The house edge, itemized.

Gacha Report works out what crypto TCG packs actually return, using numbers the platforms publish themselves — then buys the packs, ships the cards, and pays the customs bill to check the rest.

The honest starting point: most packs are expected-value negative. The useful questions are by how much, where the edge is hidden, and what it costs to get a card out. Every figure here is sourced and dated.

The number we keep coming back to

Collector Crypt’s machines return 93.7–95.1¢ per dollar — from the $50.00 pack to the $5,000.00 pack.

Each one advertises more value than it charges. Each one pairs that with a buyback rate that takes the surplus back. The two move in opposite directions and land in the same place, which is why the expected loss barely shifts across a hundredfold change in price. See the full arithmetic.

Collector Crypt machines: advertised versus realizable return
Pack	Advertised per $1	Buyback	Actually per $1
$50.00	1.103	85%	0.937
$100.00	1.057	90%	0.951
$250.00	1.053	90%	0.948
$1,000.00	1.019	93%	0.948
$2,500.00	1.021	93%	0.950
$5,000.00	1.019	93%	0.947

Published figures read from the live interface 2026-08-04

What we’ve published

Analysis · Collector Crypt

Every pack advertises a profit. Every pack pays about 95¢.

All 6 machines we have measured publish an expected value above the pack price — and every one returns 93.7–95.1¢ per dollar once you apply the buyback rate printed beside it. The loss barely moves across a 100× price range, or across franchises.

Guide · Redemption

What it actually costs to ship your cards home

First-hand quotes across three platforms. A single card costs $5.99 to the US and $34.99 to Australia — and on a cheap card, shipping is worth more than the card.

Review · Solana

Collector Crypt: the most transparent, and still EV-negative

Published odds, a documented API, a verifiable draw — and a house edge that sits entirely in the buyback spread rather than the draw.

Guide · Mechanics

Why redeeming a card burns the digital version

The token is a coat-check ticket, not a copy. Understanding why it has to be destroyed explains what you are actually buying.

The standard every number here meets

Source-linked: every figure traces to a platform's own disclosure, its API, or a quote we took ourselves.
Timestamped: every figure carries the date it was captured. Stale data gets flagged, not hidden.
Labeled: published odds and our estimates are never mixed, and estimates say so.
Server-rendered: every number is in the page source. No JavaScript shell between you and the data.
Corrected in public: when we get something wrong, we say so and date it. We have already retracted one claim.

Read the methodology — including exactly how we get paid, and what our referral points are actually worth.

In progress

Physical redemptions are in transit on Collector Crypt and MNSTR. Neither platform quotes import tax, so what a redemption actually costs an international buyer is only knowable on delivery — we will publish the customs invoices, the dates, and the condition of what arrives. Shipping quotes for those platforms are already up at redemption costs.