How a trade works
Everything happens on-platform, and every step leaves a verifiable mark. From first offer to final rating:
Find the card
Browse the floor or a trader's binder — THE CASE is a trader's active trade stock, THE VAULT is their archive shop window.
Propose the trade
The proposal shows a fair-value meter built on live prices, so lopsided offers are visible before anyone commits. Your trade cap and theirs both apply — the lower one wins.
Talk it through
Trade chat stays on-platform. That's your paper trail — if something goes wrong, the record exists.
Photo-verify condition
Scan the QR, shoot the cards from your phone. Both sides see real photos of the actual copies before anything ships.
Ship with tracking
Shipped trades require carrier-validated tracking. No tracking number, no completed trade.
Confirm + rate
Both sides confirm completion, then rate each other. Only dual-confirmed trades count toward anyone's record.
Trade caps & the trust tiers
Your reputation tier is your trade cap — the badge always means something concrete and server-enforced. New traders risk pocket money, not grails; the only way up is through completed trades.
A proposal always takes the lower of the two caps — a veteran can't pull a rookie into deep water. Verified rep from r/pkmntcgtrades (10+ confirmed trades, checked against the public record) starts you one rung up at $200 — never straight to uncapped.
Signals you can't fake
Vouches on social media are free to invent. Bazaar signals aren't:
Trade like a veteran
- ✓Photograph everything. Run the photo-verify step every time, and shoot your own packing too — front, back, corners, the sealed package. Thirty seconds of photos ends most disputes before they start.
- ✓Keep the whole conversation on-platform. The moment a deal moves to DMs, your paper trail — and our ability to help — ends.
- ✓Ship protected, ship tracked. Penny sleeve + top loader + rigid mailer minimum. Tracking is required; add insurance when the value warrants it.
- ✓Grade condition honestly. The fair-value meter prices what you claim. An "NM" that arrives MP costs you the rating that your next twenty trades depend on.
- ✓Check the whole profile, not just the stars. Tier, trade count, rating count, member-since, badge shelf — the full picture takes ten seconds to read.
- ✓Start small with new partners. The cap ladder does this for you at the start — keep the habit even when you're both uncapped.
Red flags
- ✕"Let's finish this off-platform." Any push toward DMs, direct payment apps, or "just ship it, we don't need the steps" — that's the whole scam playbook in one sentence.
- ✕Pressure to skip photo verification. "Trust me, it's mint" is exactly what the photo step exists to replace.
- ✕A deal that's too good. The fair-value meter flags lopsided trades on purpose. If someone's giving up obvious value, ask yourself why.
- ✕Fresh account, big ask. The caps make this hard by design — someone insisting on a workaround is telling you who they are.
- ✕Rush tactics. "Deal expires in an hour" is a pressure play. Real traders let you read the profile and think.
Something already gone wrong mid-trade? Stop confirming, keep everything in trade chat, and flag the trade from its page — the dual-confirm gate means nothing completes without you.