• Please read THIS THREAD if you are a new trader/seller.

    Thank you!

The PokéBeach Marketplace Rules & Information Thread

Shining Raikou

Shining Raikou

Your friendly neighborhood Raikou fan!
Elite Member
Advanced Member
Member
The Marketplace Rules
Last Revision: April 13, 2021​

1. PokéBeach is not responsible for any losses. All trades are made at your own risk.

2A. All trading and selling threads must be one central thread with the prefix "Trades & Sales". You can also post threads with the prefixes "Trades", "Sales", or "In Search Of. "Trades & Sales" - both trades and sales, "Trades" - only trades, "Sales" - only sales, and "In Search Of" - general wants/buying stuff posts.

2B. You are only permitted to have one open thread for trading, selling, or both in the Marketplace Forum. If you want to make a new thread but already have one, contact a Moderator to have them lock the thread that you no longer need or use beforehand. You can have an "In Search Of" thread in addition to a trading/selling thread, but you may only have only one "In Search Of" thread per week. Please do not overpost multiples of the same ISO thread, simply bump them once per week as needed.

3. You must include your country as the first word in your thread title in ALL CAPS, followed by the countries you're willing to ship to. A warning will be issued for all threads that remove this or for existing threads that do not include it.

4. You must be a Verified Seller to own a thread with a prefix involving sales, such as "Sales" or "Trades & Sales".

5. YOU and you alone are responsible for making the other trader satisfied with their end of the trade. If cards get lost or heavily damaged (beyond use) in the mail, you are required to replace them or offer compensation for the loss. Please use safe packing and shipping methods to ensure your cards or items arrive safely. Also, consider adding tracking/delivery confirmation to your package and always keep receipts from the post office. Evidence such as these things can help validate claims in case of a dispute.

6. The chart below shows the maximum amount of time a trade should take. Any trades that go past these time frames may result in a warning or temporary ban for the person holding up the trade.

Mandatory Timeframe to Complete a Trade:

Countries - Allowed Shipping Timeframe:
Within the USA, Canada, & Mexico: 14 Days
Other International Trades: 21 Days

(Take into account world events when delays happen)

7. When both people have exchanged addresses, a trade is considered final. If one trader decides for some reason they don't want to trade anymore, that is considered backing out of a trade. The penalty for backing out is a 3 week ban. Additional consequences may take place based on the severity of the offense. If there is an extreme situation where you feel you must back out of a deal, please post in the Disputes forum before doing so. The Marketplace Moderators will issue a ruling based on the situation and evidence.

8. If you feel that another user has stolen cards/items (also known as “ripping”) from you or backed out of the trade, you must file a report in the Questions & Disputes sub-forum. A case will then be opened against them. If it is unresolved, it is encouraged that mail fraud be filed against them through the USPS or local authorities. Do not let this happen to you, because you may be subject to fines/incarceration/probation/restitution.

9. All of your cards listed must be in hand. You cannot list them as a friend’s, as in your deck, incoming, or anything else. You must be 100% willing to trade/sell whatever is listed in your thread.

10. You may bump your trade thread once every 2 days/48 hours. If you are caught abusing the bump system, you will receive a warning; if caught abusing more than once, a temporary ban will be given.

11. You may NOT buy cards or other items from people who are not Verified Sellers. You may check who is a Verified Seller in the Request to be a PokéBeach Verified Seller & The PokéBeach Verified Sellers List. For the safety of all of our Marketplace users, please report anyone offering to sell that is not a Verified Seller (which is denoted by the Verified Seller badge under the person's avatar). If anyone is found making deals with someone who does not have permission to sell, you will both be banned.

12. Do not post addresses or contact information in public threads. Make sure you exchange addresses by PM ONLY. However, if you or someone else has been ripped by a trader, make sure a Marketplace Moderator gets the address of that ripper immediately by PMing it to one of them (if you have it).

13. Members who receive a negative reference will be banned for one week. If you receive 3 negative references total, you will be permanently banned.

