How to price your cards to sell

Pricing a card is a balance. Ask too much and the listing sits unsold; ask too little and you give away value. There is no single correct number, but there is a sensible range for almost every card, and you can find it in a few minutes by looking at the market price, the listings already competing with yours, recent price moves and the condition of your copy. This guide walks through that process using the tools on CardTrading.

Start with the market price

Open the card's page and look at the market price. On CardTrading this is the mid price of external market data where it is available, and otherwise the low. It always refers to a Near Mint, non-foil copy, and it is shown with the date it last changed at its source, so you can tell how fresh it is.

Next to it you will find:

• Market low and Market high: the low and high ends of the market data, which show how widely prices for the card are spread.
• Price history: a chart of how the market price has moved over time.

Read these together. A card whose market price has been flat for months and has a narrow low-to-high range is easy to price: you will rarely go wrong close to the market price. A card with a wide range, or a price that jumped last week, needs more care, because the "right" price is less settled.

Remember that the market price is a reference, not a promise. It summarises data from elsewhere; what a buyer on CardTrading will pay today also depends on the copies already listed here.

Check the competition

Look at the listings for the same card on CardTrading. "From €X" is always the cheapest active listing on the site, so it is the price a buyer sees first. Compare like with like: the same printing, language, condition and finish (foil or non-foil).

If your copy is in the same condition as the cheapest listing, pricing at or just below it makes yours the obvious choice. If yours is in better condition, you can reasonably ask more, and your photos and description should make that difference clear. If there are no listings at all, the market price is your main guide.

Don't confuse the two labels: "From €X" is what someone is asking on CardTrading now, while "Mkt" is a market price from external data. When the cheapest listing is far below the market price, it may be a quick-sale price, a card in worse condition or a different printing, so read the listing before you follow it down.

Adjust for condition, foil and grading

Condition

Because the market price is for Near Mint, a copy with wear should be priced below it. How far below depends on the card and on how much buyers care about condition; collectors are usually stricter than players. As a starting point, CardTrading's portfolio tracker estimates other conditions from the Near Mint price with these factors: Mint ×1.05, Lightly Played ×0.85, Moderately Played ×0.70, Heavily Played ×0.55 and Damaged ×0.40. These are CardTrading's estimates for valuing a collection, not a market rule, so use them as a rough guide and check what similar copies are listed for. If you are unsure how to grade your card, see card conditions explained.

Foil

The market price refers to the non-foil version. In many games, foil versions are scarcer and trade at their own prices, which can be higher or, for some cards, close to the non-foil price. Price a foil against other foil listings of the same card rather than against the non-foil market price.

Graded cards

A graded card is sold as its own product: the grade, the grading company and the certification all matter to buyers, and prices for different grades of the same card can be far apart. Grading scales such as CGC's run from 10 down to 1 and describe each grade by centering, corners, edges and surface, so a higher grade is a statement about the card's condition that a raw Near Mint copy does not carry. Do not price a graded card from the raw market price; compare it with listings for the same card at the same grade and from the same company.

Read the market's direction

Prices move, and a quick look at the trend helps you avoid listing into a falling market or underpricing a card that is rising.

• Movers lists the biggest market price rises and falls over 7 and 30 days, for cards from €2. If your card is here, its price is changing fast; check the price history before you list.
• Signals lists cards with steady momentum, cards near their recent low and cards whose price has been stable.
• Indices show the overall direction of each game's market: each index follows the most valuable cards of the game, equally weighted, from a base of 100. It tells you whether the game's market as a whole is moving, not what one card is worth.

None of these predicts the future. They describe what has already happened, which is useful context for a price, not a forecast.

Work out what you will receive

Before you settle on a price, check what reaches you after fees. On CardTrading the seller fee is a flat 4.5% of the item price, VAT included, and it is not charged on shipping. There are no listing fees and no monthly fees. The sell form shows the amount for your price: "You'll receive €X after the 4.5% fee".

For example, a card listed at €20.00 carries a fee of €0.90, so you receive €19.10 for the item. Buyers pay a €0.49 buyer protection fee per order on top of the price and shipping; it does not come out of your payout. See fees for the details.

Pricing strategies

• Price to sell quickly: at or just below the cheapest comparable listing. Useful for cards you want to move, or cards whose price is falling.
• Price at the market: close to the market price, adjusted for condition. A reasonable default for most cards.
• Price for the best copy: above the market when your copy is clearly better than what is listed, and your photos show it.
• Review your listings: if a card has not sold after a while, look again at the competition and the price history and adjust.

Whatever you choose, describe the card honestly and include clear photos of the front and back. An accurate description does more for a sale than a small price cut, and it avoids disputes later. No price guarantees a sale; these steps simply make it more likely that your card is priced where buyers are looking.