Our data
How our card prices work
Every price on Hardcore Collectors is the TCGplayer market price for that exact printing. Here is where it comes from, how often it changes, and what it does and doesn’t tell you.
Where prices come from
The TCGplayer market price is based on what the card has actually sold for recently on TCGplayer, the largest online marketplace for trading cards in the US. It is not an asking price. Unless a page says otherwise it is the price of an ungraded, Near Mint copy.
We collect it for each game through these card databases, which carry TCGplayer’s prices:
Different versions of a card (reverse holo, 1st Edition, foil, etched, cold foil, parallels) are priced separately where the data has them, and your collection uses the price of the version you own.
How often they update
Every card is checked at least once a day. Magic and Pokémon, the two biggest catalogues, are checked in batches through the day, so a card’s “Updated” date shows when its price last changed.
Each time a price changes we keep a record, which is what the price history charts, the weekly Price Movers and your collection’s value over time are built from. History goes back 90 days.
Why a price can differ from eBay
- eBay listings are what sellers are asking; the market price is what buyers have recently paid.
- Condition matters: a played copy sells for less than Near Mint, and a graded slab for more.
- Shipping and fees aren’t included.
- Cards that rarely sell can swing a lot from one sale to the next.
When there’s no price
Brand-new cards, very rare promos and cards that haven’t sold recently can have no market price yet. We show no price rather than a guess, and it fills in once TCGplayer has sales.
Graded cards
Market prices are for ungraded cards. Graded values (PSA 9, PSA 10) shown on some card pages and the grading calculator are estimates to help you decide whether grading is worth it, not quotes.