14. We only allow the trading of physical items such as TCG cards, merchandise, video game cartridges, plushies, etc. Intangible items such as e-mailed PTCGO codes, digital/video game data, services, etc. are not allowed to be traded or sold here. Anyone caught doing this will receive a warning or be temporarily banned. Only ACTUAL in hand video games may be traded or sold here.

15. Tracking numbers (Delivery Confirmation in the US) must be provided for items sold at $50 USD or over. If for any reason cash amounts of $20 or over are sent through the mail, it must have a tracking number provided. If this is not done, the other person has the right to give you a neutral reputation. We highly recommend PayPal for all cash transactions, so we’d prefer you not send cash through the mail unless it is your only option.

16. eBay sales listings and store pages are only allowed in signatures for normal members that are not verified sellers. To put them in your sales/trade threads or actively send these links to other users through private message, you must be a verified seller.

Please keep these links out of discussion threads in general, unless absolutely relevant to a conversation (Ex: Someone needs to know where to buy a certain type of sleeves for their cards). Spamming your own sales links in threads/elsewhere for your benefit will result in a ban for advertising.

17. Please report EVERYTHING wrong. A few examples:
  • Report a trader you think is suspicious.
  • Report anyone offering to sell without being a Verified Seller. You CANNOT buy from someone on this forum that is not a Verified Seller. You’ll both be banned if we find you doing this.
  • Report anyone breaking the rules, or anyone you think doing something wrong.
Do not wait too long to report ANYTHING. Reporting soon enough sometimes makes all the difference. To report someone, click the report icon at the bottom right of their post.

18. You MUST have your PM's enabled and be in constant communication with anyone you are involved in a trade with. Do not block them, and if you aren’t on the forum as often make sure you give them an alternative way to get a hold of you such as Skype, AIM, email, etc.

19. The member with the lowest number of references will send first. When the person with more references receives, they are expected to send their half of the deal promptly and professionally. The only time this will be different is if the person with more references says otherwise, or if money is involved. If money is involved, the buyer is expected to send payment first. The only methods of payment allowed are cash and PayPal.

20. Trades involving third parties, or "middlemen" are not allowed whatsoever unless they are cleared with the head of the Marketplace (Brave Vesperia). If anyone proposes you send a card for them, or asks you if they can trade through you, both members must add Brave Vesperia to a private message and get permission! This is to protect both traders and the Marketplace as a whole. Any violators will be banned immediately.

Reputation Rules

1. All feedback should be left here: Reputation Thread

2. You cannot get reputations on PokéBeach from the following things:
  • Other sites (eBay, Pojo, PokeGym, etc...) reputations do not count on PokéBeach. Only PokéBeach reputations count.
  • If you have traded with another user in person, it does NOT count online. This includes trading with people at league as well as your brother or sister.
  • If you have traded digital information such as in game Pokemon or TCGO codes/cards via PM, these do not count for reputation. You must have sent and received a tangible item in the mail from a trade organized on these forums to be eligible for reputation.
If any of these types of reputations are left on PokéBeach, they will be deleted!

3. Be prompt about leaving reputations. Make an effort to leave a reputation within one week of receiving your cards.

4. You may not leave neutral or negative references without filing a dispute, at least as a record of it happening. If you leave a neutral or negative reputation, and did not open a dispute for it first, it will be deleted and you will receive a warning.
  • You may open a dispute + leave a neutral reputation - If it takes longer than the allowed time frame to receive your cards or merchandise. We allow two weeks within the US, Canada, and Mexico, and 18 days for all trades overseas. If the cards arrive damaged, or you encounter any other bad experiences, you may request to leave a neutral reputation by asking a Marketplace Moderator.
  • You may open a dispute + leave a negative reputation - If you receive heavily damaged cards or cards that were not as described, the other user backs out of the trade, or if you are ripped. You may not leave a negative reputation just because someone left you one. If you are unsure what type of reputation you should leave, ask a Marketplace Moderator. Understand that negative references remain on record forever and may prevent you from getting Verified Seller permission.
 
