Pokémon card value: how much is my card worth? Five things decide it

1. The exact printing: set symbol and collector number

Look at the bottom of the card. A modern card shows a collector number like 100/101 and a small set symbol; cards since Sword & Shield add a regulation mark letter, and Scarlet & Violet added a three-letter set code. That number and symbol name one printing, and it is the printing that has a price, not the character. A Pikachu can be worth a few cents or a few thousand dollars depending on which one it is.

Vintage cards from Base Set carry no set symbol. Jungle, Fossil, and every later set do. No symbol and no black promo star means Base Set, and the next questions matter more than usual.

What the Pokémon card scanner reads

2. Rarity and finish: circle, diamond, star, holo, reverse holo

The small shape near the number is the printed rarity: circle common, diamond uncommon, star rare, with extra star marks for the modern Double Rare, Ultra Rare, Illustration Rare, Special Illustration Rare, and Hyper Rare tiers. Then look at the foil. A holo has the shine on the artwork only; a reverse holo has it on everything except the artwork; a non-holo has none.

In older sets a reverse holo of a rare can be worth several times the non-holo, and in modern sets the Illustration Rares and Special Illustration Rares are where most of a set's value sits.

Every rarity symbol, with where it sits on the card

3. Edition and variant: 1st Edition, shadowless, promos, Japanese

On the earliest print run of a Wizards-era set, a 1st Edition stamp sits at the lower-left corner of the artwork. Base Set also has shadowless cards, which lack the drop shadow on the right edge of the art frame, and a final print with a 1999-2000 copyright line. Each of those is a different card with a different price, and the gap between a 1st Edition and an unlimited Charizard is the largest in the hobby.

Promos carry a black star in place of a rarity symbol. Japanese cards use their own numbering and sell in their own market, usually at different prices from the English print. The Pikachu above, from a 2021 Japan Post stamp set, was never printed in English at all.

How to tell 1st Edition and shadowless in under a minute

4. Condition: Near Mint or not

Raw cards are priced on a scale from Near Mint through Lightly Played, Moderately Played, and Heavily Played to Damaged. The step from Near Mint to Lightly Played is usually the expensive one. Check the corners for whitening, the edges for nicks, the surface for scratches under a lamp, and the back, which wears before the front.

CardLens estimates the condition from a photo of the front. The back is yours to check.

Near Mint versus Lightly Played, with examples

5. Graded or raw

A card in a PSA, BGS, or CGC slab is priced by its grade, and a PSA 10 of a popular vintage holo can sell for many times a raw Near Mint copy. That premium is what makes grading worth the fee on some cards and pointless on most modern ones. If your card is already slabbed, the label is the fact that matters, and CardLens reads it.

If it is raw, look at how raw and graded copies of the same printing have been selling before deciding whether to send it in.

Pre-grade a card before you pay PSA

What Pokémon cards are worth money

Bulk is bulk: commons, uncommons, and most non-holo rares from any era sell by the pound. The first tier that moves is reverse holos of popular Pokémon and modern Illustration Rares, a few dollars to a few tens. Above that sit vintage holos in clean condition, Special Illustration Rares, and Japanese promos, from tens into hundreds. At the top are 1st Edition and shadowless Base Set holos, Gold Star cards, early Japanese promos, and trophy cards, where a raw copy runs four figures and a PSA 10 goes far beyond.

A scan tells you in a few seconds which tier your card belongs to, and shows the sales that put it there.