our proposal for the Super Effective Platform, told as a story
Scroll to follow the card
Chapter 01 · On the shelf
One card. One record.
Somewhere in your facility sits a holo Mewtwo, one of the rarest cards you hold. Before anyone can win it, the platform has to know it exists.
Staff scan it in. It gets one record, one label and one storage location. That record is never copied into a second list, which is why the same card can never be given to two people.
Shared foundation · built once
A-12A-13A-14B-13B-15C-12C-13C-14
Scan OK Shelf B-14 Status: in stock
this exact copy, not just "a Mewtwo"
Chapter 02 · Phase 1 · PSA Leaderboard
Someone is watching it.
A collector opens your leaderboard: price, population, weekly trend, favourites and comparisons.
We complete your existing prototype and store every price with its date, so pages load instantly and a card's value on any day can be trusted. An AI assistant answers in plain words, only from your own data.
$30,000 · 17 weeks
CollectorAny holo Mewtwos under $5,000 that are rising?
Assistant · your data onlyYes. This one is up 6.2% this week. Want it on your wishlist?
Market value$4,250▲ 6.2% · pop 4,812
Added to wishlist ♥
Chapter 03 · Phase 2 · The purchase
A sealed pack.
They buy a Platinum Lightning pack. Apple Pay, one tap. Nobody knows what is inside. Not even our server.
At purchase we only hold back enough stock in each rarity tier, so a pack is never sold that cannot be filled. Age, location and odds rules are checked right here at checkout.
$100.00
Apple Pay · paid
5% Legendary · 10% Epic
the card is decided when it opens, not before
Chapter 04 · Phase 2 · The rip
Your turn. Rip it.
Legendary.
Swipe across the top of the pack. This is the moment the whole product is built around.
In that instant the server drew the card, changed its owner and saved it, all in one step. Then the animation played.
A dropped connection or a double tap can never lose the card or award it twice. In the real build this is a 3D foil pack with sound and haptics.
$55,000 · 18 weeks
Swipe to rip →
★★ Legendary
Yours on reveal
Chapter 05 · Phase 2 · Dex and Vault
It never moved.
The Mewtwo is still on shelf B-14. What changed is one line: its owner.
The Vault shows what a collector owns right now, with live value. The Dex shows everything they have ever pulled, set by set, with the gaps greyed out. Both read from the same record, so they can never disagree.
Vault · owner @misty_k · est. $4,250
In vault
Dex: 35 of 80
Chapter 06 · Phase 3 · World Trade Station
A better offer.
Another collector offers an Alakazam plus $150. She accepts. The swap takes one step.
Version 1 trades cards already in the Vault, as you confirmed. Both cards are locked while the offer is open, your fee is collected, and ownership swaps. Nothing is mailed or inspected, because you already hold both cards.
$35,000 · 12 weeks
Offers@misty_k
Offers@brock_91
+ $150
⇄
OfferAcceptedLockedFee paidSwapped
Chapter 07 · Out the door
Ship it home.
The new owner asks for the card. Staff scan it to pick it, and the system blocks the wrong card from going in the box.
Intake · scanned to shelf B-14
Awarded · pack opened by @misty_k
Vaulted · held for @misty_k
Traded · now @brock_91
Shipped · tracking sent
Delivered · history kept for good
Ship to @brock_91 Scan ✓
every move written once, never edited
Why we are different
Where we go further than the brief.
You asked what we would do differently. We don't only build what is written down. Here are eight things we would add, all inside the same price.
01
An AI card assistant
Collectors ask in plain words and get answers from your own data only.
The brief: search and filters.
02
Pages that load instantly
Prices are stored and refreshed in the background.
Today: the leaderboard fetches market data on every visit.
03
Never sell an empty pack
Stock is held per rarity the moment a pack is sold.
The brief: stock goes down when cards are awarded.
04
Draws you can prove
Every draw is logged, with an optional "provably fair" check.
The brief: random results by rarity.
05
Smart recommendations
Packs and cards suggested from what each collector views and pulls.
The brief: favourites and wishlists.
06
Analytics you can act on
Purchase funnel, time per screen and heatmaps, in your accounts.
Today: no analytics in place.
07
Compliance handled for you
Age, location and odds controls, plus a lawyer we brief and coordinate.
The brief: not covered.
08
Filters people can use
A redesigned, mobile-first way to browse and compare.
And this pageThe pack you just ripped was built for this proposal.Game-like 3D goes further, so a named 3D specialist joins for Phase 2. You see their work before you decide.
2016founded
70+people
$2M+delivered on Upwork
Top Ratedon Upwork
ShopifyIMARAIS Beauty, Mor Matcha
Behind the story
What keeps it honest.
