Our goal is to not replace Cardmarket, but to provide healthy competition.

As of now, cardmrket has a quasi monopoly on the european TCG market.

Competition is good, it fuels the market.

why we think Cardmarket is outdated:

1. Aging Platform & Technical Debt

Cardmarket itself has acknowledged that the platform is built on more than 15 years of legacy code, which makes development and modernization difficult. The company described the system as “one big ball of wires” that needs gradual refactoring instead of a full rebuild.

Implications:

Slow feature development

Technical limitations

Performance or UI issues compared to modern marketplaces

This creates an opportunity for a modern, developer-friendly platform.

2. Slow Innovation & Feature Removal

Users frequently complain that:

useful features were removed

improvements arrive slowly

optimization tools got worse over time

Example: users say the shopping wizard lost helpful optimization features, making orders more expensive or less efficient.

Typical complaints:

tools get downgraded

missing automation

limited APIs or integrations

3. Poor Optimization for Large Orders

The marketplace structure (many sellers + shipping costs) makes order optimization difficult.

Users report:

the shopping wizard sometimes produces much more expensive orders

shipping costs dominate total price

manual optimization is often better than automated tools

This creates demand for:

smarter cart optimization

shipping-aware algorithms

bulk buying tools

4. Seller Friction

Frequent seller complaints include:

manual processes for shipping and order management

limited integrations with shipping providers

responsibility for postal problems

difficulty scaling a professional store

Community discussions also highlight issues like outdated shipping rules or platform settings that sellers must work around.

This makes professional sellers interested in automation-focused alternatives.

5. Dispute Handling & Transparency Concerns

Some sellers complain about:

unclear decisions in disputes

limited transparency in counterfeit rulings

situations where sellers feel they cannot defend themselves

Example: sellers reporting that Cardmarket ruled a card fake without providing evidence or photos.

Even if rare, these cases create distrust among high-value sellers.

6. Marketplace Monopoly in Europe

For many TCG players in Europe:

Cardmarket is the only dominant marketplace

alternatives are fragmented or smaller

This means:

limited competition

fewer incentives for rapid improvement

sellers and buyers tolerate flaws

7. Workflow Pain Points for Power Sellers

High-volume sellers often mention:

listing management friction

inventory syncing problems

manual address/export workflows

lack of modern API ecosystem

Because of this, third-party tools and scripts are commonly built around the platform.

✅ In short:

The main reasons people want alternatives are:

Legacy tech stack

Slow feature development

Weak optimization tools

Seller workflow friction

Dispute transparency concerns

Lack of competition in Europe

Missing automation and integrations