Alternative Asset Glossary

Alternative Asset

Any investment asset that falls outside publicly traded stocks, bonds, and cash equivalents. Alternative assets include collectibles (trading cards, comics, coins), fine art, wine, watches, sneakers, LEGO, and real estate. The global alternative asset market exceeds $400 billion and is growing as investors seek uncorrelated returns and tangible stores of value.

PriceDepth provides pricing infrastructure for the collectible and luxury goods segments of this market. See the Valuation Methodology for how fair market values are calculated across these asset classes.

Arbitrage Spread

The price difference for the same asset listed or sold across different marketplaces. For example, a PSA 10 Charizard may sell for $450 on eBay and $520 on Goldin in the same week. PriceDepth's API reports cross-source pricing so users can identify arbitrage opportunities.

Large arbitrage spreads often indicate thin liquidity or marketplace-specific buyer demographics. Spreads tend to narrow as trading volume increases and price discovery improves. See the API Documentation for how to query per-source pricing breakdowns.

Auction Prices Realized (APR)

The official dataset of completed sale prices published by PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator). APR records include the hammer price, auction house, date, and cert number for graded cards sold at major auction venues. APR is considered one of the highest-quality pricing references because it reflects verified, graded items sold in competitive bidding environments.

PriceDepth ingests APR data as a Tier 1 source. For details on how source tiers influence price calculation, see Data Sources and Source Hierarchy.

BGS (Beckett Grading Services)

A major third-party card grading company operated by Beckett. BGS uses a half-point grading scale (e.g., 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10) and evaluates four sub-grades: centering, corners, edges, and surface. A BGS 10 "Black Label" means all four sub-grades received a perfect 10 and is considered the pinnacle grade for modern cards.

PriceDepth tracks BGS grades as distinct from PSA, CGC, and SGC grades. Each grader-grade combination has its own price history and fair market value. See Grade Normalization for planned cross-grader equivalency curves.

CGC (Certified Guaranty Company)

A grading company originally established for comic books that expanded into trading card authentication and grading. CGC uses a 10-point numerical scale and has become a significant grading presence in the Pokemon TCG, Yu-Gi-Oh, and sports card markets. CGC-graded cards are encapsulated in a distinctive blue-label holder.

PriceDepth tracks CGC-graded cards with dedicated price histories. CGC grades are not currently cross-referenced with PSA or BGS equivalents in price calculation; see Grade Normalization for the planned approach.

Confidence Score

PriceDepth's 1–5 data quality indicator that reflects the reliability of a fair market value estimate. The score is computed from three factors: the number of verified completed sales in the calculation window, the diversity of contributing data sources, and the recency of the most recent sale. A score of 5 (very_high) indicates deep, multi-source recent volume suitable for binding valuations; a score of 1 (very_low) indicates fallback pricing with limited market evidence.

Institutional customers should treat confidence 4+ prices as suitable for portfolio mark-to-market and collateral valuation. Confidence 2 or below should be flagged for manual review before use in binding valuations. For the full scoring framework, see Confidence Score.

Data Staleness

The number of days since the oldest sale used in a price calculation. Data staleness helps consumers assess whether a price estimate reflects current market conditions or relies on aging historical data. PriceDepth categorizes staleness as: Fresh (0–30 days), Stale (31–90 days), and Very Stale (91–365 days).

The data_staleness_days field is included in every API price response. Prices with staleness above 90 days should be treated as estimates and may not reflect current market sentiment. See Staleness Policy for how fallback windows interact with staleness reporting.

Fair Market Value (FMV)

The price at which an asset would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under compulsion to transact and both having reasonable knowledge of the relevant facts. PriceDepth calculates FMV as the median of all verified completed sale prices across contributing sources within a 30-day rolling window. The median is preferred over the mean because it is more robust to outliers such as shill bids, distressed sales, and mislabeled listings.

Each FMV response also includes a fair value range (P25/P75) representing the 25th and 75th percentile sale prices. For thin markets with no recent sales, PriceDepth widens to 90-day and all-time fallback windows. See the Price Calculation section for the full methodology.

Graded Card

A collectible trading card that has been professionally authenticated, evaluated for condition, and assigned a numerical grade on a 1–10 scale by a third-party grading company (PSA, BGS, CGC, or SGC). After grading, the card is encapsulated in a tamper-evident plastic case (slab) with a unique certification number. Grading removes condition uncertainty and significantly increases market liquidity.

