Hunt kits: the right price guide and checks for cards, LEGO, bikes and phones

Every listing already gets Sift’s general tools: price-drop history, a fair-price read against the page, red-flag chips and links to eBay sold prices, Google Lens, Google Shopping and the same search on the other site. A kit adds a layer for one kind of item. It puts a header on the listing’s details card (“LEGO · set 75192”, “Bike · size M (54 cm)”), puts the category’s own price guide first in the links, and adds chips for wording that only matters in that category.

Trading cards

Sift recognises card listings from the title, and errs on the side of quiet. It looks for Pokémon (or “pkmn”) with a card word, popular species such as Charizard, Pikachu or Umbreon with a card word, a card number with a rarity (“4/102 holo”), booster boxes and packs, elite trainer boxes, “trading cards”, Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic: The Gathering, the One Piece card game, Lorcana, and graded titles such as PSA 10 or BGS 9.5. Facebook’s trading-card and Pokémon-card pages and Kijiji’s collectibles and toys categories help confirm it.

The details card reads Trading card, and the first two links are Prices on PriceCharting and Search TCGplayer. Before searching, Sift strips grades and condition words (PSA 10, NM, mint, lot, bulk, graded) from the title, so the search returns the card itself rather than every slab and lot that shares a word with it. PriceCharting builds its prices from completed sales and shows US dollars by default; its currency menu switches to Canadian dollars. TCGplayer’s market price is in US dollars too. Sift doesn’t convert or show card values itself.

The Cards hunt switches on the “Message for price” word pack, which hides listings that say “PM for price”, “DM for price” or “price on request”. Those listings tell you nothing until you ask.

Not covered by design: sports cards (hockey, baseball, Topps, Upper Deck, O-Pee-Chee and the rest), comics, Pokémon plush and video games. Those listings still get the general tools. For buying advice, read Pokémon card prices, Magic: The Gathering cards and Yu-Gi-Oh, One Piece and Lorcana.

LEGO

Sift recognises a LEGO® listing from the word LEGO in the title, or from a set number next to words only LEGO uses (minifig, Technic, DUPLO, Ninjago). LEGO tables, storage boxes, clothing, films and video games are left out.

The set number is the useful part. Sift reads 4 to 7 digits after “set”, “#”, “no.” or the word LEGO, or a lone 5-digit number in a LEGO title, and never mistakes a price, a piece count or a year for one. A number given for a knock-off brand (“Lepin 05132”) is ignored. The details card then reads LEGO · set 75192, and the first link opens BrickLink’s price guide for that exact set, where you can see what it sold for, new and used. Without a set number, the link is a trimmed BrickLink search.

Three Check this chips come from the seller’s own wording, in English and French:

• May not be LEGO brand: “compatible with LEGO”, “LEGO compatible”, “building blocks compatible”, “not LEGO”, or another brick brand named in the text.
• Incomplete set: “incomplete”, “missing pieces”, “not complete”, “pièces manquantes”.
• No minifigures: “no minifigs”, “minifigures not included”, “without minifigs”.

Green chips mark the good news: Complete, Minifigs included, Sealed and Instructions included. The reading is negation-aware: “no missing pieces” is not an incomplete set, and “instructions online” doesn’t count as instructions included. The LEGO hunt adds the “Broken or for parts” pack. More in the used LEGO price guide.

Bikes

Sift recognises bikes from words such as bike, bicycle, vélo, MTB, e-bike, BMX, cyclocross and fat bike, or a bike brand (Trek, Specialized, Giant, Cannondale, Norco, Rocky Mountain, Santa Cruz, Devinci, Brodie and others) with a bike word or a frame size. It never counts exercise and spin bikes, motorbikes and dirt bikes, scooters, balance bikes, racks, locks, helmets, trainers or listings for parts.

Frame size. Sift reads road frames in centimetres (54 cm is a medium), mountain frames in inches (19 in is a large) and words such as small, medium, large, petit, moyen or grand. Wheel sizes, bar widths and rider heights are not mistaken for frame sizes. The header reads Bike · size M (54 cm). In the frame-size filter, pick the sizes you ride, from XS to XL, and choose whether bikes with no readable size stay or go. A hidden bike carries its reason, such as “Frame size L”. Bike frame sizes explains which size fits you.

Serial numbers. When a serial is written in the listing (“serial: WTU123A4567B”, “S/N”, “numéro de série”), the first link is Check the serial on Bike Index. Without one, it is Stolen bikes nearby on Bike Index, a search around the listing’s own city for that brand and model. Bike Index measures that radius in miles, so it covers about 80 km. Your home is never sent.

Check this chips mark No serial (“serial removed”, “won’t show serial”), Lock without key (“lost the key”, “cut the lock”) and Found bike. A green Serial shown chip marks a listing that gives the serial or says the bike is registered. The Bike hunt turns on the frame-size filter and the parts pack. See how to check if a bike is stolen.

Phones and devices

Sift recognises iPhones, Galaxy S, Note, Z Flip, Fold and A models, Pixel phones, OnePlus and Motorola, plus iPads and other tablets, Apple Watch and other watches, AirPods and MacBooks. Cases, chargers, screen protectors, repair services, empty boxes and “we buy iPhones” ads are left out.

