How it works
One vault. No hassle.
Cardvest stores the cards; you trade the ownership. That one idea removes the shipping, the waiting and the risk of being scammed, and turns a collection into something you can follow and manage like a portfolio. Here is what happens behind the scenes.
- 01
Cards live in the vault
Every physical card on Cardvest is stored securely by us. It never travels between buyers and sellers, so it cannot be lost, damaged or swapped along the way.
- 02
Every card has one unique ID
At intake each card receives a permanent serial such as PKM-000001, printed on its sleeve and recorded in our ledger. That serial follows the card for life.
- 03
Conditions are graded and visible
Our team grades every card on intake using the standard Mint to Poor scale. The condition and any notes are shown on every listing and in your portfolio.
- 04
Values come from the real market, checked by hand
Our team sets the estimated value of every card by hand. We take the current Cardmarket prices for the English card in the same condition as ours, then cross-check them against what the card actually sold for recently on eBay. Two independent sources, a person in between, and no automated feed that a few listings could push around. Values are refreshed regularly and always shown as estimates, not guarantees.
- 05
You own it digitally
Buying a card transfers its ownership to you in our ledger. One physical card always has exactly one owner. You see it in your portfolio with its condition and current estimated value.
- 06
Buy and sell without shipping
List a card from your portfolio at your price. When someone buys it, payment is processed by Stripe and ownership moves the moment the payment is confirmed on our servers. The card stays where it is.
- 07
Selling costs 5%
A 5% commission is deducted from the sale price. At €150 that is €7.50, leaving you €142.50. You see the exact numbers before you publish.
- 08
Take delivery whenever you like
Request shipment of any card you own. You pay a processing fee (€5 for shipments under €200 in value, €10 from €200) plus the carrier's rate, with optional insurance. You are not buying the card again.
- 09
Everything is recorded
Every login, listing, purchase, ownership transfer and shipment is written to a tamper-evident audit log. Payment details are handled by Stripe and never stored by us.
Estimated values are set by our team from Cardmarket prices and recent eBay sales. They are estimates, not guarantees. Cardvest is an independent platform and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any trading card publisher.