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PokéBeach Verified Seller Program​

The only members permitted to sell on PokéBeach as a whole are known as Verified Sellers. These are people entrusted with the Verified Seller badge, which serves as a sign to all Marketplace users that they are someone that is reputable and knowledgeable enough to provide consistently good service and accept money responsibly. Please look for this badge whenever you want to purchase from a PokéBeach member, and report anyone trying to sell without having one of these badges (you risk consequences yourself by entering a sales deal with anyone not having a VS badge, so please check for it!).​

Become a Verified Seller by following these easy steps!​
  1. Provide acceptable documentation to the Marketplace Moderators to prove your trustworthiness. All forms of documentation submitted will be considered, but are not guaranteed to be sufficient enough to earn a Verified Seller badge. This is at the discretion of the Marketplace Moderators and Shining Raikou. For the best result, include the most reputation/information you can.

    Acceptable documentation:
    • Your reputations on PokéBeach (link).
    • Your reputations from other sites. You may be asked to verify these (link to all).
    • Anything else showing how you do business/conduct yourself online.
  2. Type a brief statement on why we should trust you to sell, and why you want to sell on PokeBeach. This should be around a paragraph (if not more), not just a few measly sentences.
  3. Provide a screenshot or your PayPal email address for verification that you have PayPal and will use it for payments.
  4. By signing your name/username, you agree to the following:
    • I have a 0% warning level at the time I have submitted this application. If at any time I become banned, my Verified Seller badge will be revoked.
    • If I have any negative reputations currently on my record at PokéBeach, or on record from any other sites in the past year, I am ineligible for a Verified Seller badge.
    • I will handle all deals professionally and to the best of my ability. In the case I do not, I will make it right with the other party.
    • You will ship on time (Timeframes for completing trades: USA/Canada/Mexico within 14 Days, International within 18 days).
    • A negative reputation or reported ripping will put you in jeopardy of being blacklisted from the website permanently.
YOUR NAME/USERNAME HERE.

LIST OF CURRENT VERIFIED SELLERS​
(This list will be checked for active members every so often. If you have been inactive 2 months or more at the time of checking, you will be removed from this list and need to reapply.

NOTICE:​
We have added a new rule: Linking to your eBay account is fine so long as it is only in your signature, however please do not advertise it anywhere else unless you are a Verified Seller.
 
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Marketplace Tips & Etiquette​


This post will detail some of the best practices you can have as a trader on these forums, or online in general. The goal of this is to help each other make better decisions and have great + continued success in trades/sales.


Have a trading/selling tip? PM Shining Raikou to help add to this list!


Quick Tips:
  • Make sure you have all the cards that you're offering in hand.
  • It never hurts to double check the condition of a card before trading with someone.
  • If someone is weary of the condition of any cards you described to them, provide pictures. That way they can judge the condition for themselves as well.

