How to buy Pokémon cards online: printings, shipping, claims

To buy Pokémon cards online without surprises, decide what kind of item you want, match the listing to the exact printing, and pay through the marketplace’s own checkout so its protection covers you. On TCGplayer, the cart decides much of the cost: shipping is charged once per seller, Japanese cards live in a product line of their own, and Pokémon singles can arrive together in one TCGplayer Direct package. On eBay and Whatnot, sellers are asked for photos of the copy they sell.

Where should each kind of Pokémon purchase happen?

For sealed product at a store’s own price, start with our guide to where to buy Pokémon cards at the retail price. For slabs, see how to buy graded cards online.

How do you check that a listing is the printing you want?

Read the card, then check the listing says the same:

• The collector number. It reads as XXX/YYY: the card’s number, then the advertised size of the set. A secret rare carries a number above that advertised size.
• The set symbol. Base Set has none. Before Expedition Base Set in 2002 the symbol sits at the center right, below the art. Since then most cards carry it at the bottom right, while Trainer, Energy, GX and EX, and promo cards carry it at the bottom left.
• The rarity symbol. A circle marks a Common, a diamond an Uncommon and a star a Rare. Promo cards show a black star with the word PROMO.
• The finish. A reverse holo is foil everywhere except the art, and it keeps the regular card’s rarity and collector number. The number cannot tell the two apart, so check the printing the listing names.
• Reprints. Some deck-exclusive cards and certain promo cards are reprints that keep the original set symbol and number but carry a different rarity.

Japanese cards need one more step. Japanese and English sets are not a one-to-one match: a Japanese card with the same art can carry a different set code, number, rarity, finish or edition, and some finishes, such as Mirror Holofoils, exist only in Japanese sets. Our guides to reading a Pokémon card, Pokémon rarity symbols and Japanese and English Pokémon cards cover each detail.

Before you pay, check the price. Rip.fan’s card price lookup gives the NM market price of any English Pokémon card from its weekly price check, though not for graded or Japanese cards, and the price changes page lists the cards whose NM price moved most between those checks. Compare both with recent sold prices, as our guide to finding what a card sold for explains.

How do you keep shipping down on a cart of singles?

Build the cart around sellers. TCGplayer’s rules for buyers:

• One fee per seller. Each seller ships your items from that store in one package, for one flat shipping fee, however many cards you buy from them.
• A floor under $5. A seller’s order under $5 carries at least $1.49 of shipping, even if the seller sets a lower rate. From $5 the seller’s own rate applies, and some sellers ship free on orders over $5.
• Direct packages. Pokémon singles from Direct-qualified sellers can be combined into one package from TCGplayer’s Authentication Center, where staff check each order. In the US it ships free over $50 before taxes, and costs $3.99 below that. Any card Direct fulfills costs at least $0.40.
• The Cart Optimizer. Once the cart is built, it can move cards into one Direct package, keep to Verified Sellers, or regroup the cart among the fewest sellers. Its settings let you match on Printing, Condition, Set and Rarity, so set them to the printing you want before you run it. It works on singles only.

The difference adds up. By Rip.fan’s arithmetic, ten singles under $5 each, bought from ten different sellers, carry at least $14.90 in shipping, while the same ten in one Direct package, if Direct stocks them all, cost $3.99 to ship, and a Direct package over $50 ships free. Listings with Photos are the exception: they cannot join a Direct package or go through the optimizer.

What protects a Pokémon buyer on each marketplace?

Every marketplace’s claim window for a raw card, and what to do when one arrives wrong, is in our guide to buying raw cards online. Four rules add to it for Pokémon buyers:

• Sealed product on TCGplayer can go back unopened. Within 30 calendar days of the estimated delivery date you can ask to send back factory-sealed product for any reason. The seller has to agree, the item goes back as it came, and the refund is the price minus the shipping charge. Once opened, it stays yours. Singles have no change-of-mind rule like this; they are covered when they arrive not as described.
• A Direct order goes to TCGplayer. Problems with a Direct package are handled by TCGplayer’s support team.
• A suspected fake goes to TCGplayer. It sends a prepaid label and refunds a counterfeit in full, but only once the card reaches its team.
• eBay’s check has limits. Its Authenticity Guarantee inspects singles of $200 or more before they reach you, raw or graded, but only for buyers in the US, never to a PO Box, and never for boxes, packs or lots. Higher-priced cards then arrive with a signature required. Its Money Back Guarantee covers eligible purchases more broadly.

Fakes are barred on both specialist sites. TCGplayer bars counterfeits and proxies from Listings with Photos, and Whatnot bars any item that imitates a brand, even when the seller calls it fake. Our guides to spotting fake Pokémon cards, spotting resealed packs and avoiding card scams online cover the checks.

What if you buy from outside the US?

TCGplayer prices everything in US dollars, so your bank or payment provider handles currency conversion. International Direct shipping is a flat rate for up to 200 cards: $7.99 to Canada, $9.99 to the UK, $11.99 to Japan and $15.99 to Australia. Customs fees and duties fall on the buyer. A package forwarder opens up the whole US marketplace, but TCGplayer’s protection ends once the parcel reaches the forwarder. Our guide to shipping cards internationally covers customs forms and declared values.

A checklist before you pay

• The set symbol, collector number, rarity and finish in the listing match the card you want.
• A Japanese card is matched by its own number and rarity, not its English twin’s.
• The cart is grouped to as few sellers as it can be, or into one Direct package.
• A card that matters comes from a Listing with Photos showing the front and back.
• The asking price is close to what that exact printing, in that condition, has recently sold for.
• You know the day your claim window closes.

When the cards arrive, our guides to card condition grades and storing trading cards cover what to check and how to keep them.

Frequently asked questions

Can you change or cancel a TCGplayer order after you place it?

Ask the seller at once: there is usually at least a 12-hour window after the order is placed to change items, combine shipping across orders to the same seller or cancel, before it ships.

What if a TCGplayer order hasn't arrived by its delivery date?

If you report it on the estimated delivery date or in the 2 business days after, the seller can ask you to wait until those 2 days pass. After that, the seller must refund an order that still hasn't arrived.

Is a reverse holo Pokémon card rarer than the regular one?

No. Every booster pack holds one Reverse Holo, so the finish is common and seldom priced far above the regular card.

Why does a Pokémon card show a silhouette instead of a rarity symbol?

Cards printed for certain products carry a colored silhouette of the product's main Pokémon in place of a rarity symbol.