FAQ’s and Policies for Trading Card Mint
1. What is the difference between mint condition and “near mint” condition?
There are many definitions for each term, but the important distinction is that “mint” cards come from fresh packs, with little to no defects, which are the cards we provide. We try to sort out as many manufacturing defects of our mint cards, as possible. This is one of the reasons we are known as the one and only “Home of the cheap, fast, mint!”
“Near mint” condition, as defined by many dealers is that it is close to mint, but can be used or played. As such, near mint has become a deceptive term to mean used or played card, and as a buyer, you should expect “near mint” cards to be used or played, and they likely have defects such as dinged corners, abrasions, creases, and shuffling abrasions. Most dealers use near mint and lightly played interchangeably.
2. Why are your prices the same or lower than “near mint” cards?
As a company, we have been in business over 30 years, and have developed methods and sources, and with our highly trained staff, we bring to you the best cards at the lowest prices. We are known as the one and only “Home of the cheap, fast, mint!”
3. Why is your shipping faster than others?
We generally ship the same day as we receive your order, or the next morning if placed at night. That is because all of our cards are stocked, and our trained staff are quick and responsive to customer needs. We also have multiple shifts, and we are open seven days a week, including some holidays for your convenience, unlike most stores that have limited hours. This is another reason we are known as the one and only “Home of the cheap, fast, mint!”
4. What are your payment options?
Currently, we accept credit, debit, and gift cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover). We also accept paypal, Amazon Pay, Wire Transfers (over $1000 orders), money orders, and cash. We recommend against cash, because if it is lost in the mail, we are not responsible for it. It is better to send a money order in the mail. Most banks, gas stations, Walmart, grocery stores, and the post office issue money orders. If they get lost, you can get your money back. Please note, that if you use credit card, and you are a first time customer, we generally will require ID verification once, which is how we keep our product costs so low.
5. If I send in payment, how long will you hold my order?
We accept payment up to 10 days after an order is made. Sometimes longer, if we still have the cards in stock. If there are rapid price changes do to events like ban lists, we may make an exception. After 10 days, all orders are automatically cancelled from our system. So, please do not think if a 20-cent card goes up to $20 that you are going to receive it after 3 months, as an example.
6. Why did you change your name?
We operated as yugiohmint.com for a decade, but we decided to expand our horizons, and get back into other card games, which we originally did 2 decades ago. For some of you older players, you may have seen us as mikeloda.com or mikeloda.safeshopper.com. Yes, we were one of the first pioneers of internet sales, and we were on yahoo auctions (no longer running), and you may still find us under mikeloda on ebay and amazon, from time to time.
7. How are cards triple protected?
We generally sleeve all cards, sandwich them between 2 hard plastic top loaders, and ship them in a bubble envelope or box for triple protection. We believe if you are buying a product from us, it is an investment you want to protect, unlike most dealers that ship them in an envelope with a piece of card board, or in card board envelope where they can get damaged. They feel if you are buying a “near mint” used or played card, and it is already damaged.
8. Some of my cards are not individually sleeved, but are in a sleeve bag, why?
Over the years, we have developed many store customers who resell the cards we provide. Since they buy in high volume, they do not want to pay for the extra shipping weight, so we provide their cards in sleeve bags. Some stores want their own sleeves on the cards as well. So, if we see 5 or more copies of the same card, they are likely for resale, so we automatically put them in sleeve bags. Also, if orders are about 50 cards or more, we may consider those orders as store or store equivalent orders, so we may not sleeve those card orders, as well. Also, due to pandemic, supply chain, shortages, and other issues, we may have to temporarily stop sleeving cards until these issues resolve. We do sell sleeves, so we recommend you make a purchase of the colors you would like, since we sleeve cards with whatever we have of quantity, and we reserve sleeve stock for sale only when these conditions arise.
9. Why do customers say you have better than free shipping?
First, if you are in the USA, we only charge $4.99 to ship by first class mail if you buy all single cards, so you are automatically getting a shipping discount since we are paying for part of your shipping. Then, if you use a coupon code, it generally brings your cost down more than the shipping price. Therefore, better than FREE shipping!
10. How do I get a coupon code?
You generally have to read our newsletter to get a coupon code, so you are automatically signed up for it when you place your first order, unless you opt out of it. Our newsletters have the best coupon codes. You can check around for our coupons, and you will generally find them. Or, ask a player that makes purchases from us. They will generally know of one.
11. What is your return policy?
We normally do not accept returns. Sometimes we will authorize a return, but it will likely have a restocking fee of 25% plus shipping fee. We do not accept returns after 10 days of purchase. This is because we don’t make that much money on mint cards, and we lose money on returns. If there are multiple copies of 10 cards or more, and you likely bought them for speculation, under no circumstances will we accept multiple card returns of 10 or more. If there is a problem with your order, you have 3 days after it arrives to contact us and let us know you have a problem and what it is, so we can take steps to resolve the issue.
