TruePrice: Know Which TCGplayer Prices to Trust
TruePrice tells you when a card's price isn't real. Cardlytics checks every TCGplayer price every day with its own algorithm. A price that looks like a fake sale or a parked listing gets the TruePrice label.
Mewtwo Star price history
Holon Phantoms · HolofoilThe jump to $9,200 is one sale. Two copies were listed at $4,750 and $5,000 that day. TruePrice flags it.
What is price parking?
Price parking is a listing priced far above what the card sells for. The seller keeps the card listed but doesn't want it to sell. Some sellers park a card to hold their spot. Others want the card to look worth more.
A parked copy becomes the lowest listing when nobody else is selling. Any site that shows the lowest listing then shows a price nobody paid. The cheapest copy of Monkey.D.Luffy (118) Red Super Alternate Art was listed at $75,000. The last sale was $7,500.
What is a fake sale?
A fake sale is a sale that no real buyer made. A seller can buy their own listing from a second account. An order can be cancelled after the sale already counted. The TCGplayer market price comes from recent sales, so one fake sale can move it a long way.
The market price then stays put until the next sale. On a card that sells once a month, a wrong price can last for weeks.
Why fake prices mislead investors
A wrong price costs you money in both directions. You overpay when a fake sale props up the market price. You sell too cheap when a dumped sale drags it down.
Fake prices also bend everything built on them. A collection looks worth more than it is. A card tops the movers list after one odd sale.
Real examples from Cardlytics data
| Card | What TCGplayer showed | What copies really cost |
|---|---|---|
| Mewtwo Star Holon Phantoms, Holofoil | Market price $9,200 | Copies listed at $4,750 and $5,000 the same day |
| Monkey.D.Luffy (118) Red Super Alternate Art | Lowest listing $75,000 | Last sale $7,500 |
| Savannah International Collectors' Edition | One listing at $180,934.77 | Last sale $250 |
| Black Lotus Unlimited | Listings from $18,150 to $22,550 | Recent sales near $7,312 |
| Bog Wraith Seventh Edition, Foil | Market price up from $2.10 to $27 | Copies still listed at $3.25 |
| For the Common Good Promo | Listings from $1,000 to $159,823 | Market price $2.53 |
TCGplayer prices saved by Cardlytics in October 2026. Cardlytics leaves out seller names.
What the TruePrice label means
TruePrice flags prices that don't match what a card really sells for.
- "This price may come from a fake sale" means the market price looks unreliable. When real sales point elsewhere, the card page shows about where.
- "The listings for this card may be parked" means the listed prices sit far above what copies sell for. The market price itself can still be right.
- "This price and its listings may not be real" means TruePrice found both problems at once.
Card pages show the label next to the price. Set lists and most expensive lists carry a small TruePrice tag. Movers lists leave out cards whose price looks like a fake sale, so one odd sale never tops them.
Treat a flag as a warning. Check the price chart and the sold listings before you buy or sell.
How does TruePrice work?
TruePrice is Cardlytics' own proprietary algorithm. TruePrice checks every TCGplayer price every day, for every card game on Cardlytics.
How it decides stays private. A published rule would show sellers exactly how to slip past it. The label clears by itself once real sales back the price.
Questions about TruePrice
Is the TCGplayer market price accurate?
For most cards on most days, yes. The TCGplayer market price comes from recent sales. One fake sale can still push it far from what the card sells for, and it stays there until the next sale.
Does TruePrice change the prices on Cardlytics?
No. Cardlytics shows TCGplayer's prices as they are. TruePrice adds a label when a price looks wrong and keeps those cards off the movers lists.
How often does TruePrice check prices?
Every day. TruePrice checks every price once a day, as soon as the new day's prices are in.
Is TruePrice free?
Yes. TruePrice is free on every card page, like the rest of Cardlytics.