PokéBinder Blog
Collector tips, price trends, and behind-the-scenes updates.
10 Undervalued Pokémon Cards to Watch This Year
14/06/2025
Not every hot card hits £100 — but some start climbing quietly and fast. Here are 10 Pokémon cards we’re watching in the UK right now: --- ### 1. **Darkrai VSTAR (Crown Zenith #GG50)** - Seen for: £6.92 - Gorgeous artwork, still cheap, and rising steadily. --- ### 2. **Meowth (151 #52)** - Seen for: £1.75 - Classic, adorable, and trending due to nostalgia + binder goals. --- ### 3. **Arcanine ex (SV1 #32)** - Seen for: £4.88 - Beautiful card and creeping up as Scarlet & Violet interest grows. --- ### 4. **Psychic Energy (EX Power Keepers #104)** - Seen for: £2.40 - Reverse holo energy cards from EX sets are getting scooped by set collectors. --- ### 5. **Machoke (151 #177)** - Seen for: £16.82 - Shockingly high for an uncommon — could be a short print run. --- ### 6. **Blipbug (SV3.5 #48)** - Seen for: £0.99 - Don’t laugh — weird bugs get love from niche collectors. --- ### 7. **Mewtwo (EX Legend Maker #27)** - Seen for: £8.45 - Clean vintage Mewtwo under £10 is becoming rare. --- ### 8. **Scizor (EX Delta Species #4)** - Seen for: £11.91 - Sharp art, low pop, and Delta Species hype always resurfaces. --- ### 9. **Tornadus EX (Black & White #98)** - Seen for: £4.28 - Early EX-era legendaries are finally getting attention. --- ### 10. **Antique Helix Fossil (151 #153)** - Seen for: £1.79 - You already know. Praise Lord Helix. --- Want to track the rise? Use PokeBinder These are live values — verified, not guessed.
How PokéBinder Calculates Daily Pokémon Card Prices
14/06/2025
If you’ve ever looked at 10 listings for the same card and seen **10 different prices**, you’re not alone. We built PokéBinder to cut through that chaos — and deliver a fair, clean value that UK collectors can trust. --- ## Here’s What We Do (Every Day) For each card, we: 1. **Scrape recent eBay UK sold listings** (up to 240 per card, refreshed on a tiered schedule) 2. **Filter**: - Bundles - Slabs - Damaged cards - Foreign languages - Obvious scams or fakes 3. **Remove Outliers** Extreme highs and lows are flagged and excluded using two-pass statistical filtering. 4. **Calculate Medians and Ranges** We log the price range seen and assign a **clean average** you can trust. 5. **Update Every Day** Cards update based on value + priority (Charizard daily, bulk commons less often). --- ## Why It Works - **UK buyers only** - **No guesswork** - **Transparent, visible listings** - **Works for vintage and modern cards** Want to see it live? Hit a cards page and scroll down to the “Market Overview” section. We show you *what sold*, *when*, and *for how much*. --- Still in beta — but built by collectors. Built for the UK.
Top 5 Pokémon Cards Selling Over £100 Right Now (UK Market)
14/06/2025
If you’re holding onto any of these cards — now might be the time to sell. At **PokéBinder**, we track real UK eBay sold listings every day. No fluff, no inflated shop prices — just what buyers are *actually* paying. Here are 5 cards that recently sold for **over £100** in the UK: --- ### 🔥 1. [Charizard ex – 151 #199](/card/sv3pt5-199) - **Latest Sale**: £170.18 - **Seen Range**: £141.07 – £202.40 - **Verified Sales**: 9 - **Why It’s Hot**: It's Charizard. It's 151. It's shiny. Enough said. --- ### ⚡ 2. [Pikachu VMAX – Vivid Voltage #44](/card/swsh4-44) - **Latest Sale**: £123.00 - **Seen Range**: £101 – £148 - **Verified Sales**: 5 - **Why It’s Hot**: Known as “Chonkachu”, this rainbow rare still holds serious weight. --- ### 💧 3. [Blastoise ex – Crystal Guardians #104](/card/excg-104) - **Latest Sale**: £112.76 - **Seen Range**: £98 – £135 - **Verified Sales**: 4 - **Why It’s Hot**: Older EX series cards in clean condition are rising fast. --- ### 🌪 4. [Lugia V Alt Art – Silver Tempest #186](/card/swsh12-186) - **Latest Sale**: £160.42 - **Seen Range**: £130 – £190 - **Verified Sales**: 6 - **Why It’s Hot**: One of the best alt-arts of the Sword & Shield era. --- ### 🧊 5. [Articuno ex – FireRed LeafGreen #114](/card/exfrlg-114) - **Latest Sale**: £105.20 - **Seen Range**: £90 – £120 - **Verified Sales**: 3 - **Why It’s Hot**: Legendary Bird nostalgia with EX-era scarcity. --- Want to track your own cards? Get live UK prices on www.pokebinder.co.uk — and join our collector tools before they go Pro. 🧠 Built by collectors. Built for the UK. No suits, no shortcuts.
