TCGplayer is an online trading card marketplace started in 2008 in Syracuse, New York. It sells

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine between September 1996 and March 2004. The plot follows the story of a boy named Yugi Mutou, ...

, Lorcana, Flesh and Blood,

MetaZoo MetaZoo is an out-of-print tabletop collectible card game based on cryptozoology, folklore and the paranormal first published by ''MetaZoo Games LLC.'' in 2020. MetaZoo centers around creatures known as ''Beasties'' who are inspired by cryptid ...

, and Star Wars: Unlimited products.

History

In 2008, Chedy Hampson founded TCGplayer after it transformed into the modern company from a web design company made in 1998. Though it also worked with

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...

s, it stopped selling and taking in comic books in mid-2023. The company created a "card conditioning" area where cards are authenticated and given a grade based on how damaged they are. In 2021, DJ and streamer

Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki (, ; born November 30, 1977), best known as Steve Aoki, is an American DJ, record producer, music programmer, and record executive.

collaborated with TCGplayer in order to sell "mystery boxes" of Pokémon cards, all the boxes together were worth around 3 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

. In 2022, the online marketplace

EBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...

bought TCGplayer for US$295 million. On February 21, 2025, the office complex that was the

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

headquarters of TCGplayer went up for auction for $2.5 million from March 3 to March 5. On February 25, 2025,

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. It is currently a subsidi ...

and TCGplayer announced a partnership that will be able to display a WPN badge next to the names of verified retail stores on their marketplace to show those stores are officially affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.

Controversies

In March 2020, a union of around 100 workers was established since, according to the unionists, the health care plan was less than admirable since prices had doubled and pay seemed to not match with the new changes. In 2023, TCGplayer workers established a union, but EBay, the parent company of TCGplayer, used illegal practices including surveilling workers who wore pro-Union insignia and denying workers from joining the union, afterwards, they would file multiple complaints to the

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Nati ...

. In March 2023, EBay would be charged for their illegal practices including implementation of unilateral changes, firing a union organizer, and attempting to dismantle the union altogether. In a December 2024 report created by the

Communications Workers of America The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States, representing about 700,000 members in both the private and public sectors (also in Canada and Puerto Rico). The union has 27 lo ...

found that 87% of the workers at the Syracuse facility for TCGplayer (Syracuse Authentication Center) made less than

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. B ...

with TCGplayer representatives not responding for requests of comments.

References

{{reflist Retail companies established in 2008 Trading card companies Companies based in Syracuse, New York EBay acquisitions 2008 establishments in New York (state) 2022 mergers and acquisitions