Habits of Respected Traders/Sellers:
  • An organized, well thought out thread - Your posts should always be well written, and have proper spelling and grammar in them. Stuff like "hey man cgeck out my threid i have sum cardz u want" is very spammy, and less likely to get you a trade. A proper example of asking someone to look at your thread is something along the lines of this: "Hello. I saw that you have X card and want Y card. However, I feel like we could make a better trade as we both have other cards that we want. Please CML and let me know! Thanks!"
  • Courtesy Linking - Don't ask other users to see your trade thread (“Check my list” or CML) if you don't have a link in your signature or provide a link in the post. If you don't provide a way for your trade partner to easily find your trade thread, they likely won't go searching for it. So if you really want to trade, you should make sure that you leave a link in a way that is obvious for the other party. Having it in your signature makes linking to your thread effortless and it is a common expectation amongst traders, so I’d recommend this!
  • Know your limit - Don't propose trades that are obviously heavily in your favor. Disagreement on the value of a trade is inevitable. Haggling is fine (in moderation).
  • Research and know values - Have at least a general idea of how much the cards involved in your trade are valued and try to stick to that. This means it might be a good idea to research prices from several different sources before you make an offer. Looking at eBay sold listings is a good way to get a general range of a selling price, but there are other ways to research prices as well. Not limited to card shops + their sites, and price guides.
  • But have your own opinion as well - Do research, never take anyone’s price or advice literally, there is always a range and as a trader/seller it is up to you and the other trader to agree on what makes both parties happy. Never be too stubborn about prices or values (ex: I want $1 worth more for this card, or cover the shipping cost or nothing). Such little things are not deal breakers. Now if someone tries to get something for nothing, or tells you to knock $5 worth off a fair asking price, then you have reason to be stubborn.
  • Don’t post in dead threads - Don't post in someone's trade thread if there has not been any activity in two weeks. This is actually against the rules and may result in a Warning. This is due to the probability that if a member's trade thread is that old, they have no interest in trading at the moment. And if they would like to trade, they should be aware that they may bump their own trade thread at any time.
  • Communicating - Let the person on the other end know what is happening with the trade/sale every step of the way. When you have shipped and when you receive. Exchange contact information or use PM’s so you can reach each other quickly in case of a problem.
  • Show your hand - List a few of your better cards for trade in the title, as well as some of your higher wants. Example "Have: Computer Search BCR, FA Lysandre FLF, FA Yveltal EX XY. Want: N FA NV, Gardevoir EX PRC, Dowsing Machine PLS" This will attract traders to your thread, and you’ll get more offers.
  • Be clear - Make sure it is very clear which cards you have for trade. Since the card game has been around for almost 20 years, saying that you have a Blastoise for trade is inadequate, as there could easily be 100 different Blastoise cards printed over the years. Please include sets and collection numbers when appropriate.
  • Be active - If you are trading on PokéBeach, try to be active in the trading forums and in your own thread. Don't post in someone's trade thread asking them if they would be interested in X, and then disappear for a week. Similarly, make an effort to reply in your own trade thread, addressing anyone that might want to do business in a timely fashion. We are of course understanding that things may come up in real life; however, try not to make it a habit, and things should go smoothly for you and other traders.
  • Plan ahead - If you are going away for any reason, it is a good idea to post an away notice in your thread stating when you are leaving and when you will return. You can request a Marketplace Moderator to temporarily lock your thread if you are away for more than a week. You will simply ask them to reopen it when you are back. Please do not abuse this. Also, if away for an extended period of time, be sure anyone in an ongoing trade with you has a way to reach you or you may come back to a ban.
  • Check for Sellers - If you are looking to buy, make sure the person you are buying from is a Verified Seller. They will have the corresponding badge under their avatar.
  • Report Rule Breakers - In order to keep this community safe and to keep enjoying this area of the website, always report rule breakers or people trying to sell without Verified Seller status. It’ll keep the community safe and also build good practices amongst traders.
  • If you are looking to sell, you must apply to be a Verified Seller on PokéBeach. Click here to be redirected to the Verified Seller application, and follow the instructions there.
  • Don’t back out - Don’t back out of trades/purchases for any reason once everything has been confirmed by exchanging addresses. A temporary ban is most likely to be given to those who back out, and this is decided by the Marketplace Moderators.
  • Use PayPal - For security reasons, we recommend that you use PayPal for monetary transactions. It's the safest way to pay online.
  • Don’t use cash - Cash can get lost and problems with it cannot be easily remedied. It is best to use PayPal in order to avoid shipping problems, wrong amounts, and more when dealing in cash.
 
How to Post a Dispute

DO NOT WAIT to report any suspicious activity or rippers. You may do so here in this sub-forum.​

The Dispute forum is a place where you can open a case against a trader, and have Marketplace Moderators assist in resolving any issues. In this sub-forum, only Marketplace Moderators and you can read any posts you make. When posting, it's important for you to provide us with as much evidence and information as possible so we can accurately assess the situation. Use the appropriate title format below based on whether you are asking us a question or filing a dispute. If you are filing a dispute, make sure to provide us with all PM's exchanged with the other user. This will save both your time and our time, allowing us to respond much faster.

EXAMPLE TITLE FORMAT:
Example Dispute said:
Dispute: PokeTrader03 and Card Collector
Click to expand...


