Card Pricing FAQ
How Pokemon card prices work, what affects value, and how Trainer Galaxy sources its data.
How are Pokemon card prices determined?↓
Pokemon card prices are driven by supply and demand on secondary marketplaces like TCGPlayer. The 'market price' is a rolling average of recent completed sales. Factors include rarity, condition, the Pokemon featured, competitive playability, and overall collector demand.
Why do Pokemon card prices change?↓
Prices fluctuate based on tournament results (a card winning a big event drives demand), new set releases (which can power-creep older cards), seasonal trends, YouTube and social media hype, and the overall health of the Pokemon TCG market.
What is the difference between market, low, mid, and high price?↓
Market price is a rolling average of recent sales — the most reliable indicator of actual value. Low is the cheapest current listing, mid is the median listing price, and high is the most expensive listing. Market price is what you should reference for buying and selling.
How often are prices updated on Trainer Galaxy?↓
Trainer Galaxy updates card prices from TCGPlayer data approximately every 12 hours. This ensures you see near-real-time pricing for buying and selling decisions.
What affects a Pokemon card's value the most?↓
The biggest factors are: the Pokemon on the card (Charizard, Pikachu, and Umbreon are always premium), the card's rarity tier (Special Art Rares and Illustration Rares are most valuable), condition (Near Mint vs played), and whether the card sees competitive play.