How much are the trade costs in Pokémon GO and where can you save? Here we show you the Stardust costs in an overview and give tips on trading.
What is it about? If you want, you can trade Pokémon with your friends in Pokémon GO. This way you can get species that you haven’t been able to catch yourself and also have a chance at Lucky Pokémon, which automatically have good stats.
To trade with other players, they have to be within a certain range. Niantic activated a maximum distance of 100 meters for trades, so you can’t trade with trainers around the world. There are also certain Stardust costs that you need to prepare for. We will show you how expensive the function is here.
Trade costs in Pokémon GO – What costs what?
This is what you need to know: The trade costs depend on how high your friendship level with the trade partner is. You can reach the status “Good Friend”, “Great Friend”, “Ultra Friend” or “Best Friend”. The higher the friendship level, the lower the trade costs. If a trade is not super urgent, it is worth waiting a few days for the next friendship level-up before trading.
Trade costs for regular Pokémon:
| Friendship | Costs | Costs if Pokémon is not in the PokéDex |
| Good (1 day) | 100 Stardust | 20,000 Stardust |
| Great (7 days) | 100 Stardust | 16,000 Stardust |
| Ultra (30 days) | 100 Stardust | 1,600 Stardust |
| Best (90 days) | 100 Stardust | 800 Stardust |
Trade costs for Shinies and Legendaries:
| Friendship | Costs | Costs if Pokémon is not in the PokéDex |
| Good (1 day) | 20,000 Stardust | 1,000,000 Stardust |
| Great (7 days) | 16,000 Stardust | 800,000 Stardust |
| Ultra (30 days) | 1,600 Stardust | 80,000 Stardust |
| Best (90 days) | 800 Stardust | 40,000 Stardust |
Why is trading worth it? You have many advantages when you trade Pokémon. As mentioned, Pokémon can turn into Lucky Pokémon after a trade. If you are Lucky Friends with another trainer, then you have a guaranteed lucky trade available.
A Lucky Pokémon has at least 80% IV and the costs of leveling up are reduced. So it is extremely worthwhile for you. MeinMMO author Franzi trades 100 Pokémon every day – and you should too.
You should also consider: If you trade with trainers whose level is below yours, then the Pokémon will also drop in level after the trade and become weaker. It is especially worthwhile to trade a lot when you are best friends in Pokémon GO. This way the costs decrease significantly when you want to trade shinies or legendaries.
Do you regularly trade Pokémon with other trainers? Do you have specific strategies to complete the 100 trades per day? Let us know your experiences here in the comments. By the way, there is a limited number of guaranteed lucky trades when you trade old Pokémon.