Quick Checklist:
  • Use the appropriate title format shown above.
  • Keep all posts polite, professional, and factual.
  • Post the PM's exchanged with the other member. Keep these organized!
  • File a report here BEFORE leaving neutral of negative reputation.
Any other suspicious activity or rule breaking in this forum can be reported here as well.

DO Post When:
  • Your cards haven't arrived yet and you are worried. DO NOT WAIT.
    The PB Marketplace allows two weeks for you to receive from the day you exchange addresses. If it is an overseas trade, this time is increased to 18 days.
  • You have received a bad trade rep and want to dispute it.
  • You have a question about Marketplace rules, a warning you received, or need clarification.
  • You suspect someone posting in the Marketplace to be a Ripper on this forum, or from another forum previously.
  • You would like to leave neutral or negative feedback for another user. You MUST post a report in this sub-forum or PM a Marketplace Moderator. We need a reason for the feedback and if there are any discrepancies we may be able to resolve the issue. You will receive a warning if you do not file a report.
  • You are going away, or have something going on and you want to let the Marketplace Moderators know.

DON'T Post When:
  • It has been less than 14 days or less than 18 days (for overseas) for a trade.
  • If your question would be better suited for a different thread (e.g. "How rare is this card?", "How much is this card worth?", etc).
 
How to Begin Trading TCG & More on PB

So, you want to begin trading cards or other merchandise on PokéBeach? Great! Keep on reading!

PokéBeach's Marketplace section is one of the safest and most popular places to trade Pokémon cards/goods online. Allow me to guide you through all the steps necessary in order to begin trading here on PB - without breaking any rules.

Step 1: Read the Marketplace rules. This will only take a few minutes of your time, so please read them to avoid getting in trouble.

Step 2: Put your country in your user profile under the drop down menu where your username is. To do this, click on "Change Profile Info". Then scroll to "Location", enter it and click save!

Step 3: Make a Trading Thread (optional): Go to the PokeBeach Marketplace forum. Click on "Post New Thread". In this thread, you can make the title whatever you want, as long as it's not misleading or complete nonsense and your country is the first word in ALL CAPS. Many people like to put what they have or want in the title - an effective way to draw people to your thread! Next, there is a box to the left of where you created your thread title. This is called a prefix tag. You must have one on your thread. It tells us what type of thread you have. You may have one of any of these three types of threads in the Marketplace: "Trades", "Sales", or "Trades & Sales". You must be a Verified Seller if you post anything as "Sales" or "Trades & Sales" or face a possible ban. You may also have 1 "In Search Of" thread per week or a bump in an "IN Search Of" thread in addition to any 1 trade or sales type thread.

Then in your thread body, list your rules, where you ship, your wants, and your current items for trade. Now, once all of that is filled out, post the thread. Done that? Great! Now it will disappear. "What?! Disappear?! BV, you mean I just typed all of that for nothing, and now it's gone?!" Nope. It's only hidden. Now only Moderators can see it. Once we see your thread, we will look over it to make sure you haven't broken any rules, (like listing cards for sale, not for trade, decked or incoming...) If everything is okay, we will approve your thread, and then everyone will be able to see it! If something is wrong, we will let you know in a private conversation.

As stated above your thread will be hidden until approved, so please do not keep re-posting the same thread! (Unless you are asked to repost it.)

Please Note: Even if you are not going to make a trade thread, you must still have your country in your profile and have read the Maketplace rules. Don't just run off making offers in people's threads. You may receive a warning if you are caught trying to trade without having your country in your profile.

Selling: You cannot sell as a new trader. In order to sell TCG or other Pokémon items to our members, you need to become a Verified Seller.

You can read the requirements and request sales permission here.

Meet the Marketplace Moderators

The members of this staff group are our resident trading professionals. These people watch for suspicious activity in the forums and assist traders if they need help. If you feel you have been ripped off, or simply just have a trading question, look no further than the Marketplace Moderators.

Marketplace Head:
Marketplace Staff:

Thanks for reading, and enjoy trading TCG on PokéBeach! :)

- Brave Vesperia and the Marketplace Moderating Staff
 
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