Adam
Adam

How To Trade Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh And MTG Online

A collection of pokemon cards sprawled out, overlapping each other
Notice

Our trading service is temporarily closed. If you'd like to try it out, please sign up and email us at info@hoardboard.co.uk to take part in the next beta test.

Pokémon cards are exploding in popularity, as YouTubers and Twitch streamers continue to embrace the hobby – and this rise in demand is only driving up the price. To make matters worse, completing sets has become even more difficult, forcing collectors to trade singles on sites like Facebook and Reddit to fill the gaps in their collection.

The issue is that trading online can be risky, especially if you don’t know what to look out for. That’s why we’re here to guide you on how to trade collectible cards safely online.

Online groups and forums

Facebook and Reddit have become popular platforms for trading Pokémon cards. These websites require you to have a high level of trust in other individuals – but how do you know who can be trusted?

Here are some red flags to look out for when trading in online groups or forums:

📷 Pictures: Watch out for fake cards and stolen images!

💰 Price: As they say, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

👤 Users: If the user is new to the platform, it’s best to avoid trading with them.

💬 Reviews: Poor reviews or negative comments from other users is a big no-no.

Even when you take these risks into consideration, it still may not be enough, because these platforms aren’t specifically designed for trading. That’s where hoardboard is different…

❗️ We never recommend trading cards with strangers in person.

hoardboard

At hoardboard, we believe collectors should be able to trade cards safely online. That’s why we created a secure middleman service. Here’s how it works:

Create a listing and send a trade offer

  1. Sign up to hoardboard.
  2. List the card you wish to trade. This doesn’t cost you a penny!
  3. Find a card you want to trade and click on the ‘Send trade offer’ button.
  4. Select your listing under ‘Items to offer’.
  5. Click on any additional cards you’d like to trade under ‘Items you want in return’.
  6. Select ’Confirmation’ to view a summary trade offer. Remember to read the trade terms!
  7. When you’re happy, click ‘Send Trade Offer’.

Kudos and Vouches enable you to distinguish between trustworthy and untrustworthy sellers. To view these, simply click on a user's profile.

Step 1: Send to hoardboard

Once the other user accepts the trade offer, it’s time to send the cards out to our team. As soon as you’ve sent them, you’ll need to upload proof of postage and the postage cost to hoardboard. Trading costs 1 Trade Token. Buying these tokens allows us to continue to provide the services essential to keeping our customers safe and happy.

Step 2: Inspection

When the cards arrive at our facilities, we’ll carefully inspect them to ensure they’re exactly as described in the listing. We’ll then upload new images of the cards to hoardboard for your review. This provides both you and your trade partner the opportunity to accept or reject the trade, and ask each other (or a member of our team) questions using the live chat feature.

Step 3: Send to partner

Trade complete screen

If both parties are satisfied with the inspection results, we’ll send out the cards to the relevant people. You’ll be able to view the status of the trade in the trade instance.

If, for whatever reason, the other user rejects the trade offer, we can either keep your cards for you to use in another trade, or send them back to you at no extra cost!

Why the middleman service?

📲 Send users trade offers at any time

🔎 Monitor your trades on a live dashboard

💬 Live chat with your partner and our staff to discuss and resolve issues

📸 Inspection photos are taken, uploaded and viewable in the trade instance

📦 When the inspection is complete, we pass the cards on to the relevant person!

You can use our collections database to check the average, maximum and lowest sale price of trading cards to ensure they're listed at an appropriate cost.

Ready to trade with confidence?

If you’re looking to complete a set of trading cards – whether it be Pokémon Go or Astral Radiance – hoardboard is the place to safely trade singles.

Sign up today to get started!