The basics

• Every player starts the season with a price set by Fantasy.
• Prices don’t move until after the Gameweek 1 deadline.
• After that, prices change once a night, at about 00:00 UK time.
• Each change is £0.1m, up or down.
• A player can rise or fall by at most £0.3m in one gameweek.

What moves a price

Transfers. When many more managers buy a player than sell him, he crosses a threshold and rises at the next update. When many more sell, he falls. Fantasy doesn’t publish the exact formula, but the usual triggers are easy to spot:

• Rises: a big haul, a run of easy fixtures, a new penalty taker, or a cheap player who suddenly starts.
• Falls: an injury, a suspension, being dropped, or a run of hard fixtures.

This season Fantasy shows each player’s progress towards a change as a percentage, updated every 15 minutes. Over 100% means he’s expected to change at the next update, but it isn’t certain: late transfers can pull him back under the line before midnight.

Your selling price

This is the rule most managers miss. When a player rises after you buy him, you keep only half the rise, rounded down to the nearest £0.1m. When he falls, you lose all of it. Say you bought a player for £5.0m:

Everyone else pays the full current price, so selling and buying the same player back costs you: you sell at your selling price and rebuy at the full price, and the profit you’d built up is gone. The Transfers page on the official site shows the selling price for each player in your squad.

Team value & the bank

What you can actually spend is the money in your bank plus your players’ selling prices. Owning players before they rise slowly grows that number. A few early risers held for months can add up to a couple of £m, which can be the difference between affording a premium captain option and not.

Why it matters: money only matters for what it lets you buy. Extra team value is useful when it unlocks a better player later; it scores nothing on its own.

Using it in your strategy

Points come first. Prices should change when you move, rarely who you pick.

• Decided to buy? Move before the rise. If a player you already want is close to 100%, making the transfer before midnight saves £0.1m, and every rise while you own him adds to your team value.
• Decided to sell? Move before the fall. An injured or dropped player can fall £0.1m a night, and you lose every bit of it.
• Weigh early moves against late news. Moving early beats price changes, but team news and press conferences come later in the week. Early is fine for a nailed starter; wait on a fitness doubt. A £0.1m saving isn’t worth a player who doesn’t play.
• Hold your risers. Selling a player who’s gone up only cashes in half his rise, and you’d pay the full price to get him back.
• Leave a little slack. If you’re planning a big-money move a few weeks out, keep £0.1–0.3m spare in case the target rises or your sale falls first.
• Care less as the season goes on. Team value matters most early, when there are months left to spend it. Late in the season, points are all that count.

Common mistakes

• Taking a −4 to beat a price rise. £0.1m is almost never worth 4 points.
• Buying a player just because he’s rising. Prices follow the crowd, and the crowd is often a week late.
• Panic-selling on rumours. Selling a fit player to dodge a fall that never comes costs a transfer and half his rise.
• Moving days early for a player who then gets injured. Now you need another transfer to fix it.

On Pitchline

Prices lists who’s closest to a rise or fall tonight, from Fantasy’s public progress figures, and each player page shows his price and progress. Ownership shows this week’s biggest buys and sells, which is what moves prices. The Planner helps you time transfers you were already going to make. How the FPL Points Work covers the other side: what those players score.

Prices are hints, not guarantees. Always check the official FPL site for your selling prices before you transfer.