Make graded-card inventory browsable beyond the display case
Lessons from Christopher’s archived accounts of a public PSA inventory tool.
Editorial guide based on archived posts; this is a synthesis, not an original LinkedIn post.
Solve the visibility gap
The posts describe more PSA slabs than the store could display. Inventory in a box was difficult for customers to discover. A public inventory view can start with the simple question: what information would a customer need to decide whether to ask about this specific slab? Certification, an image, and a clear connection to the actual item are useful starting points.
Tie the public view to checkout
Christopher describes scanning a slab QR code, fetching an image through an API, displaying the item publicly, and scanning it again at checkout to remove it. The operating lesson is the connection between intake and removal. An attractive inventory page is less useful if sold items linger. Test that an item appears after intake and disappears after sale, including what happens when a scan or lookup fails.
Make coverage clear
The launch announcement explicitly says not all inventory had been added yet. Preserve that kind of limitation when opening a tool to customers: a partial listing should not imply that an absent item is unavailable. The archive describes a fast build, but does not establish ongoing completeness or reliability. Use the current official store tools for current stock, and treat this account as a record of how the visibility problem was approached.