A couple of guys I worked with at a pizza place left to work in the processing center for the post office. They were some of the most non customer caring people I've ever met. They'd drop a pizza on the floor and still serve it to someone. Ever since I heard they got a job for USPS I just give any buyer a refund simply for asking. For all I know someone like them probably threw my envelope into the toilet at the USPS facility
Yeah, 9 times out of 10 it's either the post office being slow, the customer doesn't know their own address (it happens more often than I thought possible!), or it gets mis-delivered to a neighbor and the cards get sent back. Right now I'm waiting on a booster box I ordered weeks ago that is currently spending some time in sunny Puerto Rico, and will hopefully return at some point to the Midwest US. I wonder what happened to it!😅
I just had an interaction this weekend where the same person placed two orders about 5 hours apart. I messaged and asked if they'd like the orders combined and refunded the shipping charge on one order. They appreciated that I reached out and said yes to please combine them. I wasn't sure if this was even something I was allowed to do cause I haven't seen any option to refund shipping specifically, so I just docked the shipping charge off the card itself. I'm happy to hear that that's something you would have done in a similar situation cause that tells me I'm on the right track.
From my experience, most of the customers are understanding and honest. Because of this there aren't many that are out there scamming so I ended up refunding when they said that the cards were lost/damaged. Just like a store, they factor in losses in their profit because something will get damaged or stolen. No avoiding it.
I'm a buyer and seller. Lately I've not received cards from sellers. Although it wasn't a $15 card. It was $1.50 but it's now 20 days past the date of suggested arrival. It happens.
It does, unfortunately. I'm amazed it doesn't happen more often, honestly. Generally, USPS do a great job. Have you messaged the seller or escalated to TCGplayer?
Not only are your videos incredibly insightful, but it truly is heartwarming to know someone out there in the card world has such a passion for great customer service. Coming from the hospitality industry my whole life I am making it my first priority in my burgeoning business to give the best customer service of anyone in the industry. Thank you for the videos and sharing some real life case studies!
My experience is less than 1% of buyers are a problem, so I just give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I had one incredibly understanding customer a few months ago where his order was in two envelopes, mailed on the same day arrived over a week apart. Customer was very understanding. Lots of good people out there.
Had an order for a NM Pokémon card. Customer received and complained that usually the card is centered either left to right or top to bottom. Since my card wasn’t, he wanted a refund or replacement. I just give him a refund for the card and told him to keep it. It wasn’t a $15 card it was a $6 card. 😢
If you can argue that the card is NM according to the TCGp conditioning guide then customer service could mediate for you. They'd probably ask to have the customer send the card in to the AC.
yeah, that's a stinky situation. How far off-center was it, do you remember? TCGplayer's conditioning guide allows up to a 70-30 offset on either axis before considering it below NM due to a printing defect. That customer may need a lesson in understanding that NM doesn't mean that it is guaranteed to grade 9+.
100% agree on the mindset because ultimately you can't be fretting over things that are out of your control. Personal experience selling on TCGp, I've had roughly 10 or so "missing" order messages out of the ~2k orders completed. Only 2 of the 10 have returned to me due to an undeliverable address, while the rest are gone to the ether. I'd say there's certainly a chance that some fraud is going on but 10 out of 2k seems like just the price of doing business online. Refund the orders and get back to the grind is my advice to anyone doing this as a business. Thanks for all the content dude!
She is just like one of my cats. He now likes to wake me up at 3 to feed him. I have had a couple reach out and say they never got their order just for it to show up the next day.
Just wanted to say thank you for your super informative videos. I am just starting out (selling part of my own collection, then hopefully more!) and your videos are excellent resources. 😊
I recently had a customer say they only received one of the two cards they ordered. So I checked my inventory and replied with, "Hello, we are sorry to hear that an error could have been made on our part. After reviewing your order and our inventory, I do not see an extra Purphoros, God of the Forge in my inventory. Would you mind checking the sleeve and shipping shield the cards were shipped in to insure that it is not in there? I will check our inventory again just to make sure. If neither of us finds the missing card, I will be happy to see how TCG Player would like me to handle this situation as it is the first time it has happened and I am unsure of the process. We greatly apologize for this inconvenience and will work swiftly to have this resolved for you." The customer then noticed that both the cards were in the penny sleeve and everything worked out. I definitely agree with having the mindset that you and the customer are on the same side. If I would have treated them poorly and acted like I was being scammed, the whole situation probably would have went a lot different. Thanks for all the helpful content and helping me be prepared for this first customer interaction.
I'm kinda where you're at. I just believe the customer and issue a refund, but what I struggle with is whether or not to block the customer. I haven't gotten to that point yet but I haven't been doing this for very long. I also get kinda nervous with orders to PR - not because I don't trust the customers, but because I know how different addresses can be there and I worry that I'm going to mess it up. I sent out a batch 10 days ago and out of all the packages I sent that day, the PR order is the only one that isn't completed, and based on my location it should have been the first one delivered.
