How to check a rip site before your first purchase
Six things to read on a rip site's own pages before you buy: who holds the cards, card rates, trade-in terms, fees, shipping and how support works.
By the Rip.fan Editorial Team.
Published Updated 7 min read
Before a first purchase, read six things on the site’s own pages: where the cards are held and for how long, what each pack shows before you pay, how the instant trade-in offer works, which fees come after the pack price, how shipping works, and how to reach support. A rip site is a shop that sells real cards, which sit in its vault until you keep them, ship them home or trade them back. Each answer is written down somewhere: a help center, an FAQ, the terms or an app listing.
The examples below come from sites in our ranking of rip sites, and our site comparison tool sets every listed site side by side.
Which six checks matter?
| Check | Where the answer usually lives | What to write down |
|---|---|---|
| Who holds the cards | The vault or storage page, or the app listing | Where they are kept, any storage fee, how long a card can stay, what covers it |
| What the pack lists | The pack page and the terms | Card by card or by range, who set the values, whether card rates move |
| The trade-in offer | The pack page, the trade-in page or the FAQ | The value it is based on, the fee, the window, balance or site credit |
| Fees | Fee, selling and shipping pages, and the checkout screen | Payment, seller, shipping and withdrawal fees |
| Shipping | The shipping page and the terms | Cost, handling time, ID check, where it ships |
| Support | The contact page and the FAQ | Channels, reporting deadlines, what to send |
Write the answers down before you pay, since help pages can change later.
Check 1: who holds the cards, and for how long?
| Site | Where the cards are kept | How long a card can stay |
|---|---|---|
| Rips by Triumph | Its vault, in the app | Seven days at most, then the app trades it in at its own value |
| Packed | Its vault, up to 10 cards | 24 hours, then it is sold back for you at its value |
| TiltRips | Its vault, with its security partners, at no charge | No deadline |
| Packs.com | Your account backpack | No time limit |
Glyde and Slabz keep their cards in the vault Collector Crypt runs, and Collector Crypt’s own vault also takes graded cards you already own.
Ask what happens if a stored card goes missing. If Packed cannot find a card when you ask for it, it sends you one worth 125% of its value instead. Drip Shop Live insures the cards in its vault, though that cover may not reach a card’s full value. Our guide to whether rip site cards are real covers the vaults of Rips by Triumph, Phygitals, Gotya, Slabz and more in detail.
Check 2: what does the pack page list before you pay?
Note whether the card pool is listed card by card or only as value ranges, whether card rates change as cards are opened, who set the values and how, and whether raw cards are mixed in with graded ones.
- Collector Crypt sets out a grid of what each pack can give, highest value first, each card with its name, grade, grading company and listed value, beside four value ranges and how often each comes up.
- Phygitals prints its trade-in share and two to five value ranges on every pack page, each range with how often it comes up.
- Gotya keeps its card rates in step with the cards left in each pack, so they can move between one visit and the next.
- Slabz takes the values behind its four tiers from recent sales on public marketplaces.
- Rips by Triumph shows each pack’s lowest and highest card value, and its cards come graded or raw, the raw ones as they are.
Drip Shop Live and Shiny both let you watch a free demo opening before you spend anything. Our slab packs guide covers what sits inside a pack of graded cards.
Check 3: how does the instant trade-in offer work?
For each site, note the four things in the table above: the basis, the fee, the window and the form of payment.
| Site | What the offer pays | How long it is open |
|---|---|---|
| Rips by Triumph | The app’s own value, set when you bought the pack | At least seven days |
| Phygitals | 85% to 100% of the listed value, set by pack | Offered as soon as the card shows |
| Packed | 100% of fair market value, with no fee | At least a day, and a card left in the vault past 24 hours is sold back for you |
| TiltRips | 90% of live market value, with no fee | No deadline |
| Slabz | At least 85% of the card’s current value | 72 hours |
Packed and TiltRips pay into your account balance. Packs.com pays its trade-in as site credit, which can only be spent on the site.
