Top trading card shops and marketplaces compared

Our top picks

1. TC4. TradingCardsMarketplace.com: best for TradingCardsMarketplace.com

   Online store for buying and selling trading cards, including sports cards and PSA and BGS graded cards.

   • Markets: US

2. P5. PokeNinJapan: best for PokeNinJapan

   Online store for Japanese Pokemon cards, One Piece cards and figures, with pre-orders on new sets.

   • Markets: JP

3. PM6. Panini MX: best for Panini MX

   Tienda Panini Mexico sells stickers, collections, manga and books.

   • Markets: MX

4. KD7. Kelz0r DK: best for Kelz0r DK

   Danish online shop for Magic the Gathering and Pokemon cards, figures and board games.

   • Markets: DK

5. AC8. Arena Club: best for Arena Club

   Online platform to buy, sell and trade graded trading cards, with a card grading service and collectible card packs.

   • Markets: US

6. 9. Upper Deck: best for top-pick

   Upper Deck heads this ranking because it does the unglamorous work well: a sports card catalogue, sealed product, and a support setup most rivals here cannot match on paper. The store delivers across the United States and Canada, lists sealed boxes, booster packs and accessories and centres its wall on sports cards, and it has been trading since 1989 as The Upper Deck Company. Buyers who want sealed boxes and accessories from one storefront, and who want a phone number when a parcel goes astray, get the fuller package here. The member ranked next, Wizards of the Coast, is a narrower proposition by design, and that contrast is what puts Upper Deck at the top of this ranking.

   • Free delivery threshold: $99
   • Markets: US, CA
   • Legal entity: The Upper Deck Company

   Pros

   • sports cards run from hockey and basketball through golf, football, multi-sport and wrestling, so the main North American team sports sit under a single maker.
   • Ground shipping comes with orders of $99, worked out before tax and shipping, so a basket that clears that bar pays nothing extra to ship.
   • Sealed boxes, booster packs and accessories can be added to the same order as the cards, which saves splitting a collection across sellers.
   • Some products can be reserved before they are in stock and ready to ship, which helps a collector plan around a release.
   • EU residents can request a refund on unopened games and gallery prints within 14 days of the purchase date.

   Cons

   • The refund window of 14 days is written for EU residents buying unopened games and gallery prints, so a buyer in the US or Canada finds no stated return period in these terms.
   • Pre-orders are occasional and limited to certain products, so a release date on a product page can move.
   • A cart under $99 still carries a shipping charge, so a small order costs more to place than a large one.

7. 10. Wizards of the Coast

   Wizards of the Coast takes the next slot in this ranking for the simple reason that it is the maker's own shop. Everything on the wall serves Magic: The Gathering, and the range covers booster packs, sealed boxes and accessories. It has traded since 1993, and support comes through help centre, email and community. Panini, ranked next, points the other way, toward sports cards and a European delivery map, so the two answer different shopping lists.

   • Legal entity: Wizards of the Coast LLC
   • Headquarters: United States
   • Founded: 1993

   Pros

   • One shared account carries the game between desktop and handheld, so a session follows you instead of restarting.
   • Digital play opens on a free to play basis, so you can sit down and play before buying any pack.
   • A company trading since 1993 still runs the shop, the printed releases and the digital client.
   • Sealed product arrives in themed sets tied to a release, so the shelf turns over as new sets land.

   Cons

   • Reaching a person goes through help centre, email and community, and a phone line or a counter does not appear in the mix.
   • The digital client covers the magic line rather than a digital role-playing release, so players after a role-playing title read past it.
   • A free to play entry still leaves the shop shelf full of paid purchases.

Top trading card shops and marketplaces compared by country

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• United Kingdom
• United States

The data behind this ranking

All data and the CSV