Customer Reviews
of our Magic collection selling service
Review
Replied May 01 2024
As to the values, the payout here was 72.6% of TCGPlayer Low on cards with an average value below $5. Most would consider that an exceptional result when considering the cost to sell those via a marketplace like TCGPlayer. We do our best to set pricing expectations ahead of time, and to make it clear that obtaining retail prices vi ... Read more
As to the values, the payout here was 72.6% of TCGPlayer Low on cards with an average value below $5. Most would consider that an exceptional result when considering the cost to sell those via a marketplace like TCGPlayer. We do our best to set pricing expectations ahead of time, and to make it clear that obtaining retail prices via our service (or any buylist) is simply not possible. We always encourage anyone considering our service to use our price check tool and/or collection estimate tool to ensure the pricing meets expectations.
Review
Replied Feb 24 2024
We understand that grading cards may not be everyone's forte. We are always happy to provide additional information regarding grading to help get on the same page for that shipment and any future shipments. You do agree that the ... Read more
We understand that grading cards may not be everyone's forte. We are always happy to provide additional information regarding grading to help get on the same page for that shipment and any future shipments. You do agree that the cards will not be returned, but ultimately our goal is to find an agreeable solution – but, that cannot happen if you do not reach out to us to discuss the situation. For anyone considering the service that is concerned with the grading and/or their ability to assess the grades of their own cards, we always recommend you request a hold for review, which gives you the opportunity to review and discuss the report with us prior to it being finalized.
Review
Replied Dec 01 2023
Extensive photographic evidence of the wear of the cards was provided, but the customer simply disagreed with the assessments – calling them "a joke".
It can be frustrating when you believe your cards are in great condition, but they don't meet vendor criteria to be assessed as such, as was the case here. At the end of the day, we need to assess the card condition as we receive it, but we always want to reach a satisfactory result for every single customer.
If you are considering our service and are concerned about the grades of your cards, we always recommend requesting a hold for review, which will allow you to get evidence of your grades and provide options in the event we cannot get on the same page regarding the assessment.
Extensive photographic evidence of the wear of the cards was provided, but the customer simply disagreed with the assessments – calling them "a joke".
It can be frustrating when you believe your cards are in great condition, but they don't meet vendor criteria to be assessed as such, as was the case here. At the end of the day, we need to assess the card condition as we receive it, but we always want to reach a satisfactory result for every single customer.
If you are considering our service and are concerned about the grades of your cards, we always recommend requesting a hold for review, which will allow you to get evidence of your grades and provide options in the event we cannot get on the same page regarding the assessment.
Review
Replied Oct 11 2023
Given the results of the assessment, the only explanation for being displeased would be an expectation of receiving retail value for the cards. This unfortunately is not feasible, as retail values don’t factor in the expenses associated with selling cards, nor the time it may take to sell cards. The prices that can be expected from our service are readily available using our price check tool and estimate tool, and we encourage anyone considering the service to use th ... Read more
Given the results of the assessment, the only explanation for being displeased would be an expectation of receiving retail value for the cards. This unfortunately is not feasible, as retail values don’t factor in the expenses associated with selling cards, nor the time it may take to sell cards. The prices that can be expected from our service are readily available using our price check tool and estimate tool, and we encourage anyone considering the service to use those resources when deciding if our service will be a good fit. If grading is expected to be an area of concern for you, we would also encourage you to request that the shipment be held for review to enable you an opportunity to get more information on grades prior to finalization of the report.
Review
Replied Aug 25 2023
It can be frustrating when you believe your cards are in great condition, but they don't meet vendor criteria to be assessed as such, as was the case here. We always want to come to a mutually agreeable conclusion where possible, but when offered the opportunity to explore that, the customer declined, instead requesting we pay the amounts assessed while maintaining their disappointment. Markdowns for high end foils can be substantial since NM versions can be in low supply; when sending in high end foils and the grade is uncertain, we recommend requesting the cards be held for review so the results can be properly understood before finalized.
It can be frustrating when you believe your cards are in great condition, but they don't meet vendor criteria to be assessed as such, as was the case here. We always want to come to a mutually agreeable conclusion where possible, but when offered the opportunity to explore that, the customer declined, instead requesting we pay the amounts assessed while maintaining their disappointment. Markdowns for high end foils can be substantial since NM versions can be in low supply; when sending in high end foils and the grade is uncertain, we recommend requesting the cards be held for review so the results can be properly understood before finalized.