PriceDepth prices each grader-grade combination separately. A PSA 10 and a BGS 9.5 of the same card are tracked as distinct assets with independent price histories. See Grade Normalization for how cross-grader equivalency will be handled in future methodology versions.

Index (Price Index)

A composite measure that tracks the aggregate value of a defined basket of assets over time, rebased to a starting value of 1000. PriceDepth publishes signed price indices including PDI-Pokemon and other category-specific benchmarks. Each index is computed nightly at 02:00 UTC, cryptographically signed with an ECDSA key (secp256k1), and published via the REST API.

Indices serve as benchmarks for fund NAV calculation, portfolio performance measurement, and market trend analysis. Index methodology, inclusion rules, and signature verification are documented in the Index Methodology section.

IQR Filtering

Interquartile range (IQR) based statistical outlier removal applied to sale prices before fair market value calculation. The IQR is the range between the 25th percentile (Q1) and 75th percentile (Q3) of observed prices. Sales falling outside 1.5x the IQR below Q1 or above Q3 are flagged as potential outliers and excluded from the calculation window.

IQR filtering targets shill bids, wash trades, charity auctions, and mislabeled listings that would distort the FMV. The specific thresholds and detection logic are part of PriceDepth's proprietary methodology. See Price Calculation for how outlier treatment fits into the pricing pipeline.

Liquidity Tier

PriceDepth's 1–5 rating of how easily an asset can be sold at or near its fair market value, based on observed trading volume and marketplace activity. Tier 1 (high) indicates an active recent market where same-week exit is feasible. Tier 5 (illiquid) indicates no observed quarterly sales, meaning extended marketing periods of 180+ days may be needed to achieve the quoted FMV.

Liquidity tier informs expected time-to-exit and should be factored into lending LTV ratios and fund liquidity policies. Cards at tier 4–5 may require significant price concessions for rapid liquidation. See Liquidity Tier for the full tier definitions and institutional guidance.

LTV (Loan-to-Value)

The ratio of a loan amount to the appraised value of the collateral securing it, expressed as a percentage. In collectible-backed lending, a lender might offer a 50% LTV on a card valued at $10,000, resulting in a $5,000 loan. Lower LTV ratios provide a larger cushion against price declines and are typical for illiquid or volatile assets.

Lenders use PriceDepth's FMV, confidence score, and liquidity tier together to calibrate LTV. High-confidence, high-liquidity assets may qualify for 60–70% LTV, while low-confidence or illiquid assets may be capped at 30–40%. See the Valuation Methodology for how these inputs are calculated.

Mark-to-Market

The practice of revaluing assets to reflect their current market prices rather than historical cost or book value. In traditional finance, mark-to-market is standard for publicly traded securities. For alternative assets like collectibles, daily mark-to-market has historically been difficult due to fragmented, opaque markets.

PriceDepth enables daily mark-to-market for collectible portfolios by computing FMV snapshots at midnight UTC. Institutional customers use these snapshots for LP reporting, NAV calculation, and regulatory compliance. The daily_prices table provides an auditable trail of valuations over time.

NAV (Net Asset Value)

The total value of a fund's assets minus its liabilities, typically calculated on a per-share basis. For collectible-focused investment funds, NAV requires reliable daily pricing for every asset in the portfolio. Without a pricing oracle, fund managers must rely on infrequent appraisals or stale auction comps.

PriceDepth serves as the pricing engine for collectible fund NAV calculation, providing daily FMV snapshots with confidence scores and methodology version tracking. Each historical snapshot is immutable and auditable, supporting regulatory and LP reporting requirements.

Oracle (Pricing Oracle)

A service that provides verified external data (such as prices) to other systems that cannot independently access or verify that data. In blockchain contexts, oracles bridge off-chain data to on-chain smart contracts. PriceDepth operates as a pricing oracle for the alternative asset market, delivering signed price feeds that consumers can independently verify.

PriceDepth's signed feeds use ECDSA on the secp256k1 curve. The public verification key is published at /.well-known/pricedepth-oracle.pub. See the Index Methodology for signature verification details and canonical JSON format.

Population (Pop Count)

The total number of cards that have been graded at a specific grade level by a grading company, as reported in their published population reports. For example, if PSA reports a population of 2,500 for a PSA 10 Base Set Charizard, that means 2,500 copies of that card have received a PSA 10 grade. Higher population means greater supply and typically a lower scarcity premium.

