How to read eBay Australia sold prices for Pokémon cards
A sold price is the best evidence of what a card is worth, but only once you know which sales to trust.
Sold prices beat asking prices
Anyone can list a card for any price. A sold listing is different: someone paid that amount. That's why AusTCGpricer starts from eBay Australia's sold listings rather than what sellers are currently asking. Asking prices are still useful, as a ceiling, which is why the app also shows the cheapest copy for sale right now.
Last sold, and why it isn't the whole story
The last sold price is the most recent sale of that exact card in that condition. It tells you where the market is right now, which matters for cards that move quickly after a new set, a tournament result or a YouTube opening.
One sale can be unusual, though. An auction that ended at 3am on a Tuesday can go cheap; a buyer who badly wants to finish a set can overpay. So read the last sold alongside two other numbers:
- The median is the middle sale of the recent ones. Half sold for more, half for less, so one odd sale barely moves it.
- The number of sales. Twenty sales in a month is a price you can lean on. Two sales in three months is a rough guide at best.
If the last sale is far above or below the median, look at that listing before trusting it. AusTCGpricer links to it so you can check the photos, the condition and the seller.
Sales that skew the numbers
Overseas sellers
eBay Australia's results include an "international sellers" section further down the page, with prices converted to Australian dollars. Those cards also cost $20 to $90 to post here, so they aren't the same deal. AusTCGpricer leaves them out.
Best offer accepted
When a seller accepts an offer, eBay keeps showing the original asking price, not what the buyer actually paid. The real price was lower, sometimes a lot lower, so these sales are left out of the median unless you choose to include them.
Lots, bundles and "pick your card" listings
A listing titled "Gastly 48/88, Haunter 49/88 & Gengar 50/88" is three cards for one price. A "choose your card" listing shows the price of the cheapest option. Neither tells you what one card is worth.
Graded and raw mixed together
A PSA 10 copy can sell for ten times an ungraded one. Searching "Charizard ex 199" on eBay mixes them; the app keeps graded sales with their grade and company, and raw sales on their own.
Fakes, proxies and accessories
Proxy cards, metal replicas, mystery packs, display cases and binder extenders all turn up in card searches with the card's name in the title. A $15 "Charizard ex 199/165" among $500 sales isn't a bargain; it's almost never the real card.
Condition changes everything
A Lightly Played card usually sells well below Near Mint, and a damaged one far below that. Sellers don't always say the condition, so when you pick a condition the app only counts sales whose listing says that condition, and shows the latest such sale even if it was a while ago. See card condition and grading, explained.
Postage
Most Australian card sales add a few dollars of postage, and tracked postage for valuable cards costs more. Sold prices on eBay are shown without postage, so compare like with like: a $25 card with free postage and a $20 card with $6 postage are really the same price.