Photograph a card, see its value

How it goes

1. Photograph. Square-on, filling the frame, on an evenly lit surface. Several cards go one after another without leaving the app.
2. Check the match. Name, set, card number and condition come back. If the card is unambiguous you go straight on.
3. File it. Market value, condition factor and the grading verdict are there immediately. One tap and it is in the portfolio.

What it reads besides the name

Reading the name is the easy part. The value hangs on the details next to it:

• The set. The same artwork reappears across sets over the years. The card number is a more reliable anchor than the set name, which on many cards is only printed as the series — and a series usually spans several sets.
• The print variant. Normal, holo and reverse holo carry their own prices, and the gap between them is often a multiple rather than a percentage.
• The language it was printed in. A German and an English copy of the same card are not worth the same.
• The condition. An estimate is derived from the photo and the market value is scaled to it, rather than showing you a near-mint price for a played card.

Why the app sometimes asks

When two cards look the same in a photo — the same artwork in two sets, the same number in two print runs — CardBroker asks instead of picking one.

Where it struggles

• Poor light and reflections. Holo cards under a ceiling lamp are the most common cause of a bad condition estimate. Soft light from the side helps more than a brighter bulb.
• Sleeves and toploaders. Reflections on the sleeve land in the assessment as scratches. For an accurate reading it is worth taking the card out.
• Very fine edge wear cannot be judged reliably from a photo. For a card where real money is involved, a scan does not replace looking at it with the card in your hand.

Which cards it knows

The catalogue holds 33,685 single cards and 2,016 sealed products across 315 sets, with names in German, English, Japanese, French, Italian and Spanish. Japanese printings are recognised and priced separately.