How do I handle my Direct orders and Reimbursement Invoices?
When you join the Direct by TCGplayer program, we ship out cards on your behalf to save you time and money. We then send you a Reimbursement Invoice (RI) that lists all the cards we shipped out on your behalf so you can send us the same cards at the same condition in a single box to replenish our inventory. That way we have those cards in stock the next time customers need them. It’s important that you follow the best practices outlined below to ensure Direct keeps working efficiently for all of us.
How Do I Know Which Orders are Being Shipped through Direct?
When Will I Receive a Reimbursement Invoice?
What if I want to send multiple RIs in one package?
What happens if there is a Discrepancy in my RI?
How Do I Know Which Orders are Being Shipped through Direct?
When you visit your Orders tab, you’ll see the Direct by TCGplayer symbol next to Direct orders. You do not need to ship these orders individually. You’ll ship the contents of them to TCGplayer when you receive your Reimbursement Invoice. Using the filtering tools on your Orders tab, you can hide the Direct orders so that you can focus on the orders you do need to ship.
When Will I Receive a Reimbursement Invoice?
We generate RI’s every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and send them to sellers who need to receive them. Your RI will only contain items sold since your last RI.
You’ll only receive an RI if:
- Two weeks have passed since your oldest Direct by TCGplayer order not assigned to an RI
- You have at least $300 in unfulfilled Direct sales since the last RI you received.
When we generate an RI for you, you will receive an email from us to let you know it is there!
Note: In the event a holiday is on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday, the RI will still generate, but it’s understood that not all stores operate on the holidays. We take that into account when evaluating each RI for timely arrival. Automated messages may still occur, but don’t be alarmed.
Packing and Shipping Your RI
Once your RI has been generated, you just need to print it, pull it, pack it, ship it, and track it. Your RI should be shipped within 24 hours of it generating. Here are some best practices for shipping your RI:
- Print the Packing Slip from the “Reimbursement Invoices (RI)” page of the TCGplayer Direct tab in your Seller Portal. Having a physical copy will help pull the cards.
- Don’t sleeve cards unless they are over $25. For us to properly assess the cards when they get to us, they need to be unsleeved. Removing cards from sleeves slows our teams down and delays getting RI’s processed.
- Pack your cards in the order that they show on the RI Packing Slip. If you need to use multiple team bags or boxes, label them so we know which order to open them in!
- Include your Packing Slip in the package. This will help us when we process your RI.
- Track your package! This will let us both know when the package should get here and helps in the case of a lost package.
For more information on packing your RI, please review this help file.
Note: We reserve the right to cancel any Reimbursement Invoice that does not have tracking added and in the possession of a mailing service provider within four days (or for non-tracked RIs, those we have not been notified have been shipped without tracking), and replace the cards in that reimbursement invoice following the method below.
What if I want to send multiple RIs in one package?
If you have multiple RIs to send to TCGplayer at one time, you can submit them as part of a single package by following the steps below:
- Write in to TCGplayer support on the RIs being combined to give us a heads up that they will be sent in a single package!
- The RIs in the package should be clearly labeled and separated. Ideally the RIs should be packed separately in team bags or boxes within the package, and each should be labeled to indicate which RI is contained (ex: 3-15 pack 1).
What happens if there is a Discrepancy in my RI?
When packing and shipping your RI, occasionally mistakes happen, or you may not have the specific card that was listed, and there is a discrepancy in the RI. The different types of discrepancies are:
- Missing Cards
- Condition Issues
- Wrong version
- Wrong card
When this happens, we need to purchase a replacement copy of the expected card. We charge the cost that we will incur to replace the card which is the greater of either:
- The price you charged for that card from the order in question.
- The average price the card has sold for in its 50 most recent transactions.
You can see the charges associated with the discrepancies through the Payment tab of your Seller Portal by clicking into the payment that contains that RI.
Seller Extra Inventory (SEI)
When there is a discrepancy in an RI that resulted in extra cards, wrong versions of a card, or cards that don’t meet our condition guidelines we add them to your Seller Extra Inventory (SEI). The list of cards that are in your SEI can be viewed by clicking on “Extra Inventory” in the TCGplayer Direct tab of your Seller Portal.
We ship the cards in your SEI to you automatically, free of charge, if either of the following is true:
- Your SEI contains 160 or more cards.
- You have not requested your SEI in the last 90 days.
Feel free to request your SEI back at any time! Detailed feedback on your SEI is also available from our Inventory Specialists upon request.
If you have any questions about your Reimbursement Invoices or the Direct by TCGplayer program, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re happy to help!
- 6/24/22 - Edited SEI automatic shipping and shipping on request information, and added link to "How do I pack my Direct by TCGplayer Reimbursement Invoice (RI)?" help file to Packing and Shipping section.