How prices work
Every price on Crackwise comes from real sales data — no estimates, no Beckett book values. Here's exactly where the numbers come from and what they mean.
Where the data comes from
We collect completed sale records from eBay — specifically “sold” listings where a buyer actually paid. We do not use asking prices, current listings, or third-party price guides. Sales are matched to specific cards and parallels in our database so you can compare apples to apples: a base card price is never blended with an autograph or numbered parallel.
The 90-day window
By default we show the median sale price over the past 90 days. That window is long enough to smooth out one-off outlier sales but short enough to reflect what the market actually looks like today. On card detail pages you can also see an all-time view for context on longer trends.
Why median, not average
We use the median (middle value) rather than the mean (average). A single $500 sale of a PSA 10 copy sitting next to a dozen $8 raw copies would push the average to a misleading number. The median ignores outliers and tells you what a typical sale actually looked like.
Raw vs graded
Raw (ungraded) and graded (PSA, BGS, SGC, etc.) copies are priced separately. On a card detail page you'll see both where data exists. Graded pricing is further broken down by grade tier so a PSA 10 price is never averaged with a PSA 7. The default view shows raw pricing because that's what most collectors are buying and selling.
Sample size and confidence
Each price shows a sample size — the number of sales behind it. A median from 2 sales is much less reliable than one from 40. Low-sample prices are shown with a lighter visual treatment so you know to treat them as a rough guide rather than a firm market value. We don't display a price at all when there are fewer than 2 data points.
What we don't do
We don't sell cards, accept consignments, or have any financial relationship with sellers. We don't adjust prices to benefit any marketplace. The goal is an honest, transparent comp tool — the same kind of data a sharp collector pulls manually before every purchase.