Three Check this chips come from the listing’s wording, in English and French:

• Activation locked: iCloud locked, activation lock, locked to owner, Apple ID locked, FRP or Google lock.
• Blacklisted or bad IMEI: blacklisted, bad IMEI, reported lost or stolen.
• Still financed: financed, on a payment plan, balance owing, carrier financing, “solde restant”.

Negations are handled: “not iCloud locked” and “paid it off” don’t trigger anything. Good signs are Unlocked, Clean IMEI and AppleCare (an expired AppleCare doesn’t count). For phones, tablets and watches, the first link is an IMEI check: devicecheck.ca from the Canadian Telecommunications Association for Kijiji listings or a Canadian home, and the CTIA’s Stolen Phone Checker elsewhere. AirPods and MacBooks have no IMEI, so they get no IMEI link. The Phone hunt adds the parts pack. Read how to check if a phone is stolen before you meet.

Cars

Cars don’t need a kit switch; they use Sift’s vehicle filters, the same on Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji. The Car hunt turns them on with sensible defaults: year and maximum-mileage limits ready to set, salvage, rebuilt, flood, as-is and for-parts titles hidden, dealers hidden, and cars you have already opened dimmed so the new ones stand out. Year and mileage come from the site’s own listing data first, then from the text (“2014 Honda Civic”, “150K km”). Details on the car filters page.

Start a hunt

In Sift’s options, the Presets page has a Start a hunt card with five choices: Car, Bike, LEGO, Trading cards and Phone. Each click saves a preset named after the hunt, applies it and switches that kit on. It never overwrites a preset you already have with the same name.

The welcome page asks the same question when you first set Sift up: What are you hunting? A preset saves the whole setup, including filters, word packs, vehicle limits, frame sizes and how listings are shown, and you switch between presets from the popup (“Bike hunt”, “Commuter car”). Pair one with Watch this search and Sift checks it in the background, running new listings through the hunt’s filters, frame size included, before it notifies you. More on alerts.

How detection stays quiet

A kit only steps in when it is fairly sure what the item is. Detection reads the title first and is deliberately conservative; the site’s own category page can confirm a match. Kit checks fire only inside their own category, so “locked” on a dresser never raises a phone warning, and “serial” on a camera listing never triggers a bike check. Each kit has its own switch in the Hunt kits card on the Feed page of the options, with an example of what it does.

The cost of being careful is that some listings are missed. A title like “Vintage Pokemon lot” with no card word may not be recognised from the title alone. Those listings still get everything else Sift does.

Links and privacy

Every hunt-kit link is a plain link: never affiliate-tagged, and opened only when you click it. Sift makes no requests to PriceCharting, TCGplayer, BrickLink, Bike Index or any IMEI service on its own, and it has no server of its own to send anything to. The Bike Index nearby search uses the listing’s city, not your home. There is no account. Read the privacy policy for the details.

Limits

Sift does not authenticate trading cards, graded slabs, LEGO sets or devices, and it can’t tell a fake from the real thing in a photo. It doesn’t check IMEIs, Activation Lock, carrier financing, Bike Index, VINs or stolen-property databases itself: it links to the official checks and points out what the seller wrote. A clean result on any registry is not a guarantee, because thefts go unreported and devices can be reported after a sale.

The fair-price read works best on narrow searches: one set number, one phone model, one card name and set. On a broad search such as “pokemon” or “lego”, the page mixes $2 singles with $200 boxes, so the comparison means little. Card prices on PriceCharting and TCGplayer are in US dollars unless you switch PriceCharting to Canadian dollars.

Sift runs in Chrome, Edge and Brave on a computer. It doesn’t run in the Facebook app or on a phone.

LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies, which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this site. Pokémon is a trademark of Nintendo, Creatures Inc., GAME FREAK inc. and The Pokémon Company. Sift is not affiliated with any of the brands, price guides or registries on this page.

Questions people ask

Is there a price checker for Facebook Marketplace listings?

Not built into Facebook. Sift adds one-click price references to each listing on a computer. eBay sold prices and Google Shopping work for everything, PriceCharting and TCGplayer for trading cards, and BrickLink’s price guide for LEGO sets with a set number.

Which categories have hunt kits?

Trading cards, LEGO, bikes, and phones and devices. Cars use Sift’s vehicle filters through the Car hunt, which sets year and mileage limits and hides branded titles and dealers.

Are the hunt-kit links affiliate links?

No. They are plain links, never affiliate-tagged, and they open only when you click them. Sift makes no requests to those sites on its own.

Can I turn a kit off?

Yes. Each kit has its own switch in the Hunt kits card on the Feed page of Sift’s options. Turning one off removes its header, chips and links; the rest of Sift carries on as before.

Does Sift tell me if a card, a LEGO set or a phone is fake?

No. Sift doesn’t authenticate anything. It reads what the seller wrote, marks wording worth checking, and links you to the price guides and registries where you can check for yourself.

Sources

1. 01PriceCharting FAQ (prices from completed sales; currency menu includes CAD)
2. 02TCGplayer Help Center TCGplayer Market Price
3. 03BrickLink Help Center Price guide
4. 04Bike Index Search registrations
5. 05Bike Index API v3 search documentation (distance in miles)
6. 06Canadian Telecommunications Association devicecheck.ca
7. 07CTIA Stolen Phone Checker
8. 08The LEGO Group Fair Play (trademark guidelines)
9. 09The Pokémon Company International Legal information