UK Pokémon card prices, in GBP, from real sales
If you buy and sell in Britain, a US marketplace price converted into pounds is not your price. COMPED starts from completed eBay UK sales and only widens outward when the UK data genuinely is not there.
Updated
Prepared with AI assistance. Source links distinguish marketplace and grading guidance from COMPED’s own pricing method.
Why is a converted US price not a UK comp?
A currency conversion changes the units, not the market in which the card was sold. Compare completed transactions for the exact printing before deciding what a UK buyer might pay.
- The UK buyer pool is smaller, so liquid US cards can sit for weeks here — and thin US cards occasionally sell higher here.
- Import duty, customs handling and international postage are baked into what UK buyers will pay.
- Exchange-rate movement shifts a converted figure without a single card changing hands.
- US marketplace prices lean on active listings from a market you are not selling into.
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.
When is overseas sale evidence useful?
The engine looks for completed UK sales of the exact printing within a recent window. When there are too few genuinely comparable results, it widens to the global market instead of padding the number out — and says which evidence it used. That order matters: global data used as a supplement is useful, while global data used as a default quietly turns a UK valuation into an American one.
How should I price a card to sell in the UK?
- For a quick sale, price at or just under the recent UK sold cluster, not the highest sale you can find.
- Check the sale dates. Three sales this month beat ten from last spring.
- Match condition honestly in your listing photos — most UK returns and disputes start with an optimistic condition claim.
- Deduct fees and postage before you decide whether the number is worth the effort.
What should I record when checking a UK sale?
Record the set, collector number, language, finish and condition before the price. Add the transaction date, currency and delivery treatment. If a listing groups several cards together, its total is not evidence for one single. If the sale is graded, keep the grader and grade beside the amount instead of mixing it into raw-card evidence.
For example, a £20 card with £4 delivery represents a £24 buyer outlay before any other applicable charges. This is an arithmetic example, not a live quote. A seller’s proceeds may differ after costs. Comparing a card-only reference with a delivered purchase price without noting that difference can create an apparent gap that is not a bargain.
Look at more than the most expensive suitable result. Note whether recent observations form a cluster or whether one transaction sits well above the rest. When evidence is limited, a range is more useful than extra decimal places. Return to the underlying listings before a significant purchase or trade, especially if the card’s condition is difficult to judge from photographs.
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Common questions
- Why are UK Pokémon card prices different from US prices?
- Different buyer pool, different supply and different shipping and import costs. Converting a US market price to GBP ignores all three, which is why the converted figure often misses what a card actually sells for on eBay UK.
- What happens if a card barely sells in the UK?
- COMPED widens the search to global sold data rather than showing a stale or invented number, and flags that the comp is based on wider evidence.
- Are eBay fees included?
- No — comps are sale prices. Subtract your selling fees and postage when you work out what you will actually take home.
- Is COMPED a UK company?
- COMPED is built in the UK and priced in GBP, which is why the pricing engine is UK-first by default.
- Why can some UK cards not be priced at all?
- Thin UK sold data. When no comparable UK sale exists, COMPED widens to global sold evidence and flags it; if even that is empty, the card is shown as unpriced rather than converted from an unrelated listing.
- Why are vintage UK comps wider than modern ones?
- Vintage UK sales are sparse and condition-sensitive, so the honest output is a range with a visible sale count. A narrow number on two sales would look more precise and be less true.
- Do UK slab prices follow the UK single prices?
- Not reliably. UK graded sales are a separate, thinner pool, so slab comps are built from graded sales in their own right and shown apart from the raw single.
Which sources explain sales and condition?
TCGplayer’s Market Price explanation describes recent completed transactions on its marketplace. Those sales describe that marketplace, not a guaranteed UK selling price. Use the same printing and condition before comparing a marketplace reference with a GBP comp.
PSA’s official grading standards describe the condition requirements for PSA grades. A raw card is not automatically a PSA 10, and prices from different grades are not interchangeable. These standards explain condition; they do not establish the value of a particular card.
For raw singles, TCGplayer’s condition overview distinguishes Near Mint, Lightly Played, Moderately Played, Heavily Played and Damaged. Check surfaces, edges and corners rather than relying on a seller’s headline.