Cardmarket Grading: A Short-Lived European Experiment

The Short History of Cardmarket Grading

Cardmarket, Europe’s dominant online marketplace for Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, and other TCGs, made headlines in late 2021 when it launched its own official grading service (branded as CM Grading or Cardmarket Grading). The goal was simple and appealing to EU collectors: a local, affordable alternative to shipping raw cards across the Atlantic to PSA or Beckett, avoiding customs headaches, high international shipping fees, and long wait times.

The service was run in partnership with Guard and Grading Solutions, a DGuSV-certified German appraisal company with experienced graders. Cards received a 1–10 numerical grade (similar to PSA), came in clean, minimalist German-made slabs with a QR code linking to a population report, and were marketed directly through the Cardmarket platform. Early reviews praised the fair grading, snug fit, and overall quality for European prices.

However, the service did not last. In 2024 Cardmarket ended the direct partnership; grading could no longer be purchased through the platform, the branding reverted to Guard and Grading Solutions, and the original facility is now home to Beckett’s European grading operation. Guard and Grading Solutions still exists (mainly offering recasing for old Cardmarket slabs and protective cases), but new Cardmarket-branded grading is no longer available. Too be honest, I was a bit surprised personally. If you have even a decent understanding of this market, you'd know that most of these new grading companies wouldn't last, but cardmarket's grading service was the only new service in the market I expected to last as a long term service from a big company compared to other upstarts that went into business because of a hype bubble. Either way, that wasn't the case.

Which begs the question: for European collectors, who should you trust instead? Well, I have some answers but you'll have to wait until the next article. Wazzuuup!!!