Review
Replied Aug 14 2023
In the case here, there were numerous cards submitted as Unlimited Edition that were regrettably Revised Edition. It isn’t an uncommon mistake to make, however, the differences between Unlimited and Revised are still quite distinct (Unlimited cards have beveled (double) lines at the borders, revised has a single between the inner card and the border) – and our staff is extensively trained to detect the differences between versions. In addition to the mistakenly submitted Unlimited cards, there was a card submitted as Alpha, but was actually from Revised – and a card ... Read more
In the case here, there were numerous cards submitted as Unlimited Edition that were regrettably Revised Edition. It isn’t an uncommon mistake to make, however, the differences between Unlimited and Revised are still quite distinct (Unlimited cards have beveled (double) lines at the borders, revised has a single between the inner card and the border) – and our staff is extensively trained to detect the differences between versions. In addition to the mistakenly submitted Unlimited cards, there was a card submitted as Alpha, but was actually from Revised – and a card submitted as from The Dark that was actually from Chronicles; in both cases, the difference in the border color alone is enough for anyone familiar with cards to identify the difference.
To those considering the service and reading this review: if you have this kind of concern, you should always reach out to us upon receiving your report and we can explain the differences and provide scans to verify we have assigned the correct version. We would just need you to reach out in a timely fashion, as we may not be able to provide scans if too much time has passed after we complete processing your cards. Ultimately our goal is to ensure you have an experience that meets or exceeds your expectations; this certainly can be a challenge when incorrect assumptions exist coming in, but we will do our best to help you make the best of the situation to the extent we can. You should never assume “well they won’t do anything” – always reach out; we’re here to help.
Review
Replied Jul 06 2023
Regarding the alleged missing cards, we take the chain of custody of incoming shipments extremely seriously. Our service requires enormous trust, and we recognize how important it be that we can definitively say we processed all cards received in a shipment. In this case, we have reviewed all the pictures of the shipment, as well as shipments processed after the shipment had been opened – and we can confirm that Doubling Season was not received in the shipment (and that all cards received in the shipment are accounted for in the final report presented to the customer). In all cases this has happened in the past, the customer was ultimately able to locate the “missing” items either at their residence or accidentall ... Read more
Regarding the alleged missing cards, we take the chain of custody of incoming shipments extremely seriously. Our service requires enormous trust, and we recognize how important it be that we can definitively say we processed all cards received in a shipment. In this case, we have reviewed all the pictures of the shipment, as well as shipments processed after the shipment had been opened – and we can confirm that Doubling Season was not received in the shipment (and that all cards received in the shipment are accounted for in the final report presented to the customer). In all cases this has happened in the past, the customer was ultimately able to locate the “missing” items either at their residence or accidentally included in a shipment to another person or vendor. We suspect that to be the case here.
Regarding the “estimated value”, unfortunately this was not an estimate provided from our estimate tool, but rather an estimate from what appears to be a third-party application of some sort that uses TCGPlayer Mid as a proxy for value. Unfortunately, TCGPlayer Mid is not a useful metric; we use TCGPlayer Low as a proxy for retail value, as it more accurately reflects the retail value a customer might expect (not factoring in costs/time, etc.). TCGPlayer Low for the full shipment here was just over $3,900. Removing the items that were intended to be sent, but were not, and it becomes approximately $3,760. Those prices assume every card was NM, which was not the case here – and resulted in an assessed value about $210 lower than it would have been had everything been in NM condition.
The crux of the matter here is the expectation of receiving retail value for cards. We work extremely hard to set expectations for all customers before they send cards in. Our estimate tool is a very valuable tool for this, and while the customer in question did utilize the estimate tool, the format provided resulted in the tool not providing an estimate for the customer to consider. We always encourage anyone seeking values closer to retail value to consider alternatives to our service; while our service does optimize buylist prices and does a great job providing payouts that exceed other buylist options (even when factoring in our fees), it cannot be relied upon to provide retail value for cards.
Review
Replied Jul 03 2023
For those concerned about unexpected downgrades, we do offer the ability to put a shipment on hold for 48 hours after receipt, which will allow for us to address any potential concerns regarding specific cards prior to the finalization of shipments. Even without a hold, we are always happy to provide additional information where possible, and encourage customers to contact us with concerns as soon as possible so they can be addressed while the card is still in our possession.