That stuff gets way convoluted, with how USPS routes all of it. If it's gotta go overseas, or air mail, they may have to send it to some place actually pretty far removed from PR, just to have the facilities to handle it. I've only ever blocked a couple customers, and it was from really abusive messages randomly, and it was a loooong time ago
@TCGBulkKings That's a relief to hear the shipping situation isn't anything out of the ordinary. And that sucks... I suppose you might have to deal with things like that now and then since you're out in public making content. Glad it isn't a common occurrence though.
Personally I've decided to try going all in on direct orders for this very reason. I just listed my shipping cost to 4$ and if someone decides they want to pay, every order I send is tracked in a bubble mailer. Although more than half of the people decide to pay the expedited shipping cost at that point.
The vast majority of customers are a pleasure to deal with there are those rotten eggs out there though. I just deal with them so I don't receive negative feedback and block them from my store.
Hey Chase, firstly, thanks for all of the informative videos, they've been tremendously helpful in getting started with selling on TCG Player (currently level 3). A quick question for you - I have an order through TCG for an expensive card ($230) and the buyer name does not match the shipping name (address is a house / doesn't seem sketchy), is this cause for concern in your experience?
Usually not a big deal. I don't really like when dropshippers buy from me, but a lot of times it's just for someone else in the household. You might message them and confirm the address, but if you don't hear, just send it like you would, with signature confirmation and everything
Quick question about your 3rd scenario. In that situation would you/did you take into account TCGplayer fees? Because selling a .12¢ card plus .99¢ shipping would incur a fee of ~.21¢. So if you refunded the whole .99¢ shipping cost you’d be out .9¢. I know it’s literally just pennies we’re talking about, I just think find it funny that you’d hypothetically lose money off that transaction 🤷♂️
Nah, I was just looking at a way to get an order on an invoice and a pullsheet and all that, so that it falls into my workflow. That way it would all have been documented and I'd be less likely to make some kind of mistake or oversight. Was just trying to get the customer to where they wanted to be with minimal effort.
@@TCGBulkKings that’s totally fair, it would probably be something I’d space on if I didn’t have it written down on an invoice somewhere. Thanks for another great video!
@@TCGBulkKings one other thought. From another video I saw from someone else not that long ago they were talking about being afraid of scams and they talked about having the mindset that if being afraid of scams stops you from selling any cards or being overly cautious, then you’re probably actually just missing out on more sales. I think most TCG communities are filled with a majority of genuine people, so just accepting the minimal risk that there are some scammers out there and there’s not much you can do about a very unlikely issue just opens the door for more sales
New seller here. I personally haven't had any orders go missing but I was wondering about where say you ship $25 PWE orders. Wouldn't 1 out of 10 refunded be fine since its still cheaper than paying $4 to track each order?
For me, anything $20+ I ship in a bubble mailer with tracking. Even if the math maths out that it's less expensive, there is a customer expectation that I feel triggers around the $20 mark. And I think about it from my own perspective: if I were ordering a card that was more than 20 bucks, I certainly would want it more protected, especially since I know the shipping rates and things. I don't want to be one of those that a customer ends up getting ick from because they get their $40 card in a PWE, even if I do a really good job protecting it, there's going to be bad feels a lot of the time.
Hello, I can't think of a better place to go for my question. I have an opportunity to buy alot of Alpha Sorcery: Contested Realms bulk. Do you know what a good price would be for this. These would all be ordinary non-foil but would be alpha. Thanks
I really don't know of a good price for these. I probably wouldn't be wanting to pay more than $10/1k, since it's an unproven game with not much in the way of a players market at the moment. If you want them for yourself, pay whatever you feel comfortable with, but for resale, it's tough to go high for anything but a really long play
tcgbulkkings.com/product/4000-moderately-played-to-damaged-bulk-mixed-games/ This is my current solution. Of course, most of the Pokemon cards end up in my kids' rooms XD
Can you help with any advice to get approved for TCGplayer direct without getting to the $600 a week sales mark they want? I have all of the other criteria they want but to get to $600 a week without direct is seeming extremely hard
My advice for that is to have a huge inventory, that's honestly what I did, without really trying. You can also do things to try to boost that number temporarily, like sell booster boxes at break even. I've heard that works, but haven't tested it myself. But it's true that you only have to get in once; once you're in you're in
A couple of guys I worked with at a pizza place left to work in the processing center for the post office. They were some of the most non customer caring people I've ever met. They'd drop a pizza on the floor and still serve it to someone. Ever since I heard they got a job for USPS I just give any buyer a refund simply for asking. For all I know someone like them probably threw my envelope into the toilet at the USPS facility
Yeah, 9 times out of 10 it's either the post office being slow, the customer doesn't know their own address (it happens more often than I thought possible!), or it gets mis-delivered to a neighbor and the cards get sent back. Right now I'm waiting on a booster box I ordered weeks ago that is currently spending some time in sunny Puerto Rico, and will hopefully return at some point to the Midwest US. I wonder what happened to it!😅
I just had an interaction this weekend where the same person placed two orders about 5 hours apart. I messaged and asked if they'd like the orders combined and refunded the shipping charge on one order. They appreciated that I reached out and said yes to please combine them. I wasn't sure if this was even something I was allowed to do cause I haven't seen any option to refund shipping specifically, so I just docked the shipping charge off the card itself. I'm happy to hear that that's something you would have done in a similar situation cause that tells me I'm on the right track.
