The deal, in plain words
This is a small site run by one person. These terms are written to be read, not to be skipped. If any part of it seems unfair, tell me.
Last updated 27 September 2026
Who runs this
phxcardmonster.com is operated by an individual based in Phoenix, Arizona, trading as PHX Card Monster. It is not a company, a financial firm, a licensed advisory practice, or a clinical service.
By using the site you agree to what follows. If you do not, the right move is to close the tab, which costs you nothing.
You must be 18 or older to use this site.
What the Compass is, and is not
The Card Collector Compass is a self-reflection tool. It describes patterns in how you answered a set of questions about your own collecting.
It is not validated. This is stated plainly on the methodology page and again on the cover of every report. The items were written from published research on collecting, passion, and financial risk tolerance, but no data has yet tested whether the scales measure what they claim to measure. That work requires responses, and the pilot is how those responses are gathered.
What that means for you, concretely: treat the output as a structured prompt for thinking about your own behavior, not as a measurement. If a score describes you, that is useful. If it does not, you are the authority on you, and the instrument is wrong. Both outcomes are information.
The archetype labels, risk indicators, and narrative text are descriptive language applied to score patterns. They are not diagnoses, predictions, or statements of fact about you.
Not financial advice
Nothing on this site is investment, tax, or financial advice, and nothing on it should be treated as a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell anything.
The trading card market is unregulated, illiquid, and volatile. Prices are driven largely by sentiment. A card has no cash flow, no earnings, and no floor. Money you put into cards is money you can lose, in full.
The Compass may tell you that your answers pattern toward higher financial exposure. That is a description of your reported habits, not a forecast, not a valuation, and not permission to act. Decisions about your money are yours, and if they are large, talk to someone licensed to advise on them.
I do not appraise cards, authenticate cards, grade cards, or guarantee any outcome from anything written here.
Not a clinical assessment
The Compass does not screen for, detect, diagnose, or rule out any mental health condition, including gambling disorder or compulsive buying.
It has no clinical items, no clinical cut-scores, and no clinical validation. It is not a substitute for talking to a professional, and a reassuring score is not evidence that nothing is wrong.
If your collecting is hurting your finances, your relationships, or your peace of mind, that matters more than any score this site can produce. Talking to someone you trust, or to a doctor or licensed therapist, is a reasonable next step, and a more useful one than retaking an assessment.
Pricing during the pilot
There is one report, and it is free during the pilot. No payment, no card details, nothing to cancel.
When paid access begins, the price will be shown before you are asked for anything, and these terms will be updated with refund terms at the same time. Nothing you do now creates a charge later. The watch-out section of the report will stay free whatever the price becomes.
What is yours
Your report is yours. Download it, print it, share it, post it, quote it, feed it to an AI assistant, or delete it. No restrictions.
Your answers, if you consented to contribute them, are stored anonymously and used only to test and improve the instrument, as described in the privacy policy. If findings from that data are ever published or written up, they will be aggregate. There is nothing individual in the data to identify, and no way to identify it.
What is mine
The instrument itself, the items, the scoring rules, the report design, the written content on this site, the PHX Card Monster name, and the logo are mine and are not licensed for reuse.
Specifically, please do not copy the assessment items, rebuild the scoring, republish the site's writing as your own, or run the Compass as your own product or service. If you want to use it with a group, a club, a shop, or a class, ask. The answer is likely yes.
Quoting a paragraph with a link back is fine and always welcome.
Reasonable use
Do not attack the site, scrape it at volume, submit automated or junk responses to the assessment, or try to poison the research data. The last one is the only one that actually hurts, because it degrades a dataset that other collectors are contributing to honestly.
Responses that look automated or incomplete are rejected or screened out. That is a quality control measure, not a judgment about anyone.
When things break
The site is provided as it is, with no warranty of any kind. It may go down, contain errors, or produce a report that does not describe you well.
To the fullest extent the law allows, I am not liable for losses arising from your use of this site, including financial losses from decisions about buying, holding, or selling cards. You are responsible for your own money and your own choices.
If something is broken, tell me and I will fix it. That is the realistic remedy on a site like this one, and I would rather hear about it than not.
Law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Arizona, United States. Any dispute belongs in the state or federal courts located in Maricopa County, Arizona.
If a court finds part of these terms unenforceable, the rest still stands.
If these terms change materially, the date at the top changes. Continuing to use the site after that means you accept the updated version.