How price alerts work

What is checked

The raw, ungraded market price for the card. Not a graded price, not an average across grades, not a listing price. If you set a target of $300 below, the alert fires when the raw market price is at or under $300. An alert can be set on any card, whether or not it is on your watchlist.

How often

App open

Checked about once a minute against live prices.

App backgrounded

On a schedule iOS controls. iOS decides when a backgrounded app gets to run, and it is not guaranteed.

App closed

Once a day, server-side.

A card that spikes and falls back inside the same day, while the app is closed, will not fire. That is a real limitation and not a bug.

Graded cards

Alerts do not run on PSA 10 or other graded prices. There is no graded price feed behind them, so the app declines to set one rather than accepting an alert it cannot honour.

What an alert is not

It is a notification. CardPulse does not place orders, hold funds, or connect to any marketplace. Nothing is bought or sold on your behalf, ever.

Questions

How do I get notified when a Pokémon card hits a price?

Put the card on your CardPulse list, set a target price and a direction — above if you are waiting to sell, below if you are waiting to buy. When the raw market price crosses the target, the app sends a push notification.

How often does CardPulse check a price alert?

About once a minute while the app is open, on a schedule iOS controls while it is backgrounded, and once a day server-side while it is closed. A card that spikes and falls back inside one day, with the app closed, will not fire.

Can I set a price alert on a PSA 10 or graded card?

No. Alerts run on raw, ungraded prices only. There is no graded price feed behind them, so the app declines to set one rather than accept an alert it cannot honour.

Does a price alert buy or sell the card for me?

No. It is a notification. CardPulse does not place orders, hold funds, or connect to any marketplace.