"Bought a bundle of cards, had one of the cards "moved to" "save for later" AFTER CHECKOUT. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? No explanation as to where my money went, nor was there any explanation as to when I would get the card I ordered. "
"They have a pre-sale terms of service which says sellers must fulfill 100% of pre-sales. However they don't enforce this. They allow sellers to cancel pre-sales with the flimsiest of excuses such as "I ordered packs instead of boxes, and didn't realize that the item I ordered for $65 wasn't the same item I was selling for over $300". Any seller of Magic the Gathering products is definitely aware that Wizards of the coast does not sell sealed products that give stores that type of profit margin, and TCG player for certain knows that.
They will tell you to leave feedback when your order is cancelled, and then will delete all negative feedback for that seller, so you do not even know if a seller has a history of cancelling orders and not fulfilling their pre-sales when you order from them.
Support will eventually tell you that this falls into the category of "issues that aren't in their control" for the seller because of whatever flimsy excuse the seller provided. In my situation they said they thought they ordered cases of VIP double masters but actually ordered packs, and apparently did not notice or thought it was completely normal that the price they were paying the distributor was roughly $65 and the price they were charging was $334. So either lying or gross incompetence take your pick, but apparently which ever it was happened to not be 'in the seller's control'.
My cancellation happened during a price spike of the product adding to my skepticism that it was merely gross incompetence on the part of the seller."
"I ordered a 150+$ list of cards and they some how lost 26$ of it. I went through various emails, back and forth, even showing proof of the charge that was made from my bank account, and STILL they tell me it was from previous cards from the list i bought from. They are NOT to be trusted! They will scam you of your money! I will be taking my business elsewhere from now on. Tcgplayer is a crock of sh*t."
"I understand that they are a marketplace and different people run their stores under this one website, but I am going to be totally honest and say I only buy from TCGPlayer if it is not available anywhere else, I am in no hurry at all to get the cards, or they are way cheaper than another outlet. Since they have changed their shipping rules, almost every card has shipping under a certain amount, which I am fine with, but when I pay for it...I think it should be shipped pretty quickly. At least not a week later, as sellers have 6-8 BUSINESS days to ship your card(Even paid shipping). I am not even griping about my most recent order...this happens all the time.
Very rarely have I got my order from TCGPlayer.com and thought, "Dang, that was fast!!" More often than not, I often think, "I wonder if these cards will be here today, we are reaching the last available day they have to get them delivered to me."
It may be more, but the premium from other marketplaces is definitely worth getting your cards faster."
"I had one order. Ended up shipping it to the wrong address. Couldn't get it back. Second order, never arrived. Ever. Contacted seller. Didn't get a refund or cards that ever arrived. Fool me twice, no one should get fooled again. Forget this miserable website run by con artists."
"Hello, I am a buyer and seller and first I want to say if you're interested in any TCG games this site is PERFECT for you, on TCGplayer I have been in basically all situation imaginable for example the buyer won't cooperate and won't give me what I bought or won't give me a refund on something that I either never received or was damaged in transit, I have never received any problems that weren't fixed in a very reasonable time, If the sellers don't take of your order TCGplayer will make sure you are happy with your purchase and make everything right for you. The way the website is set up and the number of people selling cards makes it so you can get basically any card for usually the best price you'll find anywhere. Most people that say allegedly got either scammed or mistreated most likely didn't contact support, had an unreasonable request or just had bad luck with the way their seller customer support works."
"Made 2 orders with TCGPlayer Direct, the first package never arrived, and the second one's tracking showed that USPS had never recieved the package. Speaking to support is slow, but refunds are attainable."
"About 25% of recent orders not shipped. Sellers do not fulfill orders on recent sets will only ship bulk cards or stagnant priced cards. Ebay is the way to go."
"Have shopped on tcg player for 3 years now. Hundreds of orders probable close to 100 different sellers and have always had my packages show up. never an issue and for the most part in proper condition. If you go online an complain about all this missing orders that you were probably refunded with I will take a second look at you as i smell something scammy. Great great place to shop and amazing customer service by tcgplayer."
"If you’re considering where to sell your cards, please steer clear of Tcgplayer. Their rules state that the buyer has 48 hours to report any discrepancies in condition, but I was made to pay for the card to be returned to me almost a month later. The value of the card dropped significantly, so paying for shipping and return was especially painful. I might of well just gave my Ugin, the Spirit Dragon away for free. Buyers have all the say, sellers have none. "
"So I am both a buyer and seller on tcgplayer.com and I have NO clue why you have so many issues with missing or bad cards. I am a one-man operation, selling batches of 100 cards at a time as singles, so I would be the most likely to be unreliable, but I have a 100% rating. I tend to get orders out within 24 hours unless there is a special reason, and in either case I send updates via message to the buyer - at minimum one at acceptance estimating date of shipment and one upon shipment, detailing how it was sent and/or estimated delivery date.
