Collector guides

How the platform works and how the hobby works, written straight.

• How TCGMeta prices cardsSold prices are facts, asking prices are opinions. How our price ladders, graded rungs, condition prices and fair prices are built, and where the data comes from.
• Card grading, explainedPSA, BGS and CGC scales, what the labels mean, why a 10 is not always the same 10, and how grading changes what a card is worth.
• Tracking your collectionAdd cards fast, record what you paid, watch gains per card, stack duplicates, and import an existing spreadsheet in one step.
• What is a master set?Completing every print of a set, how master sets differ from base completion, and how TCGMeta counts your progress automatically.
• Watchlists and price alertsBuild lists of cards you are hunting, count how many copies you need, share lists with friends or the public, move them by CSV, and get alerted when prices cross your thresholds.
• Scanning cards, explainedPoint your camera at a card and get the exact printing with a live price. How the scanner decides, why it sometimes asks instead of answering, and how batch mode clears a stack.