--- title: "Methodology: How CardVolume Calculates Prices, Population & Market Value" url: https://cardvolume.com/methodology/ as_of: 2026-11-10 source: CardVolume (https://cardvolume.com) --- > Exact definitions behind every CardVolume number: qualifying sales, market price, graded market value, population, verification tiers and evidence labels. # Methodology Every number on CardVolume comes from a documented transaction or a sourced report, for one exact version and grade of one card. When the evidence is thin, the page says so instead of estimating. ## 1\. Identity comes first A price applies to an exact object: card, set, number, language, edition or stamp, finish, and condition or grader and grade. Two cards with the same artwork can be different products. We never price one version with another version's sales, never combine languages, and never combine raw and graded copies. Identity formats per category follow our guide [Pokémon: what to collect and what to verify](https://cardvolume.com/learn/pokemon/) and its equivalents for other games and sports. ## 2\. Which sales count Only completed sales count. Asking prices, listings and dealer offers are never shown as sales. Each sale record carries its date, price, currency, whether buyer's premium is included, venue, sale type and a link to the source page. Each record has one of four statuses: - **Verified**: an editor, or an automated check that found both the price and the date on the cited page, confirmed the record. - **Cross-checked**: a second, independent research pass reopened the cited page and confirmed the figures. - **Reported**: cited by research but not re-checked (usually because the source blocks automated access). Shown for transparency; never used in any metric. - **Excluded**: the source did not support the record, or the sale was a lot, a wrong version, or a suspected relisting. The number of exclusions is shown on each card. Only verified and cross-checked sales are _qualifying sales_. ## 3\. Market price The median of qualifying sales of that exact version and grade in the last 90 days, shown only when there are at least 5. We show the range and the count beside it. With fewer sales the page says _insufficient_ and shows the last qualifying sale with its date instead. The median resists single outliers better than an average. ## 4\. Graded population Population is the count of copies one grading company has graded at one grade, as reported on a stated date. It is not a print run and not a count of all copies in existence. It grows with each submission, and resubmitted or cracked copies can be counted more than once. We show the as-of date and source for every figure. ## 5\. Graded market value For each grade where both are established: market price × population. The card's graded market value is the sum across those grades, and the page lists which grades were included. Raw copies are never included, because nobody counts them. We call this “graded market value” rather than market cap on purpose: it describes graded copies at recent prices, not what every copy of a card is worth, and it could not all be sold at that price. ## 6\. Change and volume Change compares the current 90-day market price with the previous 90-day window, only when both have at least 5 qualifying sales. “Sales, 12 months” counts qualifying sales only. Because we document sales editorially rather than ingesting every marketplace, volume figures are lower bounds. ## 7\. Calculators The grading calculator on each card page uses the break-even formula from [Grading: condition, uncertainty, and economics](https://cardvolume.com/learn/grading/). It is prefilled with the latest qualifying sale for each grade and a 13% selling-fee assumption, both editable. It never estimates the probability that your copy receives a grade. ## 8\. Evidence labels on text Each paragraph of research text carries a label: Verified fact (primary source), Creator view (an identified creator), Analysis (our synthesis), Historical (a dated observation) or Worked example (invented inputs for arithmetic). Numbered links point to the card's source list. ## 9\. How research is produced and reviewed Card research is gathered by an AI research pass with live web access, following the rules in our guides. Every figure is then checked: automatically against its source page where possible, and otherwise by an independent second pass. Nothing is published without an editor's approval; until then a card page is marked “In editorial review” and kept out of search indexes. See the [editorial policy](https://cardvolume.com/editorial-policy/). ## 10\. “Most collected” ranking Cards are ranked by published evidence of collector interest: grading-company volume, marketplace best-seller and most-searched lists, auction volume and sustained hobby coverage. Each ranked card lists the evidence behind its place. The ranking describes attention, not value or future price. ## 11\. What we cannot tell you - The value of your specific copy. Condition differences inside one grade matter. - Future prices. Nothing here is a forecast or investment advice. - Print runs that manufacturers have not published. - Private sales that were never reported. Found an error? [Report it](https://cardvolume.com/contact/); corrections are noted on the card page.