Reference

Rate limiting

The API applies two layers of rate limiting to keep usage fair and the service stable. Authenticated limits apply per account, not per API key.

Limit layers

Layer	Scope	Limit	Applies to
Burst	Per account	Plan-specific (Free: 1/2s, Pro: 30/10s, Growth: 45/10s, Scale: 60/10s, Business: 300/10s) Short-term spike protection. Prevents hammering the API with rapid-fire requests.	All API endpoints
Daily	Per account	Varies by plan Resets at midnight UTC. Shared across all API keys on your account.	Authenticated endpoints

Limits by plan

Plan	Daily	Burst	Price sources
Free	100	1 / 2s	eBay, TCGPlayer
Pro	10,000	30 / 10s	eBay, TCGPlayer, Cardmarket
Growth	50,000	45 / 10s	eBay, TCGPlayer, Cardmarket
Scale	100,000	60 / 10s	eBay, TCGPlayer, Cardmarket
Business	1,000,000	300 / 10s	eBay, TCGPlayer, Cardmarket

Response headers

Every authenticated response includes rate limit headers so you can track usage in code.

Header	Description
`X-RateLimit-Limit`	Your plan's daily request limit
`X-RateLimit-Remaining`	Daily requests remaining
`X-RateLimit-Reset`	ISO8601 timestamp when daily limit resets
`X-RateLimit-Burst-Limit`	Burst limit for your plan (1, 30, 45, 60 or 300) — only on 429 responses
`X-RateLimit-Burst-Remaining`	Burst requests remaining — only on 429 responses
`Retry-After`	Seconds until you can retry — only on 429 responses
`X-Plan`	Your current plan (Free, Pro, Growth, Scale, Business)

429 responses

Burst limit exceeded

{
  "error": "Too many requests. Slow down.",
  "code": "BURST_RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED",
  "retryAfter": 2
}

Daily limit exceeded (Free plan on /v2)

{
  "error": "Daily rate limit exceeded (100 requests per day on /v2 for the Free plan). Resets at 2026-01-18T00:00:00Z",
  "usage": {
    "plan": "Free",
    "daily": {
      "remaining": 0,
      "limit": 100,
      "resetsAt": "2026-01-18T00:00:00Z"
    }
  }
}

Best practices

Handling 429 errors

Read the Retry-After header for the wait time in seconds.
Use exponential backoff: wait 1s, 2s, then 4s between retries.
Tell burst limits (seconds) apart from daily limits (hours).

Making fewer calls

Cache responses. Prices update every few hours, not every few seconds.
Use the X-RateLimit-Remaining header to pace requests.
Batch lookups where possible instead of requesting cards one by one.