Why UK Pokémon Card Prices Are So Different From the US
14/06/2025
### “TCGPlayer says my card is worth $40... so why can’t I sell it for £32?” Welcome to one of the biggest problems UK collectors face. Pokémon pricing tools — even the biggest ones — are built for the **US market**. --- ## 🇺🇸 US Tools = US Data Sites like TCGPlayer, PriceCharting, and even some apps pull prices from: - US eBay listings (not sold) - TCGPlayer sales (US-only) - Graded marketplaces (PSA/BGS slabs) These prices often look **higher** — but they don’t reflect what UK buyers are actually paying. --- ## 🇬🇧 UK Reality = eBay.co.uk Here’s what affects UK prices: - Currency conversion + VAT - International shipping costs - Smaller buyer pool - Lower demand for English cards in Europe Result? **A card that sells for $40 in the US might go for £24–29 in the UK.** --- ## 🧠 PokéBinder Solves This We built PokéBinder to track **real eBay UK sold listings** — filtered for outliers, bundles, and fakes. You get: - Accurate UK market price ranges - Live scraped sales - Real-time updates every day No guesswork. No inflated estimates. Just honest data, made for the UK collector scene. --- **Try it now:** Search for yoy card in our database and see what it’s *actually* worth here.
Behind the Scenes: How PokéBinder Tracks Market Value
13/06/2025
Ever wondered how PokéBinder gets its card values? It’s not just an API call — it’s a layered system designed for accuracy, relevance, and UK-based pricing. --- ### ✅ Step 1: Live eBay Scrapes We scan eBay UK daily for both sold and active listings — gallery mode, max-per-page, UK sellers only. No fluff, no bundles, no PSA noise. --- ### ✅ Step 2: Outlier Filtering We exclude listings that are clearly incorrect: damaged cards, mislabeled bundles, or £0 “sales” with fake quantities. We also flag spikes to avoid single-sale distortions. --- ### ✅ Step 3: Clean Value Calculation We rank pricing sources: 1. eBay sold median (90-day window) 2. eBay active median 3. TCGPlayer fallback Whichever is highest-confidence becomes the "Live Market Estimate." --- ### ✅ Step 4: Daily Tier Updates Each card is scored for tier/frequency — rare cards get scraped daily, bulk commons less often. This keeps the system fast, accurate, and focused. --- ### Final Note: PokéBinder isn’t just a database — it’s a living, evolving price tracker for real collectors. We're not trying to be TCGPlayer. We’re building what TCGPlayer left out.
Top Sealed Pokémon Sets Holding Value in 2025
13/06/2025
Looking to park your cash in sealed Pokémon product? Here are the top 3 sets **actually holding their value** in 2025 — based on live market data and recent eBay sales. --- ### 🔥 1. Hidden Fates (2019) - Still rising year over year - Strong demand for full-art shiny vault - ETBs are consistently clearing £110–£130 Why it holds: Perceived scarcity + iconic shiny cards. --- ### 🔥 2. Crown Zenith (2023) - Modern print, but art-driven demand - Galarian Gallery chase cards = strong sealed demand - Mini tins and ETBs both performing above RRP Why it holds: Low supply trickle + high collector appeal. --- ### 🔥 3. Evolutions (2016) - Love it or hate it — it’s not dropping - Reprint of base set drives demand from new collectors - Booster boxes still sell £450–£500 sealed Why it holds: Nostalgia factor + diminishing sealed supply. --- ### Quick Tip: Avoid job lots, mystery boxes, or no-name bundles. If it’s not sealed, shrink-wrapped, and trackable on eBay, assume it’s priced to confuse. PokéBinder will soon track sealed product trends in real time — stay tuned.
Why eBay Sold Listings Beat TCG Prices — Every Time
13/06/2025
When it comes to Pokémon card pricing, most collectors still default to TCGPlayer — but if you're in the UK or buying internationally, you're getting a skewed view. Here’s why eBay sold listings are the gold standard: --- ### 1. TCGPlayer ≠ Real Market TCGPlayer reflects the *listing floor* — not what cards actually **sell** for. Sellers often race to the bottom to appear first, even if their card sits unsold for weeks. --- ### 2. eBay Shows Verified Demand With sold listings, you’re seeing the **actual sale price**, **date**, and even **condition**. That gives you market-accurate values, not wishful thinking. --- ### 3. International Reality Check For UK collectors, TCGPlayer prices are in USD, shipping is often unrealistic, and customs fees aren’t factored in. eBay gives you GBP-based, locally relevant, real-world pricing. --- ### 4. Flippers and Investors Use eBay Every serious reseller, flipper, or investor looks at eBay sold history — not TCGPlayer. Why? Because it’s how they price their own sales. --- ### Final Word TCGPlayer is useful — especially for sealed product or ballpark rarity tiers. But if you want **real market intelligence**, eBay sold data is how the smart collectors value cards. That’s exactly what PokéBinder tracks.