12. Do you have a privacy policy?
Yes, we have a privacy policy, and will not sell your information or pass it along to others. Once an order is processed, we no longer retain your financial information. We never see it, and it is not stored. That is why we cannot reprocess an order without having your credit card, for example. You may call us, and we may process your order again, but we recommend you place a new order.
13. Why can’t I purchase on your website?
If you issued us a chargeback, or returned product without authorization, you are likely blacklisted. This can go back as far as 20 years or more, from our other websites, where we have carried the blacklists forward. If you want to get off of our blacklist, you may call us and make your case. Generally, you have to make payments for the previous orders where you issued a chargeback. Please note, that even though we have a privacy policy (see above), we may pass your information to other dealers, banks, or authorities if we feel there is illegal activity, such as fraud or identity theft. Sometimes, we are required to do so, by law. If you have been blacklisted on our site without a purchase on our site, you have likely been referred to other stores in our industry, such as from sales we have on ebay, Amazon, or other platforms we sell on, or other hobby stores we are affiliated with. It is generally a bidirectional case, as well, meaning that you may likely be blacklisted on other websites, as well. It is a small world, after all!
14. Why do I need to provide identity verification?
Sometimes, our system flags new customers as possible risk, or we receive a bank warning, in which case we may call you or email you to provide information. Most reputable dealers and stores will do this, and this is how we cut down on fraud to make our product costs as low as possible for you, while providing you with excellent service. It is also a great way to introduce ourselves to you, and let you get to know us.
15. Do you do pre-orders?
Yes, but we generally do not do them until we have the product in our store. This eliminates the possibility of not having product to fill pre-orders. I am sure some of you had other dealers take pre-orders, and then you never received your product, or received it late. This is why we have this policy in place. We believe if you placed a pre-order, you should get your product first!
16. May we pick up orders in your store?
Yes. On our website we have a pick up option. You can pay for your order online, or in the store if you choose the money order option. Please make sure you call your order in so that we will have it ready for you when you pick it up. Please note that orders that are not paid for within 10 days are automatically cancelled.
17. Why is your minimum order in your shopping cart $7.00?
We have a modest minimum of $7.00 so that credit card, paypal, shipping, and other fees can be recovered. Many stores have $10, $20, or higher minimums. Shops that are below $7 are likely shipping you the used/played cards called near mint in a white envelope with a piece of card board in it, or a card board envelope with a postage stamp on it, with no insurance, and no tracking.
18. Are you packages insured?
Yes. Unlike 95% of the shops that ship cards, we insure your cards. Beware of shops that don’t insure cards! If your package gets lost, you are likely out the money, or you will have trouble getting your money back.
19. How does the insurance claim work?
We are actually providing you with insurance on our behalf. The US post office requires 30 days before they consider a package lost in the USA, and 60 days for international packages. As such, our policy is to wait this amount of time until we file an insurance claim for you. We send you an affidavit to sign, which needs to be done immediately, since there is only a 30 day window to file the claim before the insurance claim is rejected. If rejected due to late filing, we cannot receive insurance proceeds. Once your claim is filed, it takes another 3 to 4 weeks for approval. Once approved, we will ship another order out to you, or issue you store credit for a new order of the same amount. Please do not issue us a chargeback or paypal complaint during this process. Our policy is to backlist any customer that does so. You will get your cards or new cards, and many times in these instances, the original package gets delivered.
20. Do you have tracking on your packages?
Yes. Unlike most shops that do not have tracking, we do. Beware of shops with inadequate protection and no insurance and no tracking, especially the higher value of your order. We sometimes will only use meter mail tracking which you cant see, for orders under $10.00.
21. How often do you restock cards?
We generally restock new sets three times per week, and sometimes 2 or 3 times in the same day if it is a heavily ordered set. Other sets may take longer. Also, since we are providing brand new cards by opening up the packs in the set, it usually means ALL the cards in the set are being restocked, not just 1 or 2 cards like shops that buy single cards and resell them as “near mint” or used and played.
22. Do you buy cards or make trades?
No to both. Since we sell only mint cards, never used, never played, straight from packs, obviously, we can’t buy cards. Any shop that buys cards is selling played and used cards by default. Many of our vendor stores sell cards they purchase, and you will see near mint or lightly played appear on our website now.
23. Do you hold tournaments?
Yes. We hold tournaments for several different card games, and we are a preferred vendor. We are an OTS store for yugioh, and a cardass member for DragonBall Super, approved vendor for all games for Bushiroad such as Cardfight Vanguard, Weiss Schwarz, BuddyFight, etc. As such, we hold special events like Sneak Peeks, Shop Challenges, Yugioh Day, Duel days, etc. See our tournament link for days and times.
24. You now have vendor stores. Why?
Due to manufacturing changes, where there is only one print run of a set, we generally only open up one run of a set, and since we sell only brand new cards we open from packs, it is difficult, if not impossible for us to replenish or stock. So, our experienced vendor stores generally can fill most of the gaps with older cards, meta cards, special promo cards, OTS cards, etc. This gives our customers more choices of products on our website.
Feel free to email us with any further questions at sales@tradingcardmint.com or call us at 630-213-8357.