Frequently Asked Questions

Go to My Collection and click + Begin a new collection in the sidebar. Pick a game, optionally narrow it down to a set, search for a card, and add it — a collection only shows up in the sidebar once it has at least one card in it. You can also add cards directly from the main Search page the same way.

Find the card via Search, or via a set's "All Cards" list on My Collection, and click Add. A small form lets you set the copy's condition, print type (Normal/Holo/etc.), language, quantity, and whether it's graded — this is called a card's attributes. The same card can be added more than once with different attributes (e.g. a Normal copy and a separate Holo copy), and each shows up as its own row.

There are three buttons: Add in collection (just tracks that you own it), Add as tradable (also marks it as a spare, requires a price), and Add to Needed (adds it to your wanted list instead).

• Owned — every copy you've added to your collection, in any quantity.
• Tradeable — the portion of an owned copy you've marked as a spare, available to trade away. This is always a subset of what you own (e.g. own 3, mark 1 tradeable, keep 2).
• Wanted — cards on your want list, whether or not you own any copies already.
• Missing — every card in a set you haven't added yet, shown so you can see what's left to complete it.

Marking a copy tradeable means you're offering it as a spare other traders can request. On an owned card's row, set the Tradable quantity (up to how many you own) and a Price, then click Save. You can also add a card as tradable right from the start using the "Add as tradable" button when you first add it.

Price is the amount you think a tradeable copy is worth, in US dollars. It's informational only — it's used to help rank and balance trade matches (so a lopsided trade is visible before you agree to it), but it is never enforced or processed by the platform. TradeMyTCG doesn't handle payments at all; any cash included in a trade is arranged directly between you and the other trader, entirely outside the site.

There are two ways to find a trade:

• Find matches (auto-matching) — scans every other user for a mutual match: someone who has something you want and wants something you have. Each match is bundled into one proposal and ranked by how balanced it is.
• Search for possible trades — one-directional: shows you everyone who currently holds a card from your want list as a priced spare, even if you don't have anything they want yet.

You can also propose a trade manually with anyone you've traded with before, from the "Trade again" section on your Trades page.

Accepting transfers the cards between both collections right away, but the trade isn't marked complete until shipping is confirmed. Each side that's sending physical cards fills in carrier/tracking info and marks it shipped; the recipient marks it received and leaves a star rating — that's what finally completes the trade.

Click your name in the header to open your Account page. You can update your name, phone, and country any time; changing your email requires your current password and re-verifying the new address; changing your password requires your current one too. Your username is the one thing that can't be changed once your account is created.

Every account has a membership level — Basic, Silver, Gold, Platinum, or Elite — shown as a small emblem next to your name across the site. Your level sets your weekly credit allowance (see below). Everyone starts on Basic; higher levels are assigned by the site admins for now.

Credits are what you spend to find trades. You get a fresh batch once a week, based on your membership level — 20 for Basic, 60 Silver, 150 Gold, 400 Platinum, 1500 Elite. Your weekly credits reset every Monday and don't carry over, so there's no benefit to hoarding them. Admins can also grant "special" credits on top of that; those never expire and are only used once your weekly credits are gone.

Your balance shows in the header, with the full history on your Account page.

Only the trade-discovery tools cost credits:

• Find matches (auto-matching) — a flat cost each time you run it.
• Search for possible trades — charged per wanted card you include in the search.
• Trade again — a small cost to open the trade builder for a past partner.

Proposing, accepting, declining, and countering trades are all free. If you don't have enough credits for an action, it's held back until your credits next refresh.