October card sales hit $1.07B, the first billion-dollar month on record
Card Ladder tracked $1.07 billion in trading card sales in October 2026, the first month it has recorded above $1 billion, per Collectibles On SI (November 2). The month also set a record for the number of sales: more than 9.2 million transactions, about half a million more than the previous high in August.
Card Ladder is a sales-tracking service that pulls results from marketplaces and auction houses. Its monthly total covers sports and trading card games together. The figures below are Card Ladder's as reported by Collectibles On SI.
The numbers
- October 2026: $1.07 billion across more than 9.2 million transactions.
- August 2026: over $912 million, the prior high-water mark the article cites.
- January 2026: $445.06 million. October was about 2.4 times January.
- Average sale: about $116.
That last number matters most. A billion-dollar month built on a $116 average means the total comes from volume, not from a handful of eight-figure trophies. The big sales make headlines, but most of the money moved in small tickets.
Where Pokémon fits
Pokémon held three of October's five biggest card sales, per the article. The top TCG sale was the 2015 Japanese Art Academy promo Mudkip by Daisuke Ochiai, PSA 10, at $4.88 million on Goldin on October 26. Card Ladder also flagged October 25 as the biggest single day of Pokémon card sales it has recorded, at over $18 million. That was the closing night of Goldin's Pokémon 30th Anniversary auction.
The other two top-five spots went to sports: a 2025 Topps Shohei Ohtani Dynasty Black Logoman autograph, numbered 1 of 1 and graded PSA 9, sold on Fanatics Premier on October 23, and a 2017 Panini Flawless Kobe Bryant Logoman autograph was reported at $4.2 million in a private sale on October 28. Card Ladder hadn't verified the Kobe sale at the time of writing, and the article gives the Ohtani price two different ways, so we leave both figures out of our own count.
Card Ladder's segment indexes were mostly up over the month: 30 market segments green and 12 red, with only five of the 12 down by more than 1%.
How it fits with what we've tracked
This is the second billion-dollar figure in a week. In No. 011 we led with TCGplayer passing $1 billion in sales over 12 months. The two numbers measure different things: TCGplayer's is one marketplace's trading card game sales over a year, while Card Ladder's is one month across many venues, sports included. Both point the same way. The volume of cards changing hands is at a level neither tracker has seen before.
Our own log for October lines up with it. Goldin's Pokémon 30th Anniversary auction, Alt's late-October Pokémon results and a steady run of six-figure graded game sales all fell in the month.
Why it matters for the market
Volume is the story, not price. A record count of transactions with a $116 average says more buyers and sellers are active, not just richer ones. A market that leans on a few whale buyers can stall quickly; one with 9.2 million sales a month has a wider base.
Pokémon is pulling its weight. Three of the top five sales and the biggest Pokémon day on record in the same month. Pokémon's 30th anniversary year has given auction houses a reason to stack their best material into October.
The article names its own risks. Collectibles On SI points to a possible scandal that hurts trust in the hobby, or wider economic pressure such as inflation, as things that could end the run. Our recent issues have covered both kinds of risk: the reported PSA theft near its facility, and collectors flagging slabs with relabeled certs. Neither has shown up in the volume data so far.
What it doesn't tell you. Card Ladder doesn't say how much of the growth is new buyers against existing collectors trading more. One record month doesn't set a trend on its own, and November will tell us whether October was a peak built around anniversary auctions.
What to watch next
- November's Card Ladder total, to see whether October's anniversary auctions pulled sales forward.
- Delta Reign and the Cyberpunk TCG's retail launch, both on November 6, which add new product to the TCG side of the count.
- Heritage's Video Games Signature Auction #7455 on November 20–21.
Figures are as reported by the source below on the date shown. This is market data and commentary, not investment advice.