PriceDepth includes population data alongside pricing for market cap calculation and supply-side context. Population-adjusted pricing curves are planned for a future methodology version. See Price Calculation for current treatment of population data.

Price Window

The time period used to collect completed sales for a price calculation. PriceDepth uses a 30-day primary window, a 90-day fallback (if no sales exist in 30 days), and an all-time fallback (if no sales exist in 90 days). The price_window field in API responses indicates which window was used for a given price.

Wider windows produce less timely prices but increase the sample size for thin markets. The confidence score is automatically reduced when fallback windows are in use. See Price Calculation for the full fallback sequence and how each window affects data quality indicators.

PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator)

The largest and most widely recognized third-party card grading company. PSA grades cards on a whole-number scale from 1 (Poor) to 10 (Gem Mint). PSA 10 is the flagship liquidity grade for modern cards and powers PriceDepth's primary index benchmarks. PSA has graded hundreds of millions of cards across sports, Pokemon TCG, Yu-Gi-Oh, and other collectible categories.

PSA's Auction Prices Realized (APR) database is one of PriceDepth's Tier 1 data sources. See Auction Prices Realized and the Source Hierarchy for how PSA data is weighted in price calculations.

Sealed Product

Unopened, factory-sealed collectible items such as booster boxes, booster packs, elite trainer boxes, and blister packs. Sealed product is priced differently from individual cards because its value derives from the expected value of the cards inside plus a sealed premium reflecting scarcity and collector demand for unopened product.

PriceDepth tracks sealed product FMV using the same multi-source aggregation and median calculation methodology as individual cards. The Valuation Methodology applies equally to sealed product and graded singles.

SGC (Sportscard Guaranty Corporation)

An independent third-party card grading company particularly known for expertise in vintage and pre-war cards. SGC uses a 10-point grading scale and is respected by collectors for its consistency and turnaround times. SGC-graded cards are encapsulated in a tuxedo-style black holder.

PriceDepth tracks SGC-graded cards as distinct assets with their own price histories. Like other grading companies, SGC grades are not currently cross-referenced with PSA or BGS equivalents. See Grade Normalization for the planned approach.

Sold Comp (Comparable Sale)

A completed sale of an identical or substantially similar item used as a pricing reference point. PriceDepth uses only verified completed sales (sold comps) in its price calculations, never asking prices, active listings, or estimated values. Each sold comp includes the sale price, date, source marketplace, and grade verification status.

The quality and quantity of available sold comps directly determine the confidence score and price accuracy. Deep, recent comp history across multiple sources produces high-confidence FMV estimates. See Data Sources for how comps are sourced and verified.

Source Hierarchy

PriceDepth's tiered ranking of data sources by quality, verification level, and institutional recognition. Tier 1 sources are major auction houses with in-person grading verification (the institutional reference standard). Tier 2 sources are marketplace completed-sale data with high volume and broad coverage. Tier 3 sources are settled on-chain trades with verifiable transaction history.

All tiers contribute to the final FMV calculation. Source hierarchy influences weighting and confidence scoring: prices supported by Tier 1 data carry higher confidence. The full per-source roster is available to institutional customers under NDA. See Data Sources and Source Hierarchy for the complete framework.

Structured Data

Machine-readable metadata embedded in web pages using formats like JSON-LD and vocabularies like schema.org. Structured data helps search engines, AI assistants, and other automated systems understand page content, extract facts, and generate rich results. PriceDepth uses structured data extensively across its pages, including DefinedTermSet for this glossary, Product schema for card pages, and FAQPage for the help center.

Well-implemented structured data improves discoverability by both traditional search engines and large language models. For more on PriceDepth's approach to machine-readable data, see the API Documentation.

Time-to-Exit

The expected number of days required to sell an asset at or near its fair market value. Time-to-exit is informed by the asset's liquidity tier: Tier 1 assets can typically be sold within 7 days, while Tier 5 assets may require 180 or more days of active marketing to find a buyer at the quoted FMV. Accepting a price below FMV can reduce time-to-exit at the cost of realized value.

Time-to-exit is a critical input for lending (longer exit means more risk), fund management (affects redemption policies), and portfolio construction (illiquid holdings reduce overall portfolio flexibility). See Liquidity Tier for how PriceDepth quantifies exit ease.

Alternative Asset Pricing Glossary

25 Terms