Date Variables Reference

Date variables let you build rules that are sensitive to time — how long a card has been in your inventory, when it was last sold, or when it was released. This is essential for clearance pricing, new-release strategies, and stale-inventory management.

How Date Conditions Work

A date condition compares a date variable against a relative date constant (or another date variable) using a comparison operator.

OLDEST_COPY_INSERTION_DATE < FOUR_WEEKS_AGO

This reads: "The oldest copy was added to inventory before four weeks ago" — in other words, you've had this card for over a month.

Operators

Time Direction

Dates go from past → present → future. A date that is "less than" another date happened earlier:

TWO_MONTHS_AGO < ONE_WEEK_AGO < TODAY

So OLDEST_COPY_INSERTION_DATE < FOUR_WEEKS_AGO means the insertion date is further in the past than four weeks ago.

Your Listing Dates

These variables come from your ManaPool inventory data.

Common Patterns

"In inventory for over 4 weeks"

OLDEST_COPY_INSERTION_DATE < FOUR_WEEKS_AGO

"Recently restocked (within the last week)"

NEWEST_COPY_INSERTION_DATE > ONE_WEEK_AGO

"Hasn't sold in 3 months"

LATEST_COPY_SOLD_DATE < THREE_MONTHS_AGO

Product & Set Release Dates

These variables come from product catalog data, not your inventory.

Product vs. Set Release Date

Most of the time, these are the same. But they differ in important cases:

• The List reprints — cards printed in a later set's boosters. The product release date is when the reprint became available, not when the card was originally released.
• Secret Lair drops — released on their own schedule, independent of any Standard set.
• Buy-a-Box promos — may be released slightly before or after the main set.
• Prerelease promos — sometimes available before the set's official release.

Use SET_RELEASE_DATE when you want to apply rules based on when a set dropped. For example, "discount cards from sets older than 6 months."

Use PRODUCT_RELEASE_DATE when you care about when the specific printing became available. For example, "premium pricing on products released in the last 2 weeks."

Common Patterns

"Card is from a set released in the last month"

SET_RELEASE_DATE > FOUR_WEEKS_AGO

"Old set — released over 6 months ago"

SET_RELEASE_DATE < SIX_MONTHS_AGO

Relative Date Constants

These aren't variables you read from your data — they're fixed reference points that represent "how far back from today." Use them on either side of a date comparison.

Month-based constants use calendar months, so the exact number of days varies.

Combining Date and Price Conditions

Date conditions become powerful when combined with price and attribute conditions. Some examples:

Clearance pricing for stale NM inventory:

IF OLDEST_COPY_INSERTION_DATE < FOUR_WEEKS_AGO
   AND CONDITION IS 'NM'
   AND TCGPLAYER_LOW_NM IS_NOT_NULL
THEN SET PRICE TCGPLAYER_LOW_NM ADJUST -15% LIMIT MIN 0.25

Premium pricing for newly released sets:

IF SET_RELEASE_DATE > TWO_WEEKS_AGO
   AND CONDITION IS 'NM'
THEN SET PRICE TCGPLAYER_MARKET_NM ADJUST +5%

Aggressive discount for cards that haven't sold in months:

IF LATEST_COPY_SOLD_DATE < THREE_MONTHS_AGO
   AND CURRENT_PRICE <= 2.00
THEN SET PRICE 0.50

Null Considerations

Date variables can be null:

• LATEST_COPY_SOLD_DATE is null if you've never sold a copy of that card.
• PRODUCT_RELEASE_DATE or SET_RELEASE_DATE may be null for products not yet in HippoLink's catalog.
• OLDEST_COPY_INSERTION_DATE is null if there's no inventory tracking data for this item.

Add a null check before using a date variable in a condition:

IF LATEST_COPY_SOLD_DATE IS_NOT_NULL
   AND LATEST_COPY_SOLD_DATE < THREE_MONTHS_AGO
THEN ...

What's Next

• Price Variables Reference — all price variables for market data.
• Real-World Examples — complete rules using date conditions.