US vs EU card prices: do the two markets ever agree?
A card does not have one price. It has a US price on TCGplayer and a EU price on Cardmarket, and those two numbers rarely match. We took every Magic card priced in both markets, converted the euros at the live exchange rate, and measured the gap. Only one card in ten agrees within 5%.
Where the cheaper price lives
Of 6,850 cards priced in both markets, which side is cheaper (after converting EUR to USD at the live rate).
There is no single price
The US and EU are two separate marketplaces with separate supply and demand. TCGplayer is US-centric, Cardmarket is Europe-centric, the exchange rate drifts, sealed product lands unevenly, and some sets are regionally scarce. So 53% of cards differ by more than a quarter, and the median card disagrees by 27%. A price tile that shows you one number, from one market, in one currency, is hiding half the picture. The only honest answer to “what is it worth” is to look at both, which is why Foilio shows US and EU prices side by side.
Method & sources
- Every Magic card with both a TCGplayer USD and a Cardmarket EUR price of at least $1 / EUR1, via the open Scryfall API, 6,850 cards.
- EUR is converted to USD at the live ECB reference rate (1.143, from frankfurter.app) so the comparison is currency-fair. The finding is FX-robust: the two markets disagree whatever the exact rate.
- We report the ROBUST distribution (medians and shares). A handful of extreme single-card gaps come from printing mismatches between the two catalogs rather than a real arbitrage, so we deliberately do not headline sensational single-card numbers; medians are immune to those. Reference prices, not sale records. Valued 2026-07-08.
FAQ
Are Magic cards cheaper in the US or in Europe?
On the whole, slightly cheaper in Europe. After converting Cardmarket's EUR prices to USD at the live rate, the median card's US (TCGplayer) price is about 13% higher than its EU (Cardmarket) price. But it is very card-by-card: 58% of cards are cheaper in Europe and 32% are cheaper in the US, so the right answer for any single card is "check both".
How much do the two markets actually disagree?
A lot. Across 6,850 cards priced in both markets, the median gap between the US and EU price on the same card is 27%. Only 10% of cards, about one in ten, agree within 5%, and 53% differ by more than a quarter. The idea of a single "the price" of a card is a myth.
Why don't US and EU prices match?
They are two separate marketplaces with separate supply and demand: TCGplayer is US-centric, Cardmarket is Europe-centric. Add a moving exchange rate, different sealed-product availability, and regionally limited sets (Portal Three Kingdoms, for one, is a US-market darling that is far cheaper in Europe), and the same card lands at two different numbers. That is exactly why Foilio shows both.
How was this measured?
Every Magic card with both a TCGplayer USD and a Cardmarket EUR price of at least $1 / EUR1, via the open Scryfall API (6,850 cards, valued 2026-07-08). EUR is converted to USD at the live ECB reference rate (1.143, from frankfurter.app). We report the ROBUST distribution (medians and shares), because a few extreme single-card gaps come from printing mismatches between the two catalogs rather than a real arbitrage, and medians are immune to those. No sale records, reference prices only.
Buying or selling? Check the US and EU price side by side before you commit.
Foilio values any card across Pokémon, Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh, One Piece, Lorcana and more, live prices in EUR & USD, your whole collection tracked. Free, no signup.
Related research
The Trading Card Price Census
The floor under all of this: what the typical card is actually worth, across 29 games.
1.59xThe Foil Tax (Magic)
Another price myth measured: is a foil really worth the premium?
70%The Reprint Cliff (Magic)
Why the same card can be worth wildly different amounts, one reprint at a time.
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Source: <a href="https://foilio.net/studies/mtg-us-vs-eu-prices?utm_source=share&utm_medium=study_embed&utm_campaign=viral">US vs EU card prices: do the two markets ever agree?, Foilio</a> · data CC BY 4.0
</p>Foilio (2026-07-08). US vs EU card prices: do the two markets ever agree?. Retrieved from https://foilio.net/studies/mtg-us-vs-eu-pricesThe big picture, across every game we measure: The Chase Multiple · The Price Census · The Promo Premium · The Foil Premium