Data Sources

TCG CollectWorld aggregates card metadata, market prices, and grading inputs from a small set of trusted upstream providers. This page documents every one of them, what we use them for, and how often the data refreshes.

Pricing data

All displayed prices are aggregated from public marketplace data. We do not set or influence prices, and currency is shown explicitly (USD or EUR) on each card page. TCGPlayer supplies USD prices for English cards (Low / Market / High), refreshed on card view and cached up to 24 hours. Cardmarket supplies EUR prices for European singles including trend, average, and 1/7/30-day averages, also refreshed on view. PokeTrace provides aggregated multi-marketplace sold-listing data used in grading price estimates and the price checker, fetched on demand. PriceCharting supplies historical graded (PSA 9/10) and ungraded sale comps via periodic batch sync, used for long-range price history charts.

Card metadata and set structure

Set names, card numbers, rarities, types, and images are normalized through our import pipeline before being written to the database. Official Pokémon TCG set releases are the authoritative source for English set metadata, imported manually and automatically per release window. Third-party set catalogs cross-reference Japanese, Chinese, and Korean set structures to validate non-English numbering and rarity. Bulk imports also draw card metadata and image URLs for newer Japanese and Korean releases, normalized through a canonical slug helper before write.

Card images

Images are sourced from upstream metadata providers and stored on our CDN for fast, stable delivery. We do not modify card artwork. All images remain the property of The Pokémon Company and respective rights holders, and are displayed for identification and educational purposes under fair use principles. Takedown requests are handled per our DMCA policy.

AI grading inputs

AI grading uses Google's Gemini model via the official Gemini API. The model receives front and back card photos uploaded by the user and returns sub-grades for centering, corners, edges, and surface, combined into a 1–10 PSA-style final grade. Price estimates accompanying the grade come from the pricing sources listed above, primarily PokeTrace for sold-comp data. AI grades are estimates for educational purposes only and are not affiliated with PSA, BGS, CGC, or any official grading service.

Methodology

Every card has exactly one canonical record. All import paths route IDs through a shared canonical slug helper that enforces lowercase, alphanumeric-with-hyphens formatting, so the canonical URL, sitemap entry, internal links, and database row always agree. The XML sitemap is regenerated at every build from the live database, with invalid or incomplete records excluded automatically. Prices are fetched on demand when a card page loads and cached for up to 24 hours — we never display a stale price as if it were live, and every price shows the timestamp of its last refresh. Spotted incorrect data? Email info@tcgcollectworld.com; corrections are typically applied within a few business days.

Read more about TCG CollectWorld, learn how pricing works, check card prices, review our grading guide, or see our FAQ.