For those concerned about unexpected downgrades, we do offer the ability to put a shipment on hold for 48 hours after receipt, which will allow for us to address any potential concerns regarding specific cards prior to the finalization of shipments. Even without a hold, we are always happy to provide additional information where possible, and encourage customers to contact us with concerns as soon as possible so they can be addressed while the card is still in our possession.
Review
Replied May 07 2023
This was a Sorted Shipment of ~800 cards. The near mint value at the time it was created was approximately $3,650. After grading for condition, our assessed value was $2,917. The customer was unhappy that some of his cards were graded at a condition below near mint, and demanded payment of $3,650, or that all cards be returned to him.
Any customer may request – before their shipment is received by us – that their shipment be held for review. If we have advance notice, we can ensure their shipment is processed in isolation from all other shipments, and the customer has 48 hours to review and approve our assessment. Without advance notice, we process shipments into our general ... Read more
This was a Sorted Shipment of ~800 cards. The near mint value at the time it was created was approximately $3,650. After grading for condition, our assessed value was $2,917. The customer was unhappy that some of his cards were graded at a condition below near mint, and demanded payment of $3,650, or that all cards be returned to him.
Any customer may request – before their shipment is received by us – that their shipment be held for review. If we have advance notice, we can ensure their shipment is processed in isolation from all other shipments, and the customer has 48 hours to review and approve our assessment. Without advance notice, we process shipments into our general inventory, and that makes it extremely time-consuming – and in some cases impossible – to reassemble a customer's entire shipment.
This customer did not make any request that their shipment be held for review. We were unable to return their entire shipment -- both due to the time it would take to pull 800 cards out of many thousands processed around the time, and the difficulty of confirming that specific copies of certain cards were from this customer's shipment.
We offered to retrieve certain cards to better explain our condition grading. When presented with photographic evidence on several cards of the basis for condition downgrades, the customer did not contest our condition explanation but felt "certain" that their cards were near mint at the time of shipment.
At this point we suggested we could track down a smaller portion of the customer's shipment, despite how time-consuming that would be for our team. We could, for example, return the most expensive cards to this customer. The customer refused this option altogether, insisting either full payment for perfect condition cards, or that every single card be returned.
In the end, we made payment to this customer per our assessment. This customer responded with continued allegations, and threats of legal action. We reminded the customer about our terms and conditions, and about the very specific acknowledgments they made with us – namely, that the cards cannot be returned, and that we cannot change the grades for the cards, absent an error on our part. Despite the continued threats from the customer, we have continued to reiterate we are willing to find a middle ground – which is something we promise to all our customers.
It always saddens us when a customer is disappointed with their experience. We take great pains to explain our processes and to set expectations ahead of time. If you plan to use our service (especially if it is your first time using our service), but are concerned that you may be unhappy with the results, we would recommend you request your shipment be held for your review. Even if you don't request a hold for a shipment, however, we are always willing to work with you to find a reasonable solution.
Review
As other reviews have state, they grade EXTREMELY harshly on your cards. Most cards that should be NM/LP will get MP and of course they tend to be the most expensive ones out of the lot you se ... Read more
As other reviews have state, they grade EXTREMELY harshly on your cards. Most cards that should be NM/LP will get MP and of course they tend to be the most expensive ones out of the lot you send.
And ofcourse you never know what they "bulk" out of your shipment. Is it a 50-75 cent card that they consider bulk? You'll never know. I wish there was a better competitor to these people.
Replied Feb 13 2023
We go to great pains on our site to explain our service to potential customers because we want everyone to ha ... Read more
We go to great pains on our site to explain our service to potential customers because we want everyone to have their expectations met or exceeded. We offer both a price check tool and an estimate tool so that people know what sort of pricing to expect – and to know what is considered bulk, and what is not. We are the first to admit that our service isn't for everyone, and also that using the service primarily for low-value items and then comparing to retail (like TCGPlayer Low) is a recipe for disappointment.
The shipment in question at full NM using our service would be valued at $532.24; the value as graded was $436.07 before fees. The TCGPlayer Low value on this shipment was $926.26, but the missing link is that cards worth ~$1 retail are overinflated in "value" on TCGPlayer because a ~$1 price tag is less about the card's inherent value and more about the costs of selling – marketplace fees, supplies, labor and most notably, shipping cost. Buylists tend to reflect the true value of the card better for low value items; in this case, our payout after fees was a whopping 32% higher than the next single buylist – and so it is unfortunate you are disappointed with the results. It is also worth noting that we opted to keep your fee structure as Curated even though the shipment did not qualify as that shipment type, which resulted in savings of $50+ in fees through our service.