The share can differ by pack on one site. Phygitals and Glyde both set theirs pack by pack, so read the offer on each card before you take it. How to judge an instant trade-in offer shows how to set it against recent sales.
Check 4: which fees come after the pack price?
Look for a fee at each step: paying, selling, shipping a card out and moving money to your bank. For example:
- Phygitals adds a service fee when you add money, on its own line before you confirm.
- Collector Crypt adds a service fee to card payments, shown at checkout before you confirm.
- Drip Shop Live’s Auto Sellback, which sells every eligible card back at once, takes a 12% fee.
- Gotya charges no seller fee on its marketplace, and at its auctions the buyer adds a 10% premium to the final bid.
- Rips by Triumph charges a $6 flat shipping fee on every card, which you can pay from your account balance.
Read the checkout screen or the invoice before you confirm. Rip site fees explained covers the charges stage by stage.
Check 5: how does shipping work?
- Rips by Triumph ships fast, with a UPS tracking number within 2 days. It ships to US addresses only, one card to a package, and never on Saturdays or Sundays, and you pass an identity check before your first shipment.
- Phygitals ships from three vaults and shows a processing estimate for each, from 4 to 6 days at its Alt vault to 2 to 4 weeks at PSA. Its orders screen follows each request through to a tracking number.
- Gotya ships graded cards from the USA with tracking, up to 20 in one box, 8 to 10 business days after the request. Gotya’s shipping fee goes by the cards’ total value, from $24.95 for cards worth up to $1,000. Customs and import fees are extra, an ID check may come first, and raw cards can be sold back but not shipped.
- Packed ships to US addresses once your identity check is complete, with the fee shown in the app and sales tax added to each shipment.
What it costs to ship a graded card home sets out what each site charges to ship a card, and vault or ship it home? weighs keeping a card stored against shipping it.
Check 6: how do you reach support, and how fast must you report a problem?
- Rips by Triumph takes support requests through a button in the app, with an email address for anyone who cannot open it and a toll-free phone number too. If a package has not moved for 5 business days, contact support in the app, and report a damaged or wrong card within 10 business days. A package marked delivered but missing goes to the carrier.
- Drip Shop Live offers live chat, email, a help center and Discord. Tell support within 7 days of delivery if a slab arrives cracked or a card bent, and it aims to reply within 24 hours.
- Phygitals has a support button on its orders screen and a chat button in the corner of every screen.
When you write, send the tracking number and photos of the card.
What should you do when pages disagree?
Sometimes two pages on one site give two answers. Slabz’s trade-in share is 85% on most packs and 90% in one pack’s description. Plan on the stricter figure, ask support which one applies, and keep the written reply. Ask about any gap, such as a missing shipping cost, before you pay.
How online pack opening works walks through a purchase, and the glossary defines terms such as rip site and trade-in offer.
Frequently asked questions
How do you reach TiltRips support?
TiltRips runs a searchable help center with a contact form, and it launched in May 2026. You can use it in a web browser as well as in its iPhone and Android apps.
Can you look up Rips by Triumph's card values before you buy?
Yes. Rips by Triumph publishes its fair market value for every card it holds in each category it sells, from Pokémon and One Piece to baseball, basketball and football, and each figure holds only for the moment you look.
Who runs Slabz?
Slabz is run by 9546-9466 Quebec Inc, based in Montreal, and it takes support questions by email and on its Discord server.
What should you do if a Phygitals shipment arrives damaged?
Report it to Phygitals within 48 hours of delivery, with photos of the packaging and the cards, and report a lost parcel once tracking has not moved for 7 business days. Phygitals then works with the carrier and the insurer, and can reship the cards, issue a credit or claim their fair market value.
Does Drip Shop Live promise a shipping time?
Yes, for graded cards. At Drip Shop Live, a claimed graded card from the vault must reach USPS within 3 business days, and since July 13, 2025, a buyer whose card misses that gets free packs. Any delayed order gets a support follow-up within 24 hours.