Last updated: August 2026
This guide covers how to package and ship cards so they arrive the way you described them, how to protect yourself financially in case something goes wrong in the mail, and the ground rules for interacting with other traders across Cyberpunk TCG, Palworld TCG, Digimon TCG, Disney Lorcana, Riftbound TCG, Star Wars: Unlimited, One Piece TCG, Gundam Card Game, and Flesh and Blood. It applies everywhere on tradetcgs — trade messages, forum threads, and reports.
The condition you listed a card as is only worth what it's worth if the card actually arrives in that condition. See the Card Condition Guide for how to grade a card — this section is about making sure whatever condition it left your hands in is the condition it arrives in.
Protect against scratches and scuffing. Sleeve every card before it goes anywhere near an envelope. A snug "perfect fit" sleeve should hold exactly one card; a standard penny sleeve can hold up to three. Anything you or your trade partner would consider a valuable pull deserves its own sleeve.
Protect against water. Seal sleeved cards inside a water-resistant bag before they go in the envelope. Rain, humidity, and the occasional spilled coffee at a sorting facility are all real risks.
Protect against bending. Use a rigid toploader. For three cards or fewer, one toploader per small stack is fine. For more than that, sandwich the sleeved cards between two toploaders rather than stuffing them all into one.
Keep everything from shifting in transit. Tape toploaders shut so cards can't slide out. Don't let cellulose tape (Scotch tape, packing tape) touch a card directly — if you use it, put a layer of paper or a sleeve between the tape and the card first. Painter's tape is a safer default since it won't leave residue if it does touch a card.
Choose the right envelope. Cards need enough room that they can't slide around, but not so much that the envelope has flimsy, unsupported corners — those tear open in sorting machines and cards get lost. A rigid mailer or a properly sized envelope reinforced with extra cardboard works well. For higher-value trades, a bubble mailer is worth the extra cost.
Keep it clean. No grit, hair, or anything sticky anywhere near the cards or their sleeves.
Once you and your trade partner have both agreed to a trade, aim to ship within a few business days — your partner is waiting on you the same way you'd be waiting on them. tradetcgs doesn't currently auto-flag slow shipments, but a trade partner who goes quiet after agreeing is grounds for a report.
If you want to require signature confirmation on a package, coordinate that with your trade partner through trade messages first — they need to know to expect it and be able to receive it.
tradetcgs is barter-first: we don't hold cards or cash in escrow, and we're not a party to your trade. That means responsibility for a package arriving safely and promptly falls on whoever sent it. When a trade gets reported for cards that never arrived or arrived damaged, review generally sides with the receiver unless there's a clear pattern of abuse on their end.
For anything you'd be upset to lose, use tracking, and consider insurance for the value of what you're sending. Share your tracking number with your trade partner through trade messages as soon as you have it — the tracking number field on a trade is a manual entry for now, so the messages thread is the most reliable way to keep your partner in the loop while it ships.
Some percentage of mail gets lost no matter how careful you are. Insurance is how you protect yourself against that, not a sign you did something wrong.
tradetcgs brings together players and collectors across four different games, with wildly different levels of experience and investment — from someone trading a handful of duplicates from a booster box to someone building out a competitive deck. That range is a strength, but it only works if everyone can trade and talk here comfortably. A few ground rules:
This applies to trade messages, forum threads and replies, and anything else on tradetcgs. If a trade goes wrong, report it from the trade page. For anything else — harassment, a forum post, a conduct concern that isn't tied to one specific trade — contact us at hello@tcgtrades.com.