Manage a Collection, Trade and Sell

This guide covers the cards you own: where to keep them, how to mark what each copy is for, and how to move from “what do I have” to a trade or a sale. Each step links to the reference page with every option.

It assumes you have a workspace with a few lists. If not, start with the quick tour.

1. Split Your Cards into Collections

A collection is one list file under collections/. Make as many as you like: one per binder, box or shelf.

ritual new collection "Trade Binder"
ritual new collection "Bulk Box"
ritual new wanted "Needs"

A collection differs from a deck in two ways (full table):

• Every copy is its own line. Four Lightning Bolts are four lines, so each copy can have its own condition, language or note.
• Every line has a printing. A collection holds physical cards, so each line names its set and collector number: - Lightning Bolt (LEA:161).

Collections have no fixed sections. A ## Heading inside one is just a group you choose, such as ## Page 1 or ## Foils.

To bring in a collection you already track elsewhere, import its CSV with ritual import, or pull it from Archidekt (see Sync with Archidekt).

2. Record Each Copy’s Details

A copy can carry a finish, a condition and a language. Defaults are left off the line: nonfoil, Near Mint, English.

- Lightning Bolt (LEA:161) [LP] &1
- Mana Crypt (2XM:270) [foil] [ja] &2

Add a copy with all of them in one command:

ritual add-card --collection "Trade Binder" Mana Crypt --exact \
  --set 2XM --collector-number 270 --finish foil --language ja

add-card adds one copy at a time to a collection. For many cards, use the interactive editor, ritual edit, or the admin site.

Fix a copy later with set-card:

ritual set-card --collection "Trade Binder" "Lightning Bolt" --condition MP
ritual set-card --collection "Trade Binder" --card-id 2 --language en

Conditions are NM, LP, MP, HP and DMG. Languages are Scryfall language codes (ja, de, zhs, …). New cards get the defaultLanguage from your config, English unless you change it.

3. Mark What Each Copy Is For

Labels tell Ritual what you plan to do with a copy. A collection can use four:

Label	Meaning
sale	For sale
trade	For trade (combines with sale)
keep	To keep (stands alone)
proxy	Not a real card; priced at zero

Set a default for a whole list, so every card in it inherits the label:

ritual metadata set "Trade Binder" labels sale,trade

Then adjust single cards. sale and trade add to the default; keep and proxy stand alone, so they replace it. no-<label> takes an inherited label away:

ritual set-card "Trade Binder" "Mana Crypt" --label no-sale    # trade only
ritual set-card "Trade Binder" "Black Lotus" --label keep      # not leaving

--label none clears a card’s own labels, so it goes back to the list default.

Decks carry only proxy (and no-proxy), which is useful for a playtest deck. Wanted lists carry no labels. The rules for combining labels are in Card labels.

4. Add Tags and Notes

A tag is your own word for a copy, and it follows the card to any list: Signed, Gift, CK Batch. A note is free text on one line.

ritual set-card "Trade Binder" "Black Lotus" --tag "Signed, Graded"
ritual note "Trade Binder" "Black Lotus" --note "signed by the artist"

On the line they look like this:

- Black Lotus (LEA:232) [keep] #Graded, Signed {signed by the artist} &3

Tags do not change what Ritual does with a card; labels do. Neither is the same as a deck’s categories. Labels, tags, and categories explains which to use.

5. Keep a Wanted List

A wanted list holds cards you are looking for. A line can name just the card, or a printing and finish if you care which:

- Counterspell &1
- Bloodghast (ZEN:83) [foil] &2

A name-only line is priced at the cheapest printing. See wanted-list card states.

ritual add-card --wanted "Needs" Demonic Tutor --exact --name-only

6. Move Cards Between Lists

When a wanted card arrives, move it into a collection. A collection needs a printing, so give it in the same command:

ritual move "Demonic Tutor" --from wanted:Needs --to "collection:Trade Binder" \
  --set sta --collector-number 90

Moving a copy between binders, or from a binder into a deck, works the same way:

ritual move "Lightning Bolt" --from "collection:Bulk Box" --to "collection:Trade Binder"

Tags, notes and language travel with the card. Labels are kept as far as the destination allows. Both lists get a changelog entry. Run ritual move with no arguments for an interactive session, or use the admin Move Cards page. The details are on the move page.

7. See What It Is Worth

ritual price --collection

price opens a browser of your lists and their totals. Add --summary to print the totals instead. Prices come from TCGplayer by default; --source cardmarket shows euros, and priceSources sets which stores you use. Proxies count as zero.

8. Plan a Trade on Your Site

Build your site (ritual serve --build, or see Publish your deck site) and open Trade in its navbar. The Trade Editor has two columns:

• Offering searches your collections (and your decks, if you switch that on).
• Receiving searches your wanted lists, or Scryfall for anything else. You pick the printing the other person is offering.

Each column shows a price total. The trade is kept in the browser only, not in your files, and you can share it with the other person as a link.

Other site pages help you prepare:

• On a collection page, the Labels filter shows only cards For sale or For trade. See Filtering.
• Find takes a pasted list of names, such as someone’s want list, and shows which of your lists hold each card.

After the trade, record it: move or remove-card the cards you gave, and add-card the ones you got.

9. Check a Buylist Offer

sell shows what Card Kingdom’s buylist pays for your cards right now. The first run downloads Card Kingdom’s public price file (about 70 MB), which is then reused for a day.

ritual sell                        # every collection
ritual sell "Trade Binder" --min 1 # one list, offers of $1 or more
ritual sell --min-ratio 0.7        # offers at 70% of TCGplayer market or better

Quotes are cash prices for Near Mint copies. Played cards are graded down when the store receives them, and offers change daily, so treat the report as a guide.

To sell a hand-picked batch, tag those copies and build Card Kingdom’s sell-cart CSV from the tag:

ritual set-card "Trade Binder" --card-id 14 --tag "CK Batch"
ritual sell --tags "CK Batch" --output csv --out ck-batch.csv

Upload the file on Card Kingdom’s CSV import page. See Selling a Hand-Picked Batch. Proxies and cards with custom art are never quoted.

The same quotes can appear on your site with sell mode. Sell mode on the sites is beta and off by default; ritual sell works without it.

10. Export a List

export writes any set of cards as CSV, JSON, text or Markdown, filtered by labels, tags, condition and more:

# Everything marked for trade, as a plain-text list to paste into a message
ritual export --collection --labels trade --format text

# Your collections in the shape Archidekt's importer reads
ritual export --collection --preset archidekt --out archidekt.csv

Run ritual export with no arguments for a wizard that asks the same questions.

Where Next

• List Files: every token a card line can carry.
• Sync with Archidekt: keep these collections in step with your Archidekt collection.
• Take edits from your public site: change lists from another device.