Moving your collection
Already keeping track somewhere else?
Check the supported formats and fields before bringing your collection across, and start with a small sample so you can review the matches. Nothing is saved until you have seen what it matched.
Supported formats
The format is detected from your file’s column headers — you do not pick it. Upload the CSV your app produced and we work out which one it is.
- The TCG OS
- Our own binder export (.csv or .txt). Carries our card ids, so it re-imports exactly, including binder names, finish, grade, purchase price and notes.
- Collectr
- The Collectr PRO CSV export, matched on its Portfolio name / Product name / Card number / Variance columns.
- TCGplayer
- The TCGplayer export, matched on its TCGplayer Id and Product Line columns.
- Any other CSV
- A best-effort read of common column names — name, set, number, rarity, finish, condition and quantity. Review the preview before you commit it.
Using an app that is not listed? Export to CSV and try it — most exports carry recognisable column names and land on the best-effort path. If yours does not match well, tell us which app it was and what the columns are called; that is how a format gets added.
What carries across
| Field | How it is handled |
|---|---|
| Card | Set name, card name and number. The matcher normalises number formats — 093/086, SWSH050 and 37 all resolve. |
| Quantity | Number of copies. Defaults to 1 if the column is missing or unreadable. |
| Finish | Holofoil, Reverse Holofoil or Normal. An unrecognised value falls back to Holofoil. |
| Condition | Near Mint through Damaged. Defaults to Near Mint when absent. |
| Grade | PSA, CGC, BGS or ACE with a numeric grade, where the source records one. Cards without a grade come in raw. |
| Purchase price | Per copy, not per row total — check which convention your source uses before trusting the cost basis. |
| Date added | Carried where the source provides it. |
| Notes | Free text, carried as-is. |
| Binder | Only from a TCG OS export. Other formats import as loose cards you can organise afterwards. |
What does not carry across
- A card is matched against our catalogue, so a printing we do not carry cannot be imported. Coverage varies by game and by language.
- A row with no card name or no set name is skipped rather than guessed at. The preview lists what was skipped and why.
- Sealed product, accessories and custom items are not part of a card CSV import.
- Import adds to your collection; it does not reconcile against it. Running the same file twice adds the cards twice.
- Nothing is saved until you confirm the preview — the match is shown to you first, every time.
How to do it
- 1.Export a CSV from your current app.
- 2.Cut it down to twenty or thirty rows for a first pass — a sample tells you how well your set names and card numbers match.
- 3.Upload it. The format is detected from the headers; you do not have to say which app it came from.
- 4.Review the preview: what matched, what it matched to, and what was skipped with the line number from your file.
- 5.Confirm. Then repeat with the full file once you are happy with the matching.
Getting your collection back out
Any binder exports to a CSV (for spreadsheets and other apps) or a tab-separated text file (which pastes readably into a message). Both carry set, card, number, finish, condition, grade, quantity, purchase price, purchase date and notes — the fields we actually store, not a lowest common denominator — and both re-import here exactly, binder names included.
Because the file includes what you paid and your private notes, it is a sensitive document. It is yours to keep; just be deliberate about who you send it to.
Import and export FAQ
- Which collection apps can I import from?
- Exports from Collectr and TCGplayer are recognised automatically by their own column sets, as is a TCG OS export from another account. Any other CSV is read on a best-effort basis using common column names — name, set, number, rarity, finish, condition and quantity — and shown to you as a preview before anything is saved.
- What happens to cards that do not match?
- They are listed in the preview as unmatched, with the line number from your file, and are not imported. Nothing is silently dropped and nothing is guessed at — we would rather leave a card out than put the wrong printing in your collection.
- Should I import my whole collection at once?
- Start with a small sample — twenty or thirty rows — and check the matches before committing the rest. Matching quality depends heavily on how your source app writes set names and card numbers, and a sample tells you that in a minute.
- Can I export my collection out of The TCG OS?
- Yes, at any time. Any binder exports as a CSV or a tab-separated text file carrying set, card, number, finish, condition, grade, quantity, purchase price, purchase date and notes. It opens in any spreadsheet and re-imports here exactly.
- Does the export include what I paid for my cards?
- Yes — purchase price, purchase date and notes are all in the file, because leaving them out would silently lose data you have entered. That makes the file sensitive: it is your own private record, so treat it accordingly before sharing it.