A listed price is what a seller asks for a Pokémon card. A sold price is what a buyer actually paid. The two can lie far apart, and understanding the difference is one of the most important things when reading price data.
Listed price
Listed prices, also called asking prices, are what sellers have put on cards that are for sale. Anyone can list a card at any price, and a high listing does not mean anyone is willing to pay it. Sellers may also price high on purpose, for instance because they are in no hurry or are open to negotiation. Listings can stay up for a long time without selling, and it is exactly the overpriced ones that do.
The lowest listed price, often called the floor or the "from" price, is still useful: it shows what a buyer would have to pay today to get a copy from a willing seller in a given condition.
Sold price
A sold price is a completed sale. It is an actual data point: a buyer and a seller agreed. TCGplayer and Cardmarket show their own figures based on completed sales. What is available, and how far back it goes, varies by platform.
Sold prices have weaknesses too:
- Auctions can end unusually low or high because of timing, few bidders, or two bidders who both really want the card.
- A sale to an acquaintance, or a sale later cancelled, can sit in the data.
- Sales with the wrong title or wrong condition can mix different cards.
- A single sale says little about the next one, especially for cards that rarely trade, see Liquidity.
How the difference is used
When the listed price sits clearly above what the card actually sells for, sellers and buyers disagree. When sold prices and listings are close, the market is often more active. Collectors commonly compare both before assessing a card, and look at how many sales a figure rests on and how old they are.
The finished market price a platform displays is normally derived from sold prices, listings or both. Check the platform's definition. For series over time, see Price history. Remember that both sold and listed prices are usually quoted without shipping and fees.
Limitations
The data is never complete. Private sales outside platforms, card shops and closed groups do not appear in any statistics. Use the figures as a rough picture, not as a verdict on a single card.
Last reviewed October 25, 2026. This article explains how the market works. It is not advice to buy or sell anything in particular.