How we test rip sites

Most rip sites we list are ones we have used on our own account, and their reviews rest on that test, as do the reviews of the sites we tested and do not recommend. A few partners are scored from their published pages instead: their reviews say so, and they have no row in the table of tests below unless we used them too. This page explains what a test covers, how a review shows what we did and did not do, where the screenshots come from and how to read the table of tests on this page.

What does a hands-on test cover?

A test is our own use of a site, on our own account, recorded in notes and screenshots as we go. The steps a test can cover are the ones a collector takes:

• signing in to our own account
• adding money
• buying packs and opening them
• looking at the trade-in offer on a card
• shipping a card home

Not every test covers every step. At some sites we bought packs, opened them and had cards shipped home. At others our notes record no purchase: we looked through the site on our own account and kept notes and screenshots of what we saw. Each review says what we did.

How does a review show what we tested?

Each review has a “How we tested” section that says what we did on that site and what the test covered. A fact that came from our test is marked “our test” in its table. Read these first: they tell you which parts of the page rest on our own use of the site.

The scores follow the same line. A review’s score table lists the criteria our test scored. How we rate sites explains the criteria, their weights and which sites we score.

Where do the screenshots come from?

Every screenshot on a review comes from our own test of that site, on our own account, and is credited with the day we took it. We crop each one to the pack, the card or the list of cards it shows, and leave out account details and balances. A screenshot shows one test. It is never a guide to what a pack holds.

Who does what?

Our content is a human and AI collaboration. People set the site’s focus, set the editorial rules every page follows and decide which sites we list. The notes and screenshots from our hands-on tests come from people’s own use of each site. For guides and news, AI reads the public sources, drafts the article and runs automated checks: facts against those sources, policy compliance and quality.

For a review, AI drafts the page from three things: the notes from our test, the screenshots from it and the site’s published terms. A fact from our test is written as what our test showed, not as a promise about every collector’s experience. Our editorial policy sets out how we choose sources, date our figures and correct errors.

How current are the facts?

The facts that came from our test are marked “our test”. Reviews give no test day, since a test day goes stale while a site keeps changing. Fees, shipping times and trade-in offers can change, so read the site’s own terms on the day you buy. A review’s change history shows when the page itself last changed.

How do you read the table of tests?

The table on this page has one row for each site we tested, the sites we list and the sites we do not recommend. It is built from the same records as the reviews, so it changes when a record changes.

• Site. The site, linked to our review of it.
• How we know. The same words as the review’s own “How we know” line: our test purchases, or our hands-on use of the site where our notes record no purchase, then the pages the review drew on, including any of the site’s own pack pages.

What each test covered is in the review’s “How we tested” section. A step our test did not cover is a gap in our test, not a fault in the site: for that step, the review leans on the site’s published terms, or leaves the point out.

Where do the tests lead?

Every review sits under our reviews, and the best rip sites ranks the sites we list by their scores, once a site has a score for trust and at least two other criteria. Our affiliate disclosure explains how partner links work.