Market, listed and sold prices: what each means
What market price, lowest listing, last sale and fair market value mean on TCGplayer, rip sites and Rip.fan's own pages, and which number fits which job.
By the Rip.fan Editorial Team.
Published 5 min read
A sold price is what one buyer paid in one sale. A listed price is what a seller asks, and it may never sell. A market price is a figure a site builds from many sales, by its own method: TCGplayer’s, for one, is built from recent sales on its site, with outliers ignored. On a rip site, a “market value” or “fair market value” is that site’s own estimate, and it can set your trade-in offer or your selling fee.
For the method of finding what a card actually sold for, matching the printing and condition and taking the middle sale, see our guide on how to find what a card sold for.
What are the three kinds of price?
- Sold price. One completed sale. It is real money, but a single sale can be odd: a damaged copy, a lot or a wrong printing. Several matching sales are your comps.
- Listed price. An asking price on a live listing. It shows what sellers hope for and sets a ceiling for buyers, but it isn’t proof of value.
- Market price. A figure a site calculates from sales. It smooths out odd sales, but each site picks its own sales, time span and filters. See market price.
How does TCGplayer label its prices?
TCGplayer shows several figures, and two of them describe the last sale in slightly different ways.
| Label | What TCGplayer says it is | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Market Price | The prices a product has recently sold for on TCGplayer, combined across several recent sales, with outliers ignored | It follows the printing and condition filters you set |
| Most Recent Sale | The price of the last copy sold, for the filters you set | One sale |
| Last Sold Listing (seller tools) | The price plus shipping of the last completed sale, for a product in one condition | Shipping is included here |
| Lowest Listing (seller tools) | The live listing with the lowest combined price plus shipping | An asking price, not a sale |
| Current Quantity and Current Sellers | How many copies are listed, and how many sellers list them | The quantity doesn’t take into account photo listings that hold several copies |
The two “last sale” figures can differ. TCGplayer’s seller tools define the last sold figure as price plus shipping, while Most Recent Sale is the price of the last copy sold, so compare like with like.
The lowest listing needs the same care. TCGplayer sorts listings by price plus shipping, so a card listed at $20.00 with $1.50 shipping ($21.50 combined) is ranked below one at $20.50 with $0.50 shipping ($21.00 combined). A low card price can hide a higher shipping charge.
When is a TCGplayer market price least reliable?
TCGplayer’s own advice to sellers spells out the weak spots:
- Slow sellers. It calls Market Price a good guide for fast-moving cards, such as those from new sets, and less useful for slower, higher-value cards with few sales a month.
- Foil and non-English printings. These sell less often, so their Market Price tends to update less often.
- No recent sales. Its volatility scale marks a product Indeterminate when it hasn’t sold enough in 30 days to judge. Where no Market Price exists at all, TCGplayer’s store pricing tools fall back to the Mid price, then High, then Low.
- Graded cards. TCGplayer sells slabs only as Listings with Photos, each with the seller’s own photos and description. For a slab, use sold listings for the same grader and grade.
In any of these cases, go back to individual sold listings, as our sold-price guide describes. eBay’s UK Seller Centre gives the same rule for its sold listings: compare only the same card in the same condition.
What does a platform’s own “market value” mean?
Some platforms put their own value on a card, and that figure does real work.
Rips by Triumph makes its instant trade-in offer at the app’s own value for the card, set when you bought the pack.
Whatnot uses its own market value when a high-value card from a break goes missing. It sets that value from recent comparable sales on several marketplaces.
The common thread: a platform’s value is its own judgment. Hold it against recent sold prices from elsewhere before you accept an offer based on it.
How do Rip.fan’s pages label prices?
Rip.fan’s price pages cover English Pokémon cards.
- Card pages show a block for each printing, with Low and Market columns for each raw condition: NM, LP, MP, HP and DM. Where no figure exists, the cell reads “No price.” Each page states the date the prices were checked.
- Set pages show an NM market price beside each card that has one.
- The card price lookup gives a card’s NM market price and the printing it applies to. The prices are updated weekly. Graded cards sell for different prices, which its figures don’t cover.
The pages don’t define Low or Market. So don’t read Low as an offer you can expect, or Market as a sale. Use them as dated references, and check recent sold prices before you buy or sell. The movers page will list the biggest changes between weekly checks once there is more than one check to compare. Start browsing from the Pokémon card prices index.
Which number should you use for which job?
| Job | Use | Don’t rely on |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing a listing | Recent sold prices for the same printing and condition, with a site’s market price as a cross-check | The listed median or the highest asks |
| Judging a shop or trade-in offer | The middle of recent matching sales, from more than one place | The platform’s own value alone |
| Setting a declared value to ship | What the card was worth when mailed, from recent sales. USPS won’t pay a claim above that | An asking price |
| A quick check on a raw Pokémon card | Rip.fan’s dated NM market price | Any figure for a graded copy |
For the selling side, our comparison of where to sell cards online shows what TCGplayer’s and Whatnot’s fees leave from a sale, and our guide to selling cards to a local shop shows how shops set offers from these same prices. When you ship, our guide to shipping a graded card yourself explains how to set the declared value.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a rip site's buyback value hold?
At Rips by Triumph, the offer at the app's own value holds for at least 7 days, and a card left past that is traded in at that value.
How does Phygitals show its own market value?
At Phygitals, each listing on its marketplace shows the asking price next to the site's own market value for the card, and each card you hold has a page charting its price history.
Why can TCGplayer's Listed Median sit far above its Market Price?
Copies listed near the Market Price tend to sell, leaving the highest asks behind. The Listed Median is the median of all listed prices, so on an older card with few copies left it can sit far above what buyers pay.
Where can you research more eBay sold prices?
In the Research tab of eBay's Seller Hub. Its Terapeak Product Research has been free to every Seller Hub seller since April 2021 and charts prices and sales volumes over time.