What sets the price of a Pokémon card
Two cards with the same name can sit far apart in price. Seven things decide it, and a price is only meaningful when you match all of them to your card.
- Set and number
- The set and the card number on the bottom of the card identify the exact card. Reprints in other sets are different cards with different prices.
- Rarity
- Holo, ultra rare and secret rare versions of a card are priced apart from the common one.
- Condition
- Raw cards are NM, LP, MP, HP or DMG. Each step down usually lowers the price.
- Grade
- A slabbed card is priced by its grade and company. A PSA 9 and a PSA 10 are different items.
- Language
- An English card and a Japanese card of the same design are not priced alike.
- Printing
- First editions, reverse holos and special stamps change the price of the same card.
Price guide versus sold history
A price guide gives you a reference point. On MYNTED, the price guide comes from our Collectr partnership, and it is refreshed daily. It is a starting number, not a promise.
Sold history shows what the same card actually sold for on MYNTED. When you read the two together, you see the gap between the guide and what collectors paid. Sold history is matched by grade, so a graded item is compared with sales at the same grade.
How to check a card with the price checker
Sign in and open the price checker. Search for your card, choose its condition or grade, and it shows a price guide and MYNTED sold history side by side. You can make 10 checks per 3 hours.
Check the set and number first, then the condition. Most wrong valuations come from comparing against the wrong printing or a better condition than the card really has.
Why an auction finds the real price
A guide price is an estimate, and an auction is a test of it. Collectors bid with a private maximum through proxy bidding, so the price rises to what the second most interested person is willing to pay. Extended bidding adds 60 seconds when a bid lands near the end, so late interest is not shut out.
There is no buyer's premium, so the price you see is the price the buyer pays. If you want to find out what a card is worth, or you want to buy one at a fair price, an auction is the cleanest way.
Common mistakes when pricing a card
The first mistake is using a listing price as a sale price. A card advertised at a high number has not sold for it. Look at sold history, which records what a buyer actually paid.
The second is ignoring condition. A card you think of as near mint may be lightly played once you look at the corners, edges and surface under a bright light. Be strict with yourself, because a buyer will be.
The third is mixing grades. A graded card and a raw card of the same design are separate items, and so are two different grades. Compare like with like, and if there are few sales, treat the price guide as a range rather than a single number.
Selling or grading a card you have checked
If the price is worth it, sell it. Listing is from sell.mynted.me, with no listing fees and a flat 10% at auction. If the card looks like a high grade and the price supports it, consider grading first through the Grading Hub, then compare graded sales.
