Case file · Pokémon TCG / Retail

Crown Collectibles

Sector: Pokémon TCG / Retail
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Status: shipped & running
Live: crowncollectiblesky.com (opens in a new tab)

01Challenge and build

The problem

Crown Collectibles needed an intake site that did the work of an experienced buyer: prove credibility instantly to verified collectors, capture mixed Pokémon collections without friction, and feed every submission into an ops workflow without losing the human voice the desk is known for.

What we built

We built a Next.js 14 marketing and intake site anchored by a written brand voice charter. A multi-step quote flow uploads photos to Vercel Blob, persists to Neon Postgres, runs synchronous PSA / CGC / SGC cert lookups inside a 3.5s budget, and triggers an async gpt-4o-mini vision pass that classifies photos and emails a triage report to ops, not to the seller. Resend handles transactional email, Slack pings the desk, and a signed status page lets sellers check progress without an account.

Next.js 14 build · Quote pipeline · AI vision triage · Local SEO landing pages

Architecture

Seller uploads photos · Vercel Blob
Photos land in object storage from a custom quote form.
Quote record · Neon Postgres
Each submission is stored as a structured record.
Cert lookups · Registry lookups
Graded cards are checked against PSA, CGC, and SGC inside a 3.5-second budget.
Vision triage · AI vision
An async AI pass triages the collection for the ops team, not the seller.
Ops notified · Resend · Slack
The team gets the triaged submission by email and Slack.