I have had two cases of disputes against me - one legit, one not. First case, I sent the wrong card. It was my mistake, I refunded $2.00 to the buyer, bringing his cost for the purchase of that wrong card to significantly under market value, leaving both sides satisfied. Second one was on a $25 card; the buyer claimed the card was severely damaged so I requested photos of the damage that included the packaging, but only got one of a neatly folded card. It was mailed near-mint in a high quality rigid protector with the opening sealed and double sleeved as well as cardboard around it sent priority, so I am SURE this was a scam, but since I had no proof of the original condition, there was nothing I could do. TCG told me there was no history of activity of this sort for this buyer, meaning he had no prior disputes for damaged products, so they sided with him and I can understand why. That just shows how things go down if you are a 'responsible' buyer in TCG's eyes. They only won't side with you if you have shown a history of being either a scammer or too fussy. Same thing goes for sellers as well, it is not one-sided.
The other thing is as a buyer, I have NEVER received a bad card, and I have purchased more than I've sold on TCG. When I buy, I make sure I look for 3 things:
1 - high feedback rating on any cards worth more than $1-2 meaning 98% at the LOWEST.
2 - high number of trades for that store, somewhere in the thousands at least, maybe hundreds if I am desperate.
3 - I almost always try and go for verified sellers. Larger volume brick-and-mortar stores have lower costs than a smaller seller, so prices are often cheaper as well.
Following these three things, I haven't ever had to dispute and order that I bought. A little wear and tear on a near-mint card is fine, but often I just want a playable copy so I go with whichever condition is the cheapest. I'll also be willing to spend the extra few cents over the cheapest listing to fit those requirements as well. If you buy from shops like these, they care about reputation and are willing to fix things, and also have the assets around so one refund isn't a big deal.
If you do have an issue with a seller, just be polite and communicate clearly with them. Treat this like ebay, so document everything - if it is a big purchase, I'd even videotape you opening the package with no interruptions, making sure it is clear that there is no funny business on your end. That way if you did end up getting burnt, you can provide solid proof to TCG that things happened as you say they did. If you do have an issue however, DO NOT go directly to dispute, contact the seller first and explain politely and calmly what your issue is, and how they could best fix it to your satisfaction - but don't ask for a return or expect one. Returns are a HUGE pain and major loss to the seller, so they would rather just refund you in full and let you keep the card if it is in unplayable condition. If it is a wrong product that isn't very expensive, most will just ship out the right one as soon as they can and let you keep the first mistaken delivery. Only in a case where the wrongful delivery is still expensive (but less value than your requested card) would I provide a means of return. It is only if the seller refuses communication or refuses to do anything to fix your order do you escalate it to TCG support staff. This will also help them take your side, since you then are the patient one willing to compromise, and the seller is the one acting sketchy. Disputes without messaging the seller just looks like a bid at a scam.
The only thing bad I can say about the site is that it is vulnerable to scams if the seller isn't diligent. I would think there are a number of sellers like me that have been burnt once or twice, and as a small-time operation that is a big deal. Overall it still is the best site out there for trading card products and other related gaming materials, and has good support that have to deal with arbitrating disputes with 0 proof on either side, so they are hard on whomever they find at fault if a dispute is opened. Just be a smart buyer, have some compassion and patience for both of the other parties involved (tcg + seller/buyer), and there shouldn't ever be an issue. "
"Didn’t get my package until a month after the expected time and when I opened it there was no card inside. "
"I ordered cards, cards came unplayable. TCGplayer banned me and sided with the seller and ignored PayPal dispute."
"They ban buyers from their site and claim drop shipping if you have a single bad experience. I will never buy from this site again."
"Whats not to like, the vast majority of the customers are honest. Tcgplayer gives me over 200 sales a day on a busy day or a day where I upload my new inventory. The customer service responds fast via email. Theres not much of a problem at all with selling on tcgplayer.
I do not participate in the direct program but heres my advice to those who receive less than perfectly matched graded cards.
NEAR mint is exactly what it says, NEAR mint. It can have a nick or 2 on it and its still NEAR mint.
If you prefer you can go through direct sellers, which TCG handles the entire order.
If you have a problem, contact your seller. I for one ALWAYS take care of customer concerns, granted if I think your lying ill take care of you and block you after so you cant buy from me anymore.
Using the tools as a seller is key. Using the price differential report to keep up with current prices and adjust accordingly. Using the pull sheet function is a great way to ship orders quickly, as its one trip to pull, and way less time sorting to pack and ship. Having a laser printer with a program called "Tweeking" to print customer envelopes for the small orders. Using stamps or endica to manage your orders with tracking. You can go as far as buying postal stamps on bid on ebay to save a few cents per stamp here or there when they are on ebay.
It is probably the best place on the internet to buy cards and most definitely the best place to sell cards on the internet. "