How do I price my Pokémon collection to sell?

Split it into three piles: cards worth pricing individually (usually £5+), bulk that sells by weight or set, and sealed product. Comp the singles from completed sales of the exact printing and condition, then value bulk from recent lot sales rather than by adding up individual comps.

What is my Pokémon collection worth?

The realistic answer is a range, not a number: a fast trade-in to a shop typically lands well below the sum of retail comps, while selling card by card yourself recovers more but takes weeks of listing, packing and fee deductions. COMPED shows the comp for each card so you can build both totals honestly.

Should I sell to a shop or list the cards myself?

A shop pays less because it takes on the time, the fees and the risk of not selling. Listing yourself recovers more per card but costs marketplace fees, postage, packaging and your own hours. Price the collection first, then decide which trade-off you actually want.

Is it worth grading cards before selling?

Only when the grade-specific slab comp exceeds the raw comp plus grading and postage costs, and the card realistically grades high. Compare the raw comp against real sales of that grade rather than assuming a multiplier.

How do I price bulk Pokémon cards?

Bulk is priced as a lot, not as a sum of comps. Look at completed sales of comparable lots — same era, same rough count, same condition mix — and treat the individual comps only as a check that nothing valuable is hiding in the pile.

How do I avoid being lowballed?

Know the comp and the sale count behind it before you take an offer. An offer is easy to argue with when you can say what the last five completed sales of that exact printing were, in your currency.

Do I need to sell to find out what my cards are worth?

No. Comps come from other people's completed sales, so you can value the whole collection without listing a single card.

Selling

Selling your Pokémon collection: price it before you part with it

Most collections are sold badly, not because the cards were bad, but because nobody priced them properly first. Here is how to work out what a collection is really worth, and what each selling route actually pays.

Comp a card All comping guides

Step one: split the collection into three piles

01
Price-individually pile
Holos, full arts, secret rares, vintage, graded slabs and anything you suspect clears roughly £5. These get comped one at a time, on the exact printing and condition.
02
Bulk pile
Commons, uncommons, played modern holos. This sells as a lot by count or weight, and is valued from completed lot sales — never by adding up individual comps.
03
Sealed pile
Boxes, ETBs, tins, loose packs. Sealed is its own market with its own sold history, and unsearched vintage packs behave nothing like modern product.

Step two: comp the singles honestly

Confirm the printing, not just the Pokémon: edition, finish, language and collector number.
Grade condition as the market would, not as you would like it. Vintage cards you would call 'good' usually price as Lightly to Moderately Played.
Use completed sales in your own currency. A converted US market price is not what a UK buyer pays.
Note the sale count. A single-sale comp is a hint; six recent sales is a price.
For slabs, use sales of that exact grader and grade, not a multiple of the raw price.

Step three: understand what each route pays

What each selling route typically returns against comp
Selling route	Typical return	Cost to you
Listing singles yourself	Closest to comp	Weeks of listing, fees, postage, disputes
Auction, no reserve	Comp or below on quiet nights	Fast, but you accept the room's mood
Shop or vendor buy-in	A trade margin below comp	One transaction, paid the same day
Bulk lot	Well under summed comps	Fastest way to clear volume
Selling graded	Grade-specific comp	Grading fees, postage and months of waiting

None of these is wrong. A vendor margin is the price of certainty and speed. The mistake is not knowing which one you accepted.

Step four: keep a record

Before anything leaves the house, log what you had and what it comped at. Collectors who track their collection get a defensible figure for insurance, for splitting an inheritance, and for spotting when a card that was worth £8 last year is worth £40 today. COMPED's vault does this continuously; a spreadsheet with comps and dates works too.

How COMPED builds a number

UK sold data first. Completed eBay UK sales in GBP are the primary evidence. If a card is thinly traded, the search widens to global sold data rather than falling back to a guess.
Exact printing only. Set, number, language, finish and edition must match — 1st Edition, Shadowless, 4th print and Unlimited are priced as separate cards, as are reverse holos and regional printings.
Outliers scrubbed. Digby drops damaged copies, lots, proxies, mislabelled graded sales and single freak results before the weighted comp is calculated.
Condition-anchored. Vintage raw cards are anchored to realistic played grades rather than pretending every copy is Near Mint; modern cards anchor to NM.
Community-verified. Vendors and collectors confirm prices in the Price Trainer, and that consensus nudges the headline comp on cards where sales are sparse.
Uncertainty is shown, not hidden. When there is not enough comparable evidence, COMPED says so and shows a range with the sale count behind it.

Keep reading

Price cards instantly

Real-time comps without listing anything.

Graded slab comps

Decide whether grading pays before you send cards away.

UK prices in GBP

What a British buyer actually pays.

Why our comps are more accurate

The evidence stack behind every number.

Common questions

How do I price my Pokémon collection to sell?: Split it into three piles: cards worth pricing individually (usually £5+), bulk that sells by weight or set, and sealed product. Comp the singles from completed sales of the exact printing and condition, then value bulk from recent lot sales rather than by adding up individual comps.
What is my Pokémon collection worth?: The realistic answer is a range, not a number: a fast trade-in to a shop typically lands well below the sum of retail comps, while selling card by card yourself recovers more but takes weeks of listing, packing and fee deductions. COMPED shows the comp for each card so you can build both totals honestly.
Should I sell to a shop or list the cards myself?: A shop pays less because it takes on the time, the fees and the risk of not selling. Listing yourself recovers more per card but costs marketplace fees, postage, packaging and your own hours. Price the collection first, then decide which trade-off you actually want.
Is it worth grading cards before selling?: Only when the grade-specific slab comp exceeds the raw comp plus grading and postage costs, and the card realistically grades high. Compare the raw comp against real sales of that grade rather than assuming a multiplier.
How do I price bulk Pokémon cards?: Bulk is priced as a lot, not as a sum of comps. Look at completed sales of comparable lots — same era, same rough count, same condition mix — and treat the individual comps only as a check that nothing valuable is hiding in the pile.
How do I avoid being lowballed?: Know the comp and the sale count behind it before you take an offer. An offer is easy to argue with when you can say what the last five completed sales of that exact printing were, in your currency.
Do I need to sell to find out what my cards are worth?: No. Comps come from other people's completed sales, so you can value the whole collection without listing a single card.