Trade safety
Trading, safely
Online trades are only as good as the person on the other end. Verified trades take that out of the equation — every card is checked by hand before it reaches you.
Verified trades
How the hub keeps both sides honest
- 01
Agree on an offer
Pick cards from their trade binder and yours, counter until it feels fair, then accept. The deal is written down on the trade page — nothing to remember, nothing to argue about later. - 02
Pay your part
Each of you pays the $5 hub fee plus postage, on the trade page. The hub address and your packing slip appear once you’re in an accepted trade. - 03
Both ship to the hub
Pack your side with the printed slip inside and send it to the hub (run by Cae & Lexi) with tracking — on a prepaid label from the trade page where we offer one. - 04
Every card is checked
The hub photographs each package and compares every item with the offer: the exact card, set and rarity, that it’s genuine (not a proxy or reprint), and the condition that was promised. - 05
Sent on — or sent back
If both sides pass, each package goes on to the other trader with fresh tracking. If anything doesn’t match, everything goes back to its sender. Nobody ends up empty-handed. - 06
Confirm and review
Confirm when it arrives (trades complete on their own 21 days after the hub ships), then rate each other. Every step also posts in your shared message thread.
Fees
What a verified trade costs
Checking cards by hand and forwarding them takes time and postage, so verified trades cost $5 per person, plus postage for your package to the hub and for the package the hub sends you. Most trades come to about $15–$24.50 each, all in. You pay after you’ve both accepted — never to make an offer.
Direct trades between established traders are free, and so is anything you arrange yourselves in messages. The fee only applies when the hub does the checking.
- Hub feePer person, per verified trade
- $5
- Postage, envelope with a top loader1–3 cards · typical, each way
- ~$5
- Postage, bubble mailerUp to about 25 cards, or a few packs · typical, each way
- ~$5.75
- Postage, small boxSealed boxes, lots of cards, or anything fragile · typical, each way
- ~$9.75
If the trade doesn't happen
Direct trades
For traders with a track record
Direct trades skip the hub and its fee: you ship straight to each other with tracking, and each of you sees the other’s address once the trade is accepted. It’s faster, but nobody checks the cards for you — so it unlocks only when both traders have:
- 3 completed trades
- An average of 4★ or better from at least 2 reviews
- An account at least 30 days old
- No open disputes
- Never had items fail a hub check
- Trading not paused by the hub team
Trading on your own, through messages? That’s up to you — but nobody checks the cards and the hub can’t step in if it goes wrong, because the trade was never recorded here. Verified is always the safer choice.
Offers
The ground rules
- Trades are card for card (or sealed product). Nobody pays the other trader — only the hub fee and postage.
- Offers expire after 7 days without an answer. Up to 20 different items per side.
- You can withdraw an offer any time, and call off an accepted trade until something ships.
- Ship within a few days. If nothing arrives 10 days after accepting, open a dispute and the hub team steps in.
- Blocking someone stops them from sending you offers or messages.
Packing
Pack it like it's yours
The hub opens your package, checks every item and repacks it for the trip on — so pack for the journey to the hub. Anything that arrives damaged is photographed exactly as it arrived. Full packing guide
- Every card protectedPenny sleeve → top loader → team bag. No tape on cards or sleeves — tape the bag or the top loader’s opening only.
- Sealed stays sealedPacks, boxes and cases stay in their factory wrap, padded in a small box so corners don’t crush.
- Slip insidePrint the packing slip from the trade page and put it in the package. Its trade code is how the hub knows whose cards these are.
- Tracked postage onlyUse the prepaid label, or your own tracked service. Plain stamped envelopes (no tracking) aren’t accepted.
Not allowed
What gets you removed
- Counterfeits, proxies and reprints
Fail a hub check with a fake and trading is paused on your account — for good if it was on purpose.
- Payment scams
The hub fee is only ever paid on the trade page, or to the hub team when the trade page says so. Another trader asking you for money — PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, gift cards, “shipping fees” — is a scam.
- Pretending to be the team
Real team members have a Team or Mod badge by their name. Anyone else claiming to be staff gets removed.
- Passwords, codes and logins
Nobody on the team — including Cae & Lexi — will ever ask for your password or a sign-in code.
- Misdescribing condition
Say if a card is played, bent or graded. The hub checks condition against what was offered.
- Fake reviews and pressure
No trading for reviews, no rushing people, no harassment. Report it and we’ll handle it.
The full rules for the whole site are in the community guidelines.
Tips
Proof is your friend
- Photograph what you pack, and film opening what you receive.
- Keep your receipt until the trade completes — tracking is your proof of sending.
- Check the trade page after you ship: tracking updates there as the carrier scans it.
Before you accept
Know who you're trading with
- Check their record: completed trades, rating, how long they’ve been here.
- Ask questions in messages — it’s all there if a dispute comes up.
- Something feel off? Report the trade or the person, and block them.
- Changed your mind? Withdraw or decline — no hard feelings, no penalty.
Something went wrong?
Open a dispute from the trade page — the trade pauses and the hub team takes it from there. For anything else, report it from the trade or the conversation.