Guide
Why the same card has different prices
"How much is this card?" usually has several answers. The same name and number can come in different printings, conditions and languages, and each is its own market. Most price mistakes come from comparing the wrong two.
Printings
TCGplayer lists each printing of a card as its own product variant with its own price:
- Normal: the standard, non-foil card.
- Holo (Holofoil): the picture itself is foil. For many rares this is the only printing.
- Reverse Holo: the card around the picture is foil instead. In older sets reverse holos were printed in small numbers and can be worth far more than the normal card.
- 1st Edition and Unlimited: in the early English sets, the first print run carries a 1st Edition stamp and is usually worth much more than the later Unlimited run.
- Pattern reverse holos: some recent sets add special reverse foils with a Poké Ball or Master Ball pattern. They're much scarcer than the regular reverse and priced separately.
- Promos, stamps and staff versions: a set logo stamp, a "Staff" or prerelease stamp, or a different promo number makes a separate product.
Zard Charts always prices the exact printing you pick, and the share cards name the printing so nobody mistakes a $5 card for its $300 reverse.
Conditions
TCGplayer sells singles in five conditions: Near Mint (NM), Lightly Played (LP), Moderately Played (MP), Heavily Played (HP) and Damaged (DMG). A played copy sells for less than a near-mint one, sometimes far less on valuable cards, because collectors pay most for clean copies and graders reward them.
Zard Charts prices cards in near mint unless it tells you otherwise, because that's what "the price of a card" usually means and what a fresh pull should be. In the latest-sales list, every sale is labelled with its condition, so a $55 damaged sale never passes as the market.
Languages
English and Japanese cards are separate products with separate markets. Japanese sets are often released earlier, with different set names and numbering, and their prices can be higher or lower than the English equivalents. Zard Charts keeps them apart: a Japanese card is only ever priced from Japanese sales.
Raw vs graded
A graded card (PSA, BGS, CGC and others) is sealed in a slab with a grade from 1 to 10. A PSA 10 can sell for many times the raw price; a low grade can sell for less than raw. TCGplayer's market prices are for raw cards, so they're the right comparison for a pack pull, not for a slab. For graded sales, look at that grade's own sales.
A 30-second checklist
- Match the set and number, not just the name.
- Match the printing: normal, holo, reverse, 1st Edition, pattern.
- Match the language.
- Match the condition, and assume near mint only if it really is.
- Compare with what copies sold for, not what they're listed at.