A buyer says the order never showed up. What happens next depends almost entirely on whether you shipped with tracking, and at what tier.
Almost everything written about a not-received order on TCGplayer is policy text, copied from TCGplayer's own help center. This is the version with the actual thresholds and clock in one place, so you're not re-reading the same two articles mid-dispute.
A buyer can report an order as not received for up to 30 calendar days after its estimated delivery date. Once a claim is open, you have 2 business days to respond. Miss that window and the claim moves forward without your input, which is a worse outcome than responding with an answer you don't love.
The 30-day window exists because mail is slow sometimes, not because every claim at day 29 is untrue. Respond with what you actually have — tracking status, ship date, carrier — rather than treating the claim as an accusation.
TCGplayer's tracking guidance scales with order value, and where your shipment falls on that scale is the single biggest factor in how a not-received claim goes:
| Order value | Tracking requirement |
|---|---|
| Under $20 | Recommended, not required |
| $20 and up | Required |
| $250 and up | Signature required |
Under $20, you can ship without tracking and still be within policy — you're just accepting the risk that a claim on that order comes down to your word against the buyer's. Above $20, tracking isn't optional, and above $250, a signature is. Ship below the required tier and a not-received claim is close to indefensible, whatever actually happened to the package.
Having a tracking number isn't the same as having proof of shipment. TCGplayer reimburses a seller on a not-received claim only if the tracking record shows movement beyond an initial "Acceptance" or "Label Created" scan. A label that was printed but never handed to the carrier looks, from TCGplayer's side, indistinguishable from an order that never shipped. If your tracking never advances past that first scan, you're exposed the same as if you'd shipped with no tracking at all.
Drop packages at the counter rather than a drop box when you can, and check that the first carrier scan actually posts before you consider the order handled.
If an order genuinely never arrives, the buyer is entitled to a full refund, including the original shipping charge. That refund is calculated at the price the buyer actually paid, not at whatever the card is worth today. A card that's moved up in price since the sale doesn't change the refund amount, and neither does a card that's dropped.
The scenario sellers worry about most — a buyer claims non-delivery on an order that tracking clearly shows as delivered — is the one case where TCGplayer Safeguard covers you completely. On a tracked order marked "Delivered" where the buyer reports it missing anyway, Safeguard reimburses the seller at 100%, and it blocks the buyer from leaving negative feedback over that claim. You still respond within the SLA and cooperate with the process, but the financial and reputational exposure both stop at your door once tracking shows the package arrived.
That protection is specifically about non-delivery. It's a different mechanism from a condition dispute — see how TCGplayer Safeguard works for the full scope, and PWE non-delivery disputes for the harder case where the shipment was never trackable in the first place.
Most not-received claims that end badly for a seller trace back to one of the same two mistakes: shipping below the required tracking tier for the order value, or shipping with tracking that never advanced past the first scan. Neither is a policy surprise once you know the thresholds. The seller who loses the claim usually isn't the one who got unlucky with the mail — it's the one who shipped a $30 card untracked, or dropped an envelope in a box and never confirmed the label actually scanned.
International orders carry their own version of this timeline, with customs delays stretched into the same 30-day clock — handling international order disputes covers what changes.
Sources: What Happens if the Buyer Says They Did Not Receive Their Order? · Seller Shipping and Tracking Requirements
Hoard ties every order to its tracking status and refund outcome, so you can see which shipments are actually at risk.
See how refund tracking works