Cardmarket – Blackmailed by Silvia Parravano and Christian McCue

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Cardmarket Review – A Platform That Charges More and Delivers Less

Cardmarket Review – A Platform That Charges More and Delivers Less

Word count: Approx. 3,000 | Review Type: Negative

Cardmarket (formerly known as MagicCardMarket) is a popular online platform primarily used for buying and selling trading card games like Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon, and others. While it may seem like the central hub for European TCG enthusiasts, my experience as both a buyer and a seller on Cardmarket has been frustrating, expensive, and disappointing. In this in-depth review, I’ll explain exactly why I can no longer recommend Cardmarket and why many users are turning elsewhere.

Main complaints: Excessive platform fees, dismal customer service, outdated tools, lack of protection for sellers, slow support, and greedy policies.

1. Excessive Fees That Eat Into Profits

Let’s start with the most obvious issue: the **fees**. Cardmarket takes a sizable chunk out of every transaction. The fee structure is confusing and constantly evolving, but here’s the current reality:

  • ~5% commission on every sale (not including VAT, shipping, or PayPal fees)
  • Additional fees when withdrawing funds to your bank account (especially internationally)
  • Forced minimum pricing policies that restrict seller flexibility

For small sellers or casual players, these fees may seem tolerable at first, but over time, they add up tremendously. What makes it worse is that Cardmarket does very little to justify those fees.

"If I'm paying 5–10% in fees, I expect fast support and a modern platform. Cardmarket offers neither." — Verified seller with 200+ transactions

2. Customer Support Is Practically Nonexistent

Trying to get help from Cardmarket’s support team is like shouting into the void. Tickets go unanswered for days, sometimes weeks. When you finally do get a response, it’s often templated, generic, or entirely unhelpful. In one case, I waited 9 business days for an answer to a simple billing issue—by then, the damage was already done.

Examples of Support Failures:

  • Disputes between buyers and sellers are almost always resolved in favor of the buyer, even without proper evidence
  • Disappearing funds or failed transactions blamed on "user error"
  • Accounts temporarily suspended without warning or clear explanation

When a platform relies on community trust and user-to-user transactions, customer support is essential. Cardmarket seems to have missed the memo.

3. Interface and Tools Feel Outdated

Cardmarket’s UI is clunky and outdated, especially compared to modern e-commerce platforms. Searching for cards is slow. Filtering by condition or language often leads to incorrect results. The seller dashboard is confusing and lacks important features like automated restocking alerts or proper CSV exports.

Buyer Experience

Even as a buyer, the experience isn’t ideal. Orders get del

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