Every FC season runs on promos: themed sets of special cards released over a week or two. Each one shakes the transfer market in a pattern that repeats with surprising regularity. Learn the pattern and promos become the best trading weeks of the year.
Before the promo: the build-up
In the days before a promo, players stop buying and start saving coins and packs for the launch. Demand falls while supply stays the same, so most prices drift down.
At the same time, fodder often rises, as people expect the promo to bring strong SBCs. See fodder investing.
Launch day: the crash
When the promo goes live, usually at 6pm UK time:
- Players open the packs they’ve been saving, and the market floods with cards.
- People sell their squads to chase the new promo cards.
- Prices on many players drop sharply within an hour or two.
This is the dip that experienced traders wait for.
During the promo: the second wave
A promo usually has several parts: a second team, new SBCs, new objectives. Each new part triggers a smaller version of the same cycle. Prices on the meta players everyone wants usually recover first.
After the promo: the recovery
Once pack opening slows and supply dries up, prices on good players recover. Cards that were in demand before the promo usually come back closest to their old price.
Trading the cycle
- Sell before the crash. If you’re holding expensive players you don’t need, sell them in the days before launch.
- Keep coins ready. You need coins on launch evening, not cards.
- Buy proven players in the dip. Cards people want all year (meta players in popular leagues) recover most reliably. Avoid gimmicky cards.
- Be patient. The recovery can take days. Holding for a week is normal.
- Remember the tax. A 10% recovery is only about 5% profit after EA’s cut.
Snipers love promo weeks
During the crash, lots of players sell in a hurry to grab coins for packs, and many list well under the market price. That’s exactly what sniping catches. Filters on popular golds and the cheapest special cards are especially busy, so it’s a good week to run a few more filters than usual. Read the best FC 27 sniping filters for how to choose them.