Frequently Asked Questions

[Mike]

I thought it would be a good idea to have a list of the most commonly asked (or what I believe will be some of the most commonly asked) questions.

If I'm new here, do I have to send first on trades like on other sites?

In short, no! We do not have a must send first restriction for new members. We believe all members of this site should be able to make up their own mind on whether a trader is trustworthy enough to deal with. That said, we will place members on restriction, or ban them completely, if they don't make good on their end of their deals.

What is The Arena?

The Arena is basically a marketplace where members can sell their cards, with absolutely zero fees of any kind charged by us. It's the thing that inspired this entire site's existence. For more information about how it works, please click here.

My rating is wrong. Is the rating calculator broken?

It's true, we do have a unique way of calculating ratings so it may not be what you think it should be. Here at SCA our ratings are calculated based on your rating averages from each member instead of each transaction. This is to prevent members from padding their rating by trading with the same people over and over again. For a more detailed explanation, and an example, please click here.

What are the requirements for hosting a group break here?

We have very few requirements, none of which are hard to follow. In fact, if this is your first day on the site, you can probably still host a group break here (assuming you can get it filled). You can see the requirement threads in each of the group break marketplace forums here: Baseball | Basketball | Football | Hockey

 

[Mike]

Rating calculation explanation

Let's say you've completed a total of 10 transactions, getting the following ratings from these members.

1. UserA rated you a 5
2. UserB rated you a 5
3. UserC rated you a 1
4. UserA rated you a 5
5. UserB rated you a 1
6. UserA rated you a 5
7. UserA rated you a 5
8. UserA rated you a 5
9. UserA rated you a 5
10. UserA rated you a 4

On other sites, you would add all of those ratings and divide by 10, leaving you with an overall rating of 4.1 (4 stars).

Here at SCA, since our calculations are first done by member, that means your individual ratings would be as follows:

1. UserA: 4.86
2. UserB: 3.00
3. UserC: 1.00

So, to get your overall rating, we would average those, leaving you with an overall rating of 2.95.

A vast majority of transactions end up with a 5 star rating. This system makes it so that members who do get the occasional "ding" can't simply go make several low end trades with their friends to bring their rating back up.

The only way to bring your rating up here is to 1) deal with the same member again, so that you can get a better rating from them, in turn bringing up your individual rating from them or 2) deal with other members who you have never dealt with before, gaining more individual ratings that can help your overall rating.

 

[Mike]

What is The Arena and how does it work?

The Arena was the idea behind this entire site being built, hence the name. The Arena is a place you can throw down a card, at a ready to move price, and sell it with absolutely no fees, of any kind, by us.

Here's how it works.

• Members add their card into The Arena, including their full asking price (including shipping), a description, and a photo.
• After a short delay, that card will be listed in The Arena. The delay is typically around 15-20 minutes, which gives the seller a chance to edit the listing before it goes into The Arena. Once a card is entered into The Arena, it cannot be edited. It can only be cancelled.
• Once entered into The Arena, your card will be in the pool of randomly selected cards that will be displayed as The Arena featured card, and can also be browsed with the rest of the cards in The Arena.
• Each card will only be listed for a specified amount of time. That time will be flexible and will change based on the number of cards being sold on a daily/weekly basis.
• If a member buys your card before the time runs out, a transaction will be automatically created, the seller will pay you, and you will mail out the card.
• The best part about it is that we don't get involved in the payment process, and you don't owe us a thing for listing your card. It's all completely free!

Here are a few more things you may need to know before you start selling cards in The Arena:

• Members can only list 1 card at a time in The Arena. This means members need to be picky about which cards go in and which ones don't.
• The Arena isn't meant for base cards, or low-end inserts. Those are easy enough to sell/trade in the forums. As such, cards listed in The Arena must have a minimum asking price of $15, including shipping. This may increase later on once The Arena becomes more active.
• In order to sell cards in The Arena, you MUST accept PayPal (goods and services) as this is the only approved payment method, and is what we recommend for all transactions on this site.
• When a member agrees to purchase a card you have listed in The Arena, a transaction will automatically be created in our Transaction Manager, and it will be automatically marked as confirmed by you! Please keep this in mind when listing your card to make sure everything is correct in the listing.
• All members, unless you're on some kind of restriction, can list cards in The Arena. Before doing so, however, you will be required to fill out your mailing address and PayPal address, as well as select your shipping policies in your account details.