Where do the prices on Pokémon card price sites come from?
Summary
Each site builds its number from a different pool of sales. TCGplayer's Market Price averages recent sales on TCGplayer, PriceCharting uses sold listings from eBay and its own marketplace, and 130 Point searches eBay sales from the last 90 days. That is why one Japanese card can show three different prices.
What each site counts
TCGplayer says Market Price is based on "actual recent sales" on its own platform. It averages several recent transactions, ignores outliers, and does not use current asking prices. Sales that happen anywhere else are not part of the number.
PriceCharting collects sold listing data from eBay and its own marketplace, then combines the most recent sale, the median, the average, and an age-weighted average. It sorts sales into Ungraded, Grade 7, Grade 8, Grade 9, Grade 9.5, PSA 10, and BGS 10 by reading each listing's title and description, with PSA 10 and BGS 10 kept as separate tiers. Shipping is not included. Japanese cards sit inside the regular Pokémon Cards category, in sets named with a "Pokemon Japanese" prefix, such as Pokemon Japanese 30th Celebration.
130 Point searches eBay sales directly and returns up to 10,000 results covering the last 90 days, the span of sales history eBay makes available.
Search by set and number
A name search on any of these sites pulls in other sets and other rarities. For a Japanese card, the set and collection number from the official Japanese card search let you pick the matching entry out of the list.
Sources
- TCGplayer Market Price
- PriceCharting methodology
- PriceCharting Pokémon Cards category
- 130 Point, Search eBay Sales
- Pokémon Card Game official card search (Japanese)
Details are as published on these pages on the date above and can change. Check the official page before you buy or submit.