Shipping Guidelines

If you are sending in a shipment as part of TCGplayer Direct, these tips will ensure that your cards arrive at our Authentication Center safely and in a way for our team to quickly process your shipment.

1-  Package Products in Order

Sellers must pack the products in the order indicated on the Packing Slip. Cards out of order result in slow processing times and are more likely to cause errors during processing.

2- Minimize Movement

Try to minimize the amount a card can move within the package by securing your cards in a team bag with a top loader or piece of cardboard for stability. Sellers must package products in a way that preserves their integrity. Loose cards, rubber bands, excessive tape, and other non-standard packaging practices risk damage to incoming products.

Do not package products with potentially unsanitary items. This includes, but is not limited to clothing items, masks, tissues, paper towels, insects, or any item that could pose a health risk or may include hazardous substances. If any of these are sent in a package to TCGplayer, it will be refused and returned to the seller who will be charged replacement fees for the product.

Acceptable packing materials are packing peanuts, bubble wrap, air cushions and/or foam monster pads.

*Pack your cards in a team bag with a single top loader. Top loaders can be used for high value cards.*

A. Protecting High Value Cards

Only sleeve and/or top load cards valued at $25 or greater. Do not use “perfect fit” sleeves. We remove sleeves to properly authenticate and review cards. Perfect fit sleeves are difficult to remove and may lead to condition downgrades or even damage to products. Over-sleeving results in slow processing times both for sellers and TCGplayer and can impact seller packaging metrics.

High Valued cards must still be placed in the shipment in the order indicated on the packing slip. High Valued cards placed elsewhere may be missed during processing, resulting in missing products and impacting seller accuracy metrics. Please see the “Reimbursing TCGplayer for Fulfilled Orders” section of the Direct Seller Agreement for more information on Accuracy metrics and Packaging requirements.

3- Recommended Packaging

Utilize your best judgement when selecting the correct type of packaging to ship your order to TCGplayer. If you’re not sure what to use, look for the smallest box or a bubble mailer that will safely hold everything. We recommend utilizing flat rate packaging over priority express packaging, as the priority packaging increases shipping costs for a similar delivery timeframe.

A. Shipping with Bubble Mailers

Seal the cards together in a team bag and put them into a small bubble mailer. If using multiple team bags, please be sure to number the team bags in the order of the shipment for ease of processing once it arrives at our Authentication Center. Add a piece of cardboard or a top loader to the package to provide rigid protection, then ship with tracking. Make sure the cards do not have room to flex or move around inside the mailer. 

B. Shipping with Boxes 

When shipping your cards in a box, please be sure to team bag your cards, and if applicable, number the team bags in the order of the shipment for ease of processing once it arrives at our Authentication Center. 

If shipping in a standard BCW (or similar) box, it is not recommended to ship BCW boxes alone. They should be contained within a mailer or larger box, as they are not designed for shipping or rough handling. 

If your shipment is too large to be contained in one box, you may split shipments into multiple packages as needed. Each larger box will need a unique tracking number, and those numbers should be sent to TCGplayer as soon as possible. Packages may not exceed 25 lbs each (approximately 6,000 cards). This helps to ensure the safety of our receiving team and the associated products.

*Please note that splitting the shipment into multiple boxes is only allowed for large shipments. If part of a shipment is forgotten or missed, it may not be shipped out in a second package. The shipment will be processed as is and any follow up packages received by the Authentication Center will be returned to you.

Package products with approved packing materials to keep your cards secure during transit. Make sure the smaller boxes do not have room to move around within the shipping box, and make sure the cards do not have room to move or flex within the smaller boxes. 

C. Best Practices

• Only sleeve cards valued at $25 or greater. Over-sleeving results in slow processing times both for sellers and TCGplayer.
  • Do not use “perfect fit” sleeves. We remove sleeves to properly authenticate and review cards. Perfect fit sleeves are difficult to remove and may lead to condition downgrades or even damage to products.
     
• For all orders going into a flat rate box, be sure to tape the flaps on the box with strong packaging tape. These boxes do have their own adhesive, however getting wet, going through extreme heat or cold, or being handled roughly during shipping can cause the adhesive to fail. For your own protection, please secure the flaps with tape before shipping.
   
• Package products in a way that preserves their integrity. Loose cards, rubber bands, excessive tape, and other non-standard packaging practices risk damage to incoming products.
  • Do not package products with potentially unsanitary items. This includes, but is not limited to clothing items, masks, tissues, paper towels, insects, or any item that could pose a health risk or may include hazardous substances. If any of these are sent in a package to TCGplayer, it will be refused, returned to the seller, and replacement fees will be charged for the product.
     
• Acceptable packing materials are packing peanuts, bubble wrap, air cushions and/or foam monster pads.
   
• Do not send products and/or packages smelling of smoke or other substances. In order to protect buyers, the health and safety of our team members, and the integrity of our inventory, TCGplayer will reject material that passes visual inspection but gives off a noticeable scent of smoke or other chemicals.

4- Track your Package

Be sure to apply accurate tracking to the shipment in TCGplayer’s Seller Portal. It is a seller’s responsibility to ensure the safe delivery of their shipments to TCGplayer’s Authentication Center. TCGplayer makes an effort to monitor for expected shipments, but is under no obligation to investigate, alert, or otherwise address when a package does not arrive for any reason.

Shipments must arrive at TCGplayer’s Authentication Center within 10 business days of their generation date for domestic sellers, and 15 business days for international sellers. Shipments that have not been received by the Authentication Center within 10 business days of generation will be considered “non-delivered,” regardless of shipping status, and may be canceled. The seller will be responsible for the replacement fees associated with non-delivered products.

If a seller ships a shipment to TCGplayer after it has been canceled, TCGplayer will return the shipment to the address listed in the store’s account. The seller will be responsible for covering the cost of return shipping.

*Please note that your card sleeves, team bags, top loaders and other packaging cannot be returned to you after shipping.

If a package arrives at TCGplayer with a significant amount of contents damaged in transit, we will make a concerted effort to return the packaging to you for disputes/claims with the carrier used; however, this may not always be possible, and TCGplayer is under no obligation to store, maintain, or return damaged packaging to sellers. Damaged products will be returned to you through the SEI process or a separate shipment.

• 7/6/22 - Updated mention of USPS First Class to USPS Ground Advantage.
• 2/21/25 - Updated shipment weight limit information.
• 6/7/26 - Updated guidelines for best practices.