Shipping policy
Where we ship
United Kingdom only. If you are outside the UK and there is something you want, email us at thetradingcardstandard@outlook.com and we will see what we can do — but we cannot promise a quote.
Dispatch times
Orders placed before 12pm, Monday to Friday are dispatched the same working day. Orders placed after that, or at a weekend or bank holiday, go out the next working day.
Preorders are dispatched on or around the publisher's release date, not when you order. If an order contains both in-stock items and a preorder, we hold the whole order and send it together unless you ask us to split it — email us and we will, though a second delivery charge may apply.
Services and prices
What you pay depends on the value of your order, because the value determines the service we are able to send it on.
| Order value | Service | Estimated delivery | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under £30 | Royal Mail Tracked 48 | 2–3 working days | £2.99 |
| Under £30 | Royal Mail Tracked 24 | Next working day | £4.49 |
| £30 – £74.99 | Royal Mail Tracked 48 | 2–3 working days | £3.95 |
| £30 – £74.99 | Royal Mail Tracked 24 | Next working day | £5.95 |
| £75 – £299.99 | Royal Mail Tracked 48 | 2–3 working days | £6.95 |
| £75 – £299.99 | Special Delivery, insured and signed for | Next working day | £14.95 |
| £300 and over | Royal Mail Tracked 48 | 2–3 working days | £7.95 |
| £300 and over | Special Delivery by 1pm, insured and signed for | Next working day by 1pm | £21.95 |
Tracked or insured — which to choose
On orders over £75 you are offered both, and the difference matters.
Tracked services are tracked end to end, but the carrier's compensation is capped at £75. If a parcel is lost, that cap is all the carrier pays.
Insured and signed for uses Royal Mail Special Delivery, which covers the full value of your order up to £750, requires a signature on delivery, and is guaranteed next working day. We recommend it on anything over £75, and we would strongly encourage it on sealed cases and graded cards.
To be clear about where you stand either way: your order remains our responsibility until it is delivered to you. If it goes missing in transit we will refund or replace it, whichever you prefer, whichever service you chose. The choice of service does not change your rights — it changes how much of the loss the carrier covers rather than us.
Estimated delivery times are the carrier's estimates, counted in working days from dispatch, and are not guaranteed. Delivery is complete when the parcel is delivered to the address you gave us.
Express orders must be placed before the 12pm cut-off to go out the same working day.
How we pack
Sealed product goes out double-boxed or in a fitted carton with void fill. Singles are sleeved, top-loaded or semi-rigid, and taped into a bubble mailer or card-backed envelope depending on value. Graded slabs are bubble-wrapped and boxed.
If something goes wrong
- Not arrived? Give the carrier's estimate a couple of extra working days first — they are estimates, not deadlines. Then email thetradingcardstandard@outlook.com with your order number and we will chase it. We cannot treat a parcel as lost until the carrier does, which is usually 10 working days after dispatch for UK services.
- Arrived damaged? Photograph the outer packaging before you open it if you can, then the contents, and email us within 7 days.
- Wrong address? Tell us before dispatch and we will change it. Once it has gone, we cannot. If a parcel comes back to us because the address was wrong or nobody claimed it, we will refund the goods but not the original delivery charge, and we will charge again to resend.
Address accuracy
Please check your delivery address at checkout. It is the single most common cause of a parcel going astray, and once we have handed a correctly-addressed parcel to the carrier it is out of our hands.
The Trading Card Standard Ltd — company no. 17421545 — 7 Trem Elai, Penarth, CF64 1TB