Lastly, to touch on the grading comment – as noted above, you have utilized our service many times, and you are familiar with how we grade. You have complained in the past and received detailed information about grading and why it isn't meeting your expectations. While we can empathize with the frustration you experienced when many of your more expensive cards are not in Near Mint condition, you have repeatedly not taken suggestions we've made regarding shipment holds which would allow us to provide you specific and detailed information for items you've deemed to be misgraded. Instead, you continue to vaguely suggest that you don't like our grading, and are unwilling to understand why a card received the grade it did. At the end of the day, we must grade the cards accurately in the condition they are received – but we are always willing to share that justification and go out of our way to ensure the customer understands our process.
Review
Replied Oct 12 2022
In the case of the shipment in question, the full retail value was $250. However, th ... Read more
In the case of the shipment in question, the full retail value was $250. However, the best buylist price for the entire shipment at Near Mint was $145 (before grading is taken into account). The difference between the two values is a result of the 830+ bulk cards, which do not have significant value to any vendor. With a roughly $114 payout prior to our fees, this is in line with expectations depending on the grading. Unfortunately, we can see even under the very best conditions (that everything is graded NM and zero fees), the potential return for this shipment was doomed to miss expectations of expected value in excess of the full retail value.
Grading is another point emphasized by the review here, and we can certainly understand and empathize with the frustration you experienced when many of your more expensive cards are not in Near Mint condition. One unique thing about our service is that we can use each vendor criteria to assess the cards to attain the best value possible, not just the best grade possible. One thing we stress to all of our customers is that you can always reach out to us after you get your report if you have any questions or need more information on any particular cards; we are always happy to provide pictures and detailed explanations for why cards are graded as they are, and that ensures everyone is on the same page and can feel confident that “coincidences” don’t exist. At the end of the day, we must grade the cards accurately in the condition they are received – but we are always willing to share that justification and go out of our way to ensure the customer understands our process.
Lastly, our fees and fee structure are set up to reflect the labor necessary to process a shipment. For shipments with a very high concentration of bulk cards, the payout for non-bulk cards will be quickly eroded by the effort (and fees) associated with processing the bulk ones. We have our Curated and Sorted shipment types which are available to customers who want to do a bit of the legwork ahead of time and pay less in fees. Of the nearly 1,000 cards here, just 30 of them qualify for those services (that is, they have an expected buylist value of $1 or more at NM condition); ultilizing our Sorted service here instead of the Standard would have resulted in a $104 payout for just those 30 cards, and our fee would have been a mere $2 and change. In addition, for our Standard service we offer “exclusions” which will result in the excluded card types (e.g. commons) not being catalogued, and also waive the fee for those cards.
In conclusion, we apologize again that we were unable to meet your expectations. We appreciate you taking the time to write a review, and we hope that the review in combination with our response will assist future customers in considering how to best utilize our service – and our willingness to work with any potential future customers to ensure their expectations are met or exceeded.
Review
I got $20 for it (marked as MP foil) when the cheapest HP foil is $45 on TCG.
I got $20 for it (marked as MP foil) when the cheapest HP foil is $45 on TCG.
Replied Sep 09 2021
The cards from your shipment were priced at the best buylist prices for the grades assessed, and we feel they were fair given the condition of the cards and the respective offers among our vendor par ... Read more
The cards from your shipment were priced at the best buylist prices for the grades assessed, and we feel they were fair given the condition of the cards and the respective offers among our vendor partners. Each vendor can have specific criteria which may affect the grade - and so we are always seeking the top buylist price for your card, not the best grade. We know that it is disappointing to see cards downgraded, but we must consistently apply the appropriate grading criteria for each of our vendor partners.
Your report provides a full breakdown of the grading assessments. We are always willing to provide additional information (and/or photographs) explaining the grading of a particular card as long as you contact us shortly after your report is received (while the card is still in our hands), so please keep that in mind should you decide to give the service another try. At the end of the day, we want you to be a satisfied customer, and so we apologize again we were not able to meet your expectations on this shipment, as we were able to on the prior two.