklists, not tax advice.
Frequently asked questions
How do you allocate the cost of a box to the cards pulled?
Add up what the box cost you, including shipping and sales tax. Look up each pull’s market value on the day you opened it. Each card’s basis is the total cost times its value divided by the total value of all pulls. Base cards can be grouped as one bulk line.
Is there an IRS rule for the cost basis of pack pulls?
No IRS guidance addresses pack or break pulls specifically. Splitting by relative market value is what CPAs most often suggest because it matches basis to value; the important part is using one reasonable method consistently and keeping the comps you used.
What if the pulls are worth less than I paid?
Your basis is still the full amount you paid. Allocation spreads the whole cost across the cards, so when they sell for less you record the loss on the sales, not on the box.
How should base cards and bulk be handled?
Either treat the bulk as one line and let it take its share by value, or fix its basis at what bulk actually sells for (for example $0.10 a card) so the rest of the cost stays on the hits. Both are shown with the math.
Sources
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