Compliance, owned by us
You should not have to figure it out
Age and location controls at checkout
Published odds for every pack line
Refund rules for unopened packs
A log of every draw, for audits
Legal counsel, coordinated by us
Specialist sign-off before launch
Paid packs with random contents and cash between users need a specialist US lawyer. We flag it early, recommend counsel, brief them and build what they require. Their fees are yours; our coordination is included.
Scope, in plain terms
What is covered, what is extra
Anything inside the agreed scope is ours to fix at no extra cost. If a written feature needs more detail, it stays in scope. A feature that appears nowhere in the brief is quoted before any work starts.
The crew
One lead. About eight people.
AbuBakar ButtYour single point of contact. Co-founder, product manager.
Haseeb ShamsTechnical lead. Database and ledger design, security. About 50%.
Abdul Momin, Abdul HadiFull-stack engineers. Full-time.
Qasim FazalQA on every milestone.
PlusUI and UX designer, 3D and WebGL specialist (named in discovery), part-time DevOps.
CodingPixel, founded 2016, 70+ people. Delivery team in Pakistan with overlap to US Eastern time. codingpixel.com
The price of the journey
15 milestones. Paid on approval.
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Discovery · 2 weeks$3,500
Prototype code review, data sources, 3D assets, compliance checklist, final scope with every milestone fixed.
Phase 1 · 17 weeks$30,000
Foundation, design, data and pricing, leaderboard launch, AI assistant. 5 milestones.
Phase 2 · 18 weeks$55,000
Inventory and packs, checkout controls, pack opening, Dex and Vault, shipping, friend trading. 6 milestones.
Phase 3 · 12 weeks$35,000
Listings, offers and counteroffers, settlement and fees, trust tools and launch. 4 milestones.
Development, all three phases · about 11 months $120,000
In-scope fixes are free during the build and for 60 days after each phase. Unwritten features are quoted first. Hosting about $300 to $800 a month, paid to the providers. Every milestone and its cost is in the full plan.
The ending
And all of it is yours.
Source code, designs, 3D assets, databases, customer and transaction data, and every account: GitHub, AWS, Cloudflare, Stripe, domains. Created under or transferred to Super Effective, with IP assigned on payment. We are never the sole administrator of anything.
next: a 2-week discovery, starting the last week of October
All communication through Upwork · Card photos, logo and pack art are Super Effective's own
The full plan
The detail behind the story
The full plan.
Everything in the story, written out: how the system fits together, every milestone with its cost, the timeline, what is and is not included, and what we need from you.
1. How it all connects
One rule holds the platform together: each physical card has exactly one record, and everything a customer sees is a view of that record. Nothing is copied into a second list, so two screens can never disagree.
1 · Card catalogueWhat a card is
Name, set, grade, population, sales and price history. One entry per card type, shared by the leaderboard, packs and trades.
2 · Physical cardThis exact copy
One record per card on your shelf, linked to its catalogue entry, with a scan label, storage location and status.
3 · Ownership ledgerWho owns it, and every move
Intake, awarded, vaulted, traded, shipped. Each move is written once and never edited. The owner is always one person or Super Effective.
↓ everything below reads from the ledger
ViewDex
Every card a customer has ever pulled, by set. A history, so it never shrinks.
ViewVault
The cards a customer owns right now that you are holding, with live value.
ActionTrade
Locks both cards, then changes the owner in the ledger in one step. The card does not move.
ActionShipment
Staff scan the card to pick it. Once delivered it leaves the Vault; its history stays.
Pack opening follows the same rule. When a pack is sold we hold back stock in each rarity tier. At opening, the server draws the cards and changes their owner in a single step, then the animation plays. Haseeb, our technical lead, walks your team through the full database design in discovery.
2. Recommended technology
Part
What we recommend
Why
Web app
Next.js and React, one design system
One codebase for every surface; ready to become iOS and Android apps later.
Database
One PostgreSQL database
Cards, grades, population, sales, prices, users, collections, vault, inventory and listings live together from Phase 1.
Pricing engine
Its own service, every price stored with its date
A card's value on any day can be shown and trusted everywhere.
Inventory
A ledger: every card movement is recorded and never edited
A physical card cannot be assigned twice, and its full history is always available.
Pack results
Drawn on the server at opening, in one step, from live stock
Matches your intended flow. Stock is held per rarity tier at purchase.
Pack opening
React Three Fiber (WebGL) with your 3D pack models
Runs in the browser on phones, with tear animation, rarity effects, sound and haptics.
Payments
Stripe with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Shop Pay
Fast checkout on mobile; fees and cash offers handled in Phase 3.
Shipping
Shipping API for labels and tracking, linked to your Shopify
Your store stays; fulfilment is managed from one admin.
Hosting
AWS with Cloudflare in front
All in accounts owned by Super Effective.
Analytics and AI
Event tracking and heatmaps; an assistant limited to your own data
Decisions based on real behaviour, and faster answers for collectors.
