{
  "url": "https://www.moonstonehq.com/articles/most-traded-pokemon-cards-velocity",
  "slug": "most-traded-pokemon-cards-velocity",
  "title": "The Velocity Report: What Actually Sells, and Why the Most-Traded Cards Made the Least Money",
  "summary": "Recorded eBay sales across 9,261 cards reveal where the hobby's trading volume concentrates, and an uncomfortable pattern: liquidity and returns have been negatively correlated.",
  "section": "Market Structure",
  "published": "2026-07-26",
  "readMinutes": 8,
  "publisher": "moonstone",
  "findings": [
    {
      "value": "9,261",
      "measures": "cards with recorded eBay sales",
      "basis": "joined to the moonstone catalog"
    },
    {
      "value": "3,632",
      "measures": "most sales on one card",
      "basis": "Mega Charizard X ex promo"
    },
    {
      "value": "+51% vs +114%",
      "measures": "top-volume vs mid-volume 18-mo return",
      "basis": "median, 424-card join"
    },
    {
      "value": "−0.14",
      "measures": "correlation: log volume × return",
      "basis": "liquidity has not paid"
    }
  ],
  "tables": [
    {
      "title": "The most-traded cards on the tape",
      "columns": [
        "Card",
        "Recorded sales",
        "Current pace (/yr)",
        "Median (raw comps)"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Card": "[Mega Charizard X ex](/card/mep-023) · MEP Promos",
          "Recorded sales": "3,632",
          "Current pace (/yr)": "~1,657",
          "Median (raw comps)": "$70"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Mega Charizard X ex](/card/me02-125) · [Phantasmal Flames](/set/phantasmal%20flames)",
          "Recorded sales": "3,188",
          "Current pace (/yr)": "~1,221",
          "Median (raw comps)": "$950"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Palkia](/card/cel25-4) · [Celebrations](/set/celebrations)",
          "Recorded sales": "2,320",
          "Current pace (/yr)": "cooled",
          "Median (raw comps)": "$275"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Oricorio ex](/card/mep-024) · MEP Promos",
          "Recorded sales": "2,280",
          "Current pace (/yr)": "~2,733",
          "Median (raw comps)": "$30"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Meowth](/card/me02-106) · Phantasmal Flames",
          "Recorded sales": "2,214",
          "Current pace (/yr)": "~2,854",
          "Median (raw comps)": "$42"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Mew ex](/card/sv04.5-232) · [Paldean Fates](/set/paldean%20fates)",
          "Recorded sales": "2,087",
          "Current pace (/yr)": "~2,769",
          "Median (raw comps)": "$750"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Meowth](/card/basep-10) · Wizards Black Star Promos",
          "Recorded sales": "1,938",
          "Current pace (/yr)": "cooled",
          "Median (raw comps)": "$60"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Mewtwo VSTAR](/card/swsh12.5gg-GG44) · [Crown Zenith GG](/set/crown%20zenith%20galarian%20gallery)",
          "Recorded sales": "1,834",
          "Current pace (/yr)": "cooled",
          "Median (raw comps)": "$345"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex](/card/sv10-231) · [Destined Rivals](/set/destined%20rivals)",
          "Recorded sales": "1,627",
          "Current pace (/yr)": "cooled",
          "Median (raw comps)": "$702"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Rayquaza](/card/swsh4-138) · [Vivid Voltage](/set/vivid%20voltage)",
          "Recorded sales": "1,510",
          "Current pace (/yr)": "~2,056",
          "Median (raw comps)": "$53"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "charts": [
    {
      "title": "18-month median return by trading-volume quintile",
      "unit": "%",
      "note": "424 cards with both full price history and recorded-sales volume, Jan 2025 – Jul 2026",
      "points": [
        {
          "label": "Q1 · quietest (2–34 sales)",
          "value": 97.5,
          "basis": "n=84"
        },
        {
          "label": "Q2 (35–71)",
          "value": 114.1,
          "basis": "n=84"
        },
        {
          "label": "Q3 (72–146)",
          "value": 113.3,
          "basis": "n=84"
        },
        {
          "label": "Q4 (146–314)",
          "value": 90.6,
          "basis": "n=84"
        },
        {
          "label": "Q5 · most traded (322–2,087)",
          "value": 51.1,
          "basis": "n=88"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sections": [
    "Where the hobby actually trades",
    "Liquidity has not paid"
  ],
  "method": [
    "Sales volumes are recorded eBay sold listings per card aggregated across all grades from moonstone market data as of July 26, 2026; 'recorded sales' is the cumulative comp count on the books, and 'current pace' annualizes the card's present weekly sales velocity (×52), the two measure different things and are labeled separately. eBay comp coverage skews toward graded sales by construction, so raw-heavy cards are under-counted relative to their true turnover; volume ranks should be read within that bias. The volume-return join uses the 424 cards that also carry ≥200 days of daily price history (January 2025 – July 2026, $10 floor), with returns measured between 14-day medians at the window's ends. Correlation is Pearson on log(1+volume) vs return. Nothing here is financial advice."
  ],
  "terms": "Figures are moonstone's own recorded measurements, dated as published. Quote them with the population stated beside them. The article at `url` is the human form of this file."
}