Yeah, that's a great way to earn a lifetime customer =]
From my experience, most of the customers are understanding and honest. Because of this there aren't many that are out there scamming so I ended up refunding when they said that the cards were lost/damaged. Just like a store, they factor in losses in their profit because something will get damaged or stolen. No avoiding it.
Yes this exactly =]
Have you ever blacklisted any buyers? If yes, under what circumstance?
I'm a buyer and seller. Lately I've not received cards from sellers. Although it wasn't a $15 card. It was $1.50 but it's now 20 days past the date of suggested arrival. It happens.
It does, unfortunately. I'm amazed it doesn't happen more often, honestly. Generally, USPS do a great job. Have you messaged the seller or escalated to TCGplayer?
Not only are your videos incredibly insightful, but it truly is heartwarming to know someone out there in the card world has such a passion for great customer service. Coming from the hospitality industry my whole life I am making it my first priority in my burgeoning business to give the best customer service of anyone in the industry. Thank you for the videos and sharing some real life case studies!
My experience is less than 1% of buyers are a problem, so I just give everyone the benefit of the doubt.
I had one incredibly understanding customer a few months ago where his order was in two envelopes, mailed on the same day arrived over a week apart. Customer was very understanding. Lots of good people out there.
Had an order for a NM Pokémon card. Customer received and complained that usually the card is centered either left to right or top to bottom. Since my card wasn’t, he wanted a refund or replacement. I just give him a refund for the card and told him to keep it. It wasn’t a $15 card it was a $6 card. 😢
If you can argue that the card is NM according to the TCGp conditioning guide then customer service could mediate for you. They'd probably ask to have the customer send the card in to the AC.
yeah, that's a stinky situation. How far off-center was it, do you remember? TCGplayer's conditioning guide allows up to a 70-30 offset on either axis before considering it below NM due to a printing defect. That customer may need a lesson in understanding that NM doesn't mean that it is guaranteed to grade 9+.
100% agree on the mindset because ultimately you can't be fretting over things that are out of your control. Personal experience selling on TCGp, I've had roughly 10 or so "missing" order messages out of the ~2k orders completed. Only 2 of the 10 have returned to me due to an undeliverable address, while the rest are gone to the ether. I'd say there's certainly a chance that some fraud is going on but 10 out of 2k seems like just the price of doing business online. Refund the orders and get back to the grind is my advice to anyone doing this as a business. Thanks for all the content dude!
Sounds like you've got the customer service spirit, glad you're enjoying the content!
She is just like one of my cats. He now likes to wake me up at 3 to feed him. I have had a couple reach out and say they never got their order just for it to show up the next day.
Just wanted to say thank you for your super informative videos. I am just starting out (selling part of my own collection, then hopefully more!) and your videos are excellent resources. 😊
Glad to be helpful, I'm humbled that you find me to be so
I recently had a customer say they only received one of the two cards they ordered. So I checked my inventory and replied with, "Hello, we are sorry to hear that an error could have been made on our part. After reviewing your order and our inventory, I do not see an extra Purphoros, God of the Forge in my inventory. Would you mind checking the sleeve and shipping shield the cards were shipped in to insure that it is not in there? I will check our inventory again just to make sure. If neither of us finds the missing card, I will be happy to see how TCG Player would like me to handle this situation as it is the first time it has happened and I am unsure of the process. We greatly apologize for this inconvenience and will work swiftly to have this resolved for you." The customer then noticed that both the cards were in the penny sleeve and everything worked out. I definitely agree with having the mindset that you and the customer are on the same side. If I would have treated them poorly and acted like I was being scammed, the whole situation probably would have went a lot different. Thanks for all the helpful content and helping me be prepared for this first customer interaction.
What a good story, glad it worked out!
I'm kinda where you're at. I just believe the customer and issue a refund, but what I struggle with is whether or not to block the customer. I haven't gotten to that point yet but I haven't been doing this for very long. I also get kinda nervous with orders to PR - not because I don't trust the customers, but because I know how different addresses can be there and I worry that I'm going to mess it up. I sent out a batch 10 days ago and out of all the packages I sent that day, the PR order is the only one that isn't completed, and based on my location it should have been the first one delivered.
