Methodology: how prices are calculated

A price is only useful if you know where it comes from. Here is exactly how PikaRadar computes its values.

1. One value per card language

The same card is not worth the same in French, English or Japanese. PikaRadar tracks three separate catalogues: each page is one card in one language, with its own scan and prices. We never use a US price to value a French card, or vice versa.

2. Sources by language

For international sets, Cardmarket groups every European language under one product, and its sales statistics (trend, 1, 7 and 30-day averages) blend them all. For a French card we therefore only use offers of French copies.

3. The PikaRadar value of a French card

• Completed sales on eBay.fr: sold cards only, never unsold ended listings. Each sale is checked on its photo and title (right card, right number, language read on the card itself, raw rather than graded). We average the sales of the last 30 days, or 90 days when there are fewer than three. Shipping is excluded, and sales closed through an accepted offer are left out because their real price is not public.
• Cardmarket offers of French copies in Near Mint condition or better: we take the median asking price, leaving out graded copies flagged by the seller.

Sales count double:

value = (median Cardmarket offer + 2 × average eBay sale) ÷ 3

Without any recent eBay sale, the value is the median Cardmarket offer minus 5%, the usual negotiation margin when buying.

Cardmarket offers of French copies are collected for cards worth at least €10, roughly every two weeks. For a card with neither an eBay sale nor a collected French offer yet, we show a clearly labelled provisional estimate: the Cardmarket price guide across all European languages, minus 5%. It is replaced as soon as French data comes in.

4. Graded cards

We archive every completed sale of a graded card with its grading company and grade: PSA, PCA, CCC and Collect Aura, from 8 to 10 in half points. The card, its language, the grading company and the grade are checked on the photo, reading the slab label rather than the listing title. A given grade does not sell every month, so each graded value is the median of the last 3 months of sales, widened to 6 then 12 months while there are fewer than two. A single sale is shown with its date. After 12 months without a sale, no value is shown rather than an outdated one.

5. English and Japanese cards

• All prices are converted to euros at the daily ECB reference rate.
• With at least three sources, those more than 60% away from the median are discarded.
• The value is the weighted average of the remaining sources.
• Graded values (PSA 10, PSA 9) are computed separately from graded sales or listings only.

6. Changes

7 and 30-day changes compare today's value with our history. While a card's history is shorter than the period, the change reflects Cardmarket's sales momentum (recent average vs 30-day average).

7. PikaRadar indices

Indices track the value of a basket of the most valuable cards, chain-linked daily, base 1,000 at launch.

8. Limits

Values assume Near Mint condition and are indicative only — not investment advice. Spotted an error? Let us know.