3. Fifteen milestones, each paid on approval
Figures are for a focused first version of each phase, as you suggested. They are confirmed after discovery, once we have reviewed your prototype code, Digital Pack Document assets and data sources.
Discovery$3,500 · 2 weeks
Milestone
What you receive
Time
Cost
D. Discovery
Prototype code review, data source and licensing check, review of existing 3D assets, compliance checklist, full database design, final scope and a fully costed milestone plan.
2 wks
$3,500
Phase 1 · PSA Leaderboard$30,000 · 17 weeks
Milestone
What you receive
Time
Cost
1.1 Foundation
Accounts, database for all three phases, infrastructure in your AWS, GitHub and Cloudflare.
4 wks
$6,000
1.2 Design
Wireframes, design system and final designs for approval.
3 wks
$4,500
1.3 Data and pricing
Card and grade database, population and sales pipelines, pricing engine. Prices are stored, so pages load instantly.
Development, all three phases (excluding discovery) $120,000
Includes the AI assistant, recommendations, analytics and compliance controls. Preliminary range shared earlier: $95,000 to $140,000.
4. Timeline: about 11 months after discovery
StartMonth 3Month 6Month 9Month 11
Discovery
Phase 1
17 weeks
Phase 2
18 weeks
Phase 3
12 weeks
Each phase launches on its own, so the leaderboard is live and building trust while pack opening is being built.
5. Costs by type
Type
Item
Estimate
One-time
Discovery, paid to CodingPixel
$3,500
One-time
Development, all three phases, paid to CodingPixel by milestone
$120,000
Monthly
Hosting on AWS and Cloudflare at launch scale, paid to the providers
$300 to $800 / mo
Monthly
Maintenance after warranty, hourly or a monthly retainer
$40 / hr
Usage-based
Stripe fees, shipping labels, email and SMS notifications, at the providers' published rates
Per transaction
Licensing
Market data: PSA population, sales and price data. Licence held by Super Effective
Confirmed in discovery
Professional
Outside legal counsel, engaged and paid by Super Effective; we recommend, brief and coordinate at no extra charge
Counsel's own fees
Optional, future
iOS and Android apps, set completion rewards, trading of cards held outside the Vault with mail-in inspection, new 3D assets beyond those you provide
Quoted on request
6. Lower early cost, no rebuild later
Phase 1 first version
Leaderboard, search, comparisons, favourites, collections, admin and the AI assistant on the full database. Deeper market tools come later with no rework.
Phase 2 first version
One pack line, one tear animation, reveal effects per rarity, Dex, vault, shipping and friend trading. New packs are added from admin, not by developers.
Phase 3 first version
Vault-to-vault trades with card and cash offers and fees. Outside cards with mail-in inspection come later on the same ledger.
7. Assumptions, exclusions, risks
Assumptions
Prototype code and Digital Pack Document assets are shared in discovery.
3D pack models and pack artwork arrive in a web-ready format.
Card images are used only as you are licensed to use them; the interface design is original.
Wireframes and designs are approved before each phase is built.
Exclusions
Market-data licence fees.
Native iOS and Android apps.
Creating new 3D models or sound design from scratch.
Outside legal counsel's fees (we coordinate; you engage and pay).
Trading of cards held outside the Vault, in version 1.
Changes to your existing Shopify theme.
Major risks
Data licensing terms for population and sales data.
3D performance on mid-range phones.
Keeping enough stock in each rarity tier as pack sales grow.
Regional and age rules for packs with random contents.
What we need from Super Effective
Access by invite to the prototype repository and current data sources.
Brand assets, pack artwork, 3D models and card photography.
Pack rules: card pools and rarity rates per pack line.
One decision-maker for approvals, with feedback inside agreed review windows.
Your operating process for intake and shipping.
Warranty, support and scope
Anything inside the agreed scope is ours to fix at no extra cost, during the build and for 60 days after each phase launches. After that, maintenance at $40 per hour or a monthly retainer.
If a written feature needs more detail than the brief gave, it stays in scope. A feature that appears nowhere in the brief is quoted as a change request before any work starts. Documentation and staff training are included in each launch milestone.
8. Ownership, confirmed
Deliverables you own 100%
Source code
Designs and wireframes
3D models, assets and animations
Databases and data structures
Documentation and infrastructure configuration
Custom integrations
Customer and transaction data
All custom intellectual property, assigned on payment
Accounts created under or transferred to you
GitHub
AWS and Cloudflare
Domains and DNS
Stripe and other payment processors
Analytics, email and notification services
Market-data providers and shipping integrations
App-store accounts, if applicable
We are never the sole administrator of any account. Handoff includes admin access, deployment instructions and database and API documentation.
CodingPixel · Proposal for Super Effective · October 2026 · All communication through Upwork