Pokémon GO Stardust Trade Costs

Quick answer: Standard in-person Pokémon GO trades cost 100 to 1,000,000 Stardust per trainer. A regular registered Pokémon costs 100. A regular unregistered Pokémon costs 800 at Best Friends, while an unregistered shiny or Legendary costs 40,000 at Best Friends. Friendship level, the exact Pokémon being received, and event discounts determine the final cost.

Pokémon GO Stardust Trade Cost Chart

Standard in-person Stardust costs per trainer, before temporary event discounts:

“Registered” means the receiving trainer already has the relevant Pokémon and variant registered. Regular Pokémon in this chart are non-shiny, non-Legendary, non-Ultra Beast Pokémon without special features.

Both trainers pay the same Stardust cost: if the two offered Pokémon fall into different cost tiers, the higher tier applies to both trainers. A missing regular Pokémon does not automatically use the 1,000,000-Stardust tier. Special Trade status and Stardust price are separate questions; forms, costumes, backgrounds and purified Pokémon can have additional registration or eligibility rules. Confirm the final amount on the in-game trade screen.

Sources reviewed October 10, 2026: The official Trading Pokémon guidance defines Special Trade categories and the confirmation-screen cost; Friendship Levels confirms that Forever Friends retain Best Friend discounts. The numeric baseline is cross-checked against Bulbapedia's community-documented Stardust table and ZoëTwoDots' original in-game trading experiments. The Help Center does not publish the complete numeric table.

How Much Stardust Does It Cost to Trade a Shiny Pokémon?

At Best Friends, a shiny Pokémon costs 800 Stardust per trainer if its shiny registration is already owned by the recipient, or 40,000 if it is unregistered. At Good Friends, those costs are 20,000 and 1,000,000. Great and Ultra Friend costs are listed in the chart above.

Owning the non-shiny species does not register its shiny version. If either side of the trade requires the unregistered shiny tier, both trainers pay that higher cost. A shiny Legendary follows the same shiny-registration distinction. Temporary event discounts can reduce the standard amount.

How Much Stardust Does It Cost to Trade a Legendary Pokémon?

At Best Friends, an ordinary non-shiny Legendary costs 800 Stardust per trainer when registered by its recipient, or 40,000 when unregistered. At Good Friends, the costs are 20,000 and 1,000,000 respectively. Ultra Beasts use the same baseline cost tiers in this chart.

Registration is checked for the Pokémon and variant actually being received. Having a non-shiny Legendary does not register its shiny version, and a different form can need its own registration. Use the higher applicable tier for both trainers and check any active event discount before agreeing to a trade.

Do These Costs Apply to Remote Trades?

This chart covers standard in-person trades. Pokémon GO's official Forever Friends announcement confirms that Remote Trades do not count as Special Trades, regardless of the Pokémon exchanged. That announcement does not specify their exact Stardust prices, so do not infer a remote price from this chart; check the in-game confirmation screen.

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Table of Contents

1. Pokémon GO Stardust Trade Cost Chart
2. Shiny Pokémon Trade Cost
3. Legendary Pokémon Trade Cost
4. Remote Trade Costs
5. What Affects Trade Stardust Cost?
6. Why Friendship Level Matters So Much
7. Which Trades Are Usually the Most Expensive?
8. How to Prepare for High-Cost Trades
9. How to Use PogoTrades Before a Big Trade
10. Conclusion

What Affects Trade Stardust Cost?

Pokémon GO trade cost depends on several factors:

• your friendship level with the other trainer
• whether the trade is a normal trade or a special trade
• whether the receiving trainer already has that Pokémon, form, or shiny registered
• whether a temporary event discount is active

Special trades are the ones that tend to surprise players. These often include rare, shiny, legendary, or unregistered Pokémon. Because of that, it is a mistake to discuss a trade without discussing friendship level and registration status first.

Why Friendship Level Matters So Much

Friendship is the most important discount system in Pokémon GO trading. As your friendship level increases, trade cost generally drops.

That creates a simple strategy:

1. Add the trainer first.
2. Build friendship before the trade.
3. Save large or rare swaps for later if the cost is too high today.

This matters even more when you are arranging a swap you found through World Storage or World Wishlist. A trade that looks perfect on paper may still be unrealistic if both trainers are brand new friends with low Stardust.

Which Trades Are Usually the Most Expensive?

The trades that usually need the most planning are:

• new Pokédex entries
• shiny Pokémon you have not registered yet
• legendary Pokémon you have not registered yet
• some other rare special-trade situations

By contrast, common registered trades between higher-friendship players are usually much easier to manage.

This is why experienced traders often separate their lists into:

• easy everyday swaps
• expensive special trades
• long-term wishlist targets

If you publish everything together with no context, people may assume you are ready to trade immediately when the cost is actually the main blocker.

How to Prepare for High-Cost Trades

1. Build a Real Wishlist

If you only want a few expensive targets, publish them clearly on World Wishlist. That helps other trainers know which trades are worth building friendship for.

2. Make Your Offer Easy to Browse

List your extra Pokémon on World Storage. The more clearly you show value on your side, the easier it is to justify a future special trade.

3. Share a Visual Trade List

Use the Trade List Generator to create a trade image you can send in messages, local groups, and event chats. Clear presentation helps people respond faster.

4. Estimate Before You Promise

Use the Pokémon GO Trade Calculator before locking in a trade. It combines registration, friendship, shiny/special status, IV floors, and Lucky planning without treating shiny status as a random trade outcome.

How to Use PogoTrades Before a Big Trade

The strongest workflow is simple:

1. Use Friend Finder to add more active trainers.
2. Publish your available Pokémon on World Storage.
3. Publish your chase targets on World Wishlist.
4. Generate a clean image in Trade List Generator.
5. Check likely trade cost and trade value with the calculator.

This is much more effective than trying to negotiate everything from memory in chat.

Conclusion

Trade Stardust cost is not a small detail in Pokémon GO. It determines whether a deal is easy, delayed, or impossible right now. The trainers who trade most efficiently are the ones who plan around friendship level, communicate clearly, and separate cheap trades from expensive ones.

If you want smoother trades, start by making your trade intent visible and easy to evaluate:

• Find more active trainers
• Show your offers
• List your wanted Pokémon
• Check your trade setup with the calculator