CardStream's answer

Swift, Node.js, Postgres, Prisma, ScryFall and EDHREC APIs.

CardStream's answer

Magic the Gathering players and/or collectors, or buyers and sellers of MTG cards.

CardStream's answer

Why Choose CardStream Over Other MTG Apps

1. Everything in One App

• Scan cards instantly
• Manage your collection
• Build and playtest decks
• Trade peer to peer with real-time syncing
• Buy and sell safely with escrow
• Reward other users with in-app currency
• Share posts, decks, and trades in a social feed
• Instead of juggling five different apps for scanning, pricing, decks, trading, and selling, CardStream brings it all together in one seamless experience.

1. Instant Scanning and Smart Recognition

• Live video scanning identifies cards as you move your phone
• Automatically detects set symbols, foil status, and languages
• Works offline and syncs instantly when you reconnect
• Competing apps scan one card at a time. CardStream feels like magic.

1. Secure Trading and Selling
2. Stripe-powered escrow keeps your money safe until both sides confirm
3. Built-in shipping labels, tracking, and delivery verification
4. Transparent fees and simple payouts through Stripe Connect

5. No more risky Facebook trades or PayPal disputes. CardStream handles protection automatically.

6. Real-Time Peer Trading

7. Trade live with another user, adding, removing, and confirming cards together

8. Instant market valuation built right in

9. No other app lets you actually trade live with escrow, valuation, and reputation in one flow.

10. Smarter Deck-Building and Playtesting

11. Playtest decks with realistic battlefield simulation to tap, untap, draw, and move cards between zones

12. Visualize mana curves, synergy, and color balance

13. Quickly refine decks before buying or trading

14. Moxfield builds decks. CardStream lets you play them.

15. Built-In Social Network

16. Share decks, collections, and trades in a Magic-focused feed

17. Build a profile and reputation around your activity

18. Facebook and Reddit are noisy. CardStream is built for players, not just posts.

19. Pro-Grade Data and Transparency

20. Pulls live pricing and set data from the Scryfall API

21. Keeps detailed transaction and performance history for every card

22. Provides full auditability for serious collectors and investors

23. Beautiful, Fast, Native iOS Design

24. Built with SwiftUI and SwiftData, optimized for responsiveness and offline use

25. Every card feels tangible, with smooth animations and haptic trade confirmations

26. Prioritizes privacy and ownership — your collection stays your data

If you had to sum it up in one sentence: CardStream is the all-in-one Magic: The Gathering companion built to scan, trade, play, and connect.

CardStream's answer

The founder was selling cards on Ebay and found they were taking 14.5% fees + 10% for promotion - where promotion was just having a higher listing than others - and that was adding up to around 25% of the card's value. For a $100 card you would receive $75 or less. Also, shipping had to basically be set up and many other sellers weren't necessarily adding tracking by default. The founder wanted to build a platform that did it all in a streamlined fashion, making the default the best user experience. Sellers have only a 7% fee. Buyers have a small transaction fee and only pay $1 for shipping, instead of up to $5 on ebay with no added value.

CardStream's answer

Aside from the answers in "Why should a person choose CardStream over its competitors?", it's definitely that the seller sees the lowest fees of all the TCG apps at 7% (half of ebay's, nearly half of TCGplayer, and guess what - most LGS's will give you only 70% of your card's value, and CardKingdom will only give you 58% of your card's value!).

Beyond that - features like being able to sell at MP: Let's say you go to sell Ouroboroid today and it's value at $20, but no one buys it. But tomorrow it's suddenly worth $30 and a buyer comes along and wants to buy it - your sale will go through at $30, not $20! NO OTHER APP DOES THAT. No other market place let's you sell at market price, you have to keep up on the prices and edit them. With CardStream, it's built in.