Magic foil vs non-foil vs etched: how do prices differ and how do I list them?

The three finishes

• Non-foil. The regular card without a reflective layer.
• Foil. A reflective rainbow sheen over the whole card. Foils have been around since Urza's Legacy (1999), so a printing from before that has no foil version.
• Etched. A foil treatment with a metallic, textured look and less rainbow. Some etched cards are printings of their own with their own number, for example Abomination of Llanowar in Commander Legends (number 585). Others share one number with the non-foil and the foil, for example Approach of the Second Sun in Strixhaven Mystical Archive (number 1).

How to tell a foil

• Tilt the card under a lamp. A foil shows a moving rainbow sheen across the card.
• On modern cards, the sign between set code and language usually helps: a star (★) marks foil, a dot (•) marks non-foil.
• The small oval holofoil stamp at the bottom of a rare is not foil. A non-foil rare has it too.
• Foil is hard to see in a flat scan or a photo without reflections. Decide with the card in your hand, not from the screen.

What foil means for the price

• Cardmarket price data has two price families per product: normal and foil. TCGplayer also keeps a foil price apart from the normal one.
• There is no fixed factor between them. Foil is often higher, on some cards close to the non-foil price, and on a few even below it. Use the foil price of the printing.
• Some printings exist only as foil, or only as non-foil. Then there is just one price, and the question does not arise.
• A foil price can be missing or based on few sales. Check such cards against recent sales before you list them.
• Foils can curl. That is a question of condition, so look at the copy and describe it honestly.

How the Foil switch works in NeoSatoshi

1. Detect your cards. Every card starts as non-foil, unless its printing only exists as foil. The scan does not read the finish, also not from a shiny photo.
2. Find the Foil column right after the name, with Yes and No. Switch your foil copies per card, or select many rows and use Bulk Edit.
3. Changing it moves the Cardmarket and TCGplayer prices and the listing price to the foil or non-foil price. If the printing has no foil price, the foil copy has no price: it never takes the non-foil one. So set your own price after choosing the finish.
4. A printing that only exists as foil, etched included, is fixed to foil. A non-foil-only printing is fixed to non-foil.

Etched in NeoSatoshi

There is no separate etched switch: etched counts as foil. An etched-only printing is fixed to foil and its etched price is the price you see. A printing that has both regular foil and etched gets the foil price when you switch it, so check the price of an etched copy of such a printing yourself. The exports call all of these Foil. If the word Etched matters to your buyers, name it yourself in the listing description.

How each channel lists a foil

• eBay (Direct Listing and CSV). The word Foil follows the card name in the title, and the Finish item specific says Foil. A foil copy has its own SKU and its own listing, and variation listings put foil copies into their own grouped listing.
• Shopify (Direct Listing and CSV). Foil and non-foil are two variants of one product, Foil and Normal, each with its own price.
• Cardmarket through TCGPowerTools. The same Cardmarket product, with isFoil set to true in the CSV and the foil price.
• Custom export. The finish is part of the SKU and of the JSON data.

For eBay prices, Load eBay prices keeps the finishes apart: a foil copy is only compared with foil listings, a non-foil copy only with non-foil ones.

The daily price sync

On the Business plan and up, the daily price sync reprices foil copies on eBay and Shopify only from a foil price of the source you chose. If that source has no foil price for the card, the copy is skipped and keeps its price. On Shopify this covers products created through the Shopify direct listing.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting the switch, so that a foil goes out at the non-foil price.
• Multiplying the non-foil price by a rule of thumb instead of reading the foil price.
• Taking the holofoil stamp on a rare as proof of a foil.
• Listing an etched copy of a printing with both finishes at the regular foil price without checking.
• Pricing foil copies first and switching afterwards, so the switch moves the listing price again.

Frequently asked questions

Does NeoSatoshi recognise foil on the photo?

No, not for Magic. The finish is a switch you set yourself. Only a printing that exists solely as foil is set for you.

Is foil always worth more?

No. It often is, but the gap differs from card to card and can be small or even reversed. Look at the foil price of the printing.

Can I change many cards to foil at once?

Yes. Select the rows, click Bulk Edit and choose the field Foil.

Do foil and non-foil copies get mixed up in my shop?

No. Each has its own price and SKU in every export, and on eBay its own listing.