<p style="text-align: right;"><em>Image by the author</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.cardmarket.com/en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cardmarket</a> originated like many of today's most successful <i>Magic: The Gathering </i>websites do: with a single laptop and a pile of cards.</p>
<p>From that beginning, Cardmarket has grown to become Europe’s premier marketplace for trading cards of all varieties, following the surge in popularity of TCGs themselves to become the premier source Europeans look to to acquire what they need.</p>
<p>Before Cardmarket, buying and selling trading cards was challenging. Players in Europe relied on magazines or generic marketplaces, with little transparency or efficiency. In 2007, Luis Torres and Dr. Matthias Knelangen set out to change that.</p>
<h2>Humble Origins of Cardmarket</h2>
<p>Founded by Torres and Knelangen in Berlin in 2007 under the name <em>Magickartenmarkt</em>, <a href="https://www.cardmarket.com/en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cardmarket</a> was built with the purpose of connecting players and shops across Europe and bringing transparency and innovation to a market that needed it. Those beginnings were modest, said Knelangen.</p>
<p>Torres, a computer scientist, had noticed that trading cards sold for different prices in different countries, a concept they learned later was arbitrage. Existing platforms like eBay and Cardshark were impractical, so Torres decided to build something better himself.</p>
<p>Shortly before launch, Knelangen joined in. At that time, Torres was programming from his bed, while Knelangen sat on the floor sorting cards. The pair started their project without any debt financing, relying almost entirely on their time and minimal savings from their time attending university.</p>
<p>To create the first listings, they went to FUNtainment in Berlin, bought two <em>Future Sight</em> booster boxes, opened them, and manually entered every card. One of the very first sales was a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tarmogoyf" href="#" target="_blank">Tarmogoyf</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for €1.30, a moment that Knelangen said still feels "surreal" in hindsight. In their first month, total income was €30.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tarmogoyf|FUT|153"></div></div>
<p>But growth came steadily. Two years later, in 2009, the first employee joined the company, and <em>Yu-Gi-Oh!</em> was added to the marketplace alongside <em>Magic</em>. By 2013, the launch of the Cardmarket API empowered users, and in 2014, marketing efforts began as Cardmarket’s vision expanded with the introduction of Powersellers. It wasn't long after that when <em>Pokémon</em> joined the fun in 2015.</p>
<h2>The Boom</h2>
<p>Community and visibility became increasingly important to Cardmarket leadership.</p>
<p>In 2017, the first Cardmarket YouTube channel launched with external content creators, followed by the 2018 rebrand that united all games under the Cardmarket name. In 2019, GBP currency was introduced and the first tournament series was run. Leadership evolved in 2020 with a new CEO, and by 2021 Cardmarket began producing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/CardmarketMagic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in-house YouTube content</a>. In 2022, the company had grown to 55 employees.</p>
<p>That same period marked an unprecedented boom across the entire TCG industry. Demand surged sharply at the end of 2020 and into early 2021, particularly for <em>Magic</em> and <em>Pokémon</em>.</p>
<p>According to Knelangen, broader economic conditions, pandemic-related circumstances, and increased liquidity drove interest in alternative assets, trading cards included. Social media amplified the effect, with Twitch and YouTube streamers showcasing rare and extremely valuable products, keeping attention high.</p>
<p>As a marketplace that grows almost one-to-one with the market, Cardmarket felt this boom directly. Demand pushed the platform beyond its technical limits at that time, requiring significant adjustments to keep up. Collectors began rediscovering cards long forgotten in basements, realizing that familiar cards from the past had become highly valuable. This resulted in increasingly notable and high-priced transactions.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Black Lotus|LEB|233"></div></div>
<p>At the very top end of the market, Cardmarket has even supported six-figure trades. One such example in 2022 involved a BGS 9-graded <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Black Lotus" href="#" target="_blank">Black Lotus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> from <em>Beta</em>, valued well over €100,000, handed over in person in Berlin.</p>
<p>For transactions of this scale, Cardmarket’s Trustee System holds the funds, and the exchange is managed directly to ensure proper handling, demonstrating how trust and responsibility scale at Cardmarket alongside value.</p>
<h2>Sky's the Limit for Cardmarket</h2>
<p>Growth continued. In 2024, the Seller Milestones Program, which awarded sellers that reached a minimum of 100k in sales, officially launched. Today, more than 80 employees from over 25 countries serve millions of players, shops, and collectors across Europe.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reach for the Sky"></div></div>
<p>From a laptop on a bed and cards sorted on the floor to Europe’s premier trading card marketplace, Cardmarket’s journey has always been shaped by transparency, innovation, and the community behind it. As the future unfolds, the story continues, for Cardmarket and everyone who trades, collects, and plays.</p>
<p>As <em>Magic </em>was the original reason Cardmarket was created, it's no surprise that many of today's transactions on the site are driven by Commander players throughout Europe. And that's where the partnership with EDHREC comes into play. Cardmarket makes Commander more accessible, and EDHREC makes it more digestible.</p>
<h2>Cardmarket Partnership With EDHREC</h2>
<p>Cardmarket does their part by providing the European community with the best possible marketplace, and on the platform, anyone can get the cards they want at the lowest prices and can sell those they no longer need to the biggest audience. And for many users, that's all in service of their Commander decks.</p>
<p>In that sense, Cardmarket and EDHREC are natural allies, and to support each other's operations is a goal that benefits both organizations and the community at-large. After all, EDHREC helps plenty of people discover the cards they want, and Cardmarket helps them acquire those cards.</p>
<p>To that end, Cardmarket shares price data with EDHREC. You can find Cardmarket prices on the cards you see on EDHREC by adding them as a dedicated Price Source in EDHREC's Settings cogwheel.</p>
<p>Together, the users of Cardmarket determine what the definitive, fair market value of any <em>Magic</em> card is across Europe, and having these values on another website benefits everyone: <a href="https://www.cardmarket.com/en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cardmarket</a>, EDHREC, and the whole community.</p>


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