How do I handle my TCGplayer Direct orders and Reimbursement Invoices?
When you join the TCGplayer Direct 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 TCGplayer Direct 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 a 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?
For detailed information regarding how and when RIs generate, please see the About Reimbursement Invoices help file.
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 an RI generation day falls on a holiday, 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. Be sure to follow the shipping timelines and compliance requirements listed in the Reimbursing TCGplayer for Fulfilled Orders section of the Direct Seller Agreement.
For more information on packing your RI, please review our TCGplayer Shipping Guidelines help file.
What if I want to send multiple RIs in one package?
There are specific conditions that must be met to combine RIs into a single package. For specifics, see our Combined RI Shipping Process help file.
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.
Note that you must meet certain accuracy requirements to maintain your participation in Direct. See the Reimbursement Invoice (RI) Accuracy section of the Direct Seller Agreement for specific requirements.
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.
For more information about SEI, see the Seller Extra Inventory (SEI) section of the Direct Seller Agreement.
If you have any questions about your Reimbursement Invoices or the TCGplayer Direct 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.
- 3/12/25 - Updated to reflect new RI processes for all Direct Sellers.