That stuff gets way convoluted, with how USPS routes all of it. If it's gotta go overseas, or air mail, they may have to send it to some place actually pretty far removed from PR, just to have the facilities to handle it. I've only ever blocked a couple customers, and it was from really abusive messages randomly, and it was a loooong time ago
@TCGBulkKings That's a relief to hear the shipping situation isn't anything out of the ordinary. And that sucks... I suppose you might have to deal with things like that now and then since you're out in public making content. Glad it isn't a common occurrence though.
WILD! Got the card back ... wild.
Personally I've decided to try going all in on direct orders for this very reason. I just listed my shipping cost to 4$ and if someone decides they want to pay, every order I send is tracked in a bubble mailer. Although more than half of the people decide to pay the expedited shipping cost at that point.
Look, I still have far less than 1 customer interaction in 100 transactions, but this is certainly a solution, just not the best for me =]
The vast majority of customers are a pleasure to deal with there are those rotten eggs out there though. I just deal with them so I don't receive negative feedback and block them from my store.
Hey Chase, firstly, thanks for all of the informative videos, they've been tremendously helpful in getting started with selling on TCG Player (currently level 3). A quick question for you - I have an order through TCG for an expensive card ($230) and the buyer name does not match the shipping name (address is a house / doesn't seem sketchy), is this cause for concern in your experience?
Usually not a big deal. I don't really like when dropshippers buy from me, but a lot of times it's just for someone else in the household. You might message them and confirm the address, but if you don't hear, just send it like you would, with signature confirmation and everything
@@TCGBulkKings thank you sir!
good vid
thanks!
Quick question about your 3rd scenario. In that situation would you/did you take into account TCGplayer fees? Because selling a .12¢ card plus .99¢ shipping would incur a fee of ~.21¢. So if you refunded the whole .99¢ shipping cost you’d be out .9¢. I know it’s literally just pennies we’re talking about, I just think find it funny that you’d hypothetically lose money off that transaction 🤷♂️
Nah, I was just looking at a way to get an order on an invoice and a pullsheet and all that, so that it falls into my workflow. That way it would all have been documented and I'd be less likely to make some kind of mistake or oversight. Was just trying to get the customer to where they wanted to be with minimal effort.
@@TCGBulkKings that’s totally fair, it would probably be something I’d space on if I didn’t have it written down on an invoice somewhere. Thanks for another great video!
@@TCGBulkKings one other thought. From another video I saw from someone else not that long ago they were talking about being afraid of scams and they talked about having the mindset that if being afraid of scams stops you from selling any cards or being overly cautious, then you’re probably actually just missing out on more sales. I think most TCG communities are filled with a majority of genuine people, so just accepting the minimal risk that there are some scammers out there and there’s not much you can do about a very unlikely issue just opens the door for more sales
New seller here. I personally haven't had any orders go missing but I was wondering about where say you ship $25 PWE orders. Wouldn't 1 out of 10 refunded be fine since its still cheaper than paying $4 to track each order?
For me, anything $20+ I ship in a bubble mailer with tracking. Even if the math maths out that it's less expensive, there is a customer expectation that I feel triggers around the $20 mark. And I think about it from my own perspective: if I were ordering a card that was more than 20 bucks, I certainly would want it more protected, especially since I know the shipping rates and things. I don't want to be one of those that a customer ends up getting ick from because they get their $40 card in a PWE, even if I do a really good job protecting it, there's going to be bad feels a lot of the time.
Every card has value, of course she's up in there lmao
Hello, I can't think of a better place to go for my question. I have an opportunity to buy alot of Alpha Sorcery: Contested Realms bulk. Do you know what a good price would be for this. These would all be ordinary non-foil but would be alpha. Thanks
I really don't know of a good price for these. I probably wouldn't be wanting to pay more than $10/1k, since it's an unproven game with not much in the way of a players market at the moment. If you want them for yourself, pay whatever you feel comfortable with, but for resale, it's tough to go high for anything but a really long play
Not sure where else to ask this question of you, and it's not relevant to this video. But, what do you do with your non-near mint bulk?
tcgbulkkings.com/product/4000-moderately-played-to-damaged-bulk-mixed-games/
This is my current solution. Of course, most of the Pokemon cards end up in my kids' rooms XD
Can you help with any advice to get approved for TCGplayer direct without getting to the $600 a week sales mark they want? I have all of the other criteria they want but to get to $600 a week without direct is seeming extremely hard
My advice for that is to have a huge inventory, that's honestly what I did, without really trying. You can also do things to try to boost that number temporarily, like sell booster boxes at break even. I've heard that works, but haven't tested it myself. But it's true that you only have to get in once; once you're in you're in
I sell my old coin