How to value a Pokémon card

Practical guide

The Pokémon Trading Card Game has the largest secondhand market of any collectible card game, and also the most traps for anyone valuing a card "by eye": the same artwork can exist in ten different printings with prices ranging from a few cents to several hundred euros. Before looking at condition, you need to work out which card you're holding.

1. Identify set and number

At the bottom of the card there's a number like "4/102" (number in the list / set total) and, on modern printings, a small set code and an expansion symbol. Set and number together identify the card uniquely: they're the first thing to pin down, because everything else about the value depends on it. Very old cards (Wizards era, 1999-2003) have no printed set code, only the expansion symbol and sometimes not even that.

2. First edition, shadowless, unlimited

For the oldest sets the same card can be:

• First edition — identified by the round "Edition 1" stamp on the left side of the artwork. It's the most sought-after printing and worth noticeably more.
• Shadowless — Base Set only: the artwork casts no grey shadow on the right side of the frame. It sits between first edition and unlimited in value.
• Unlimited — the common printing, no stamp and with the shadow. It's the baseline reference version for pricing.

Telling these printings apart is a topic of its own — see the guide on telling Pokémon card variants apart.

3. Holo, reverse holo, non-holo

The same card from a modern set almost always exists as non-holo (no effect), reverse holo (shiny background, matte artwork) and sometimes classic holo (shiny artwork). These are different cards with different prices, even though the printed number is the same. Modern special rarities (illustration rare, special illustration rare, hyper rare) are another level above.

4. Language and region

Japanese, English and other-language European cards are separate markets. On a platform like CardMarket, an English set and the matching Japanese set are two distinct products, with different codes. Language affects price and should always be noted.

5. Then condition

Only after fixing set, printing and language does it make sense to think about condition, which then acts as a multiplier on the reference price — see how card grading works and what a card is worth. For a quick condition estimate you can try a scan: the set identification is cross-checked against a public database, so the card is recognized in the right printing before its grade is even estimated.