Trading In With Us

How to trade in video games or trading cards with us for cash or store credit?

Placing an order

The first step to trading in with us is to place a free trade in order on our website.  You will see a 'Trade In' header at the top of the page, click this.  You will now see a number of trade in products e.g. video games, Pokémon TCG trade in, Flesh and Blood TCG trade in, YuGiOh TCG trade in etc. 

Select the trade in option relevant to you.  Listed on this page will be the requirements for trading that particular product in with us, please read these carefully.  When you have done so, simply add the trade in option your basket then check out just as you normally would when placing an order! 

Why can't I find the trade in option I need / I can't check out with the TCG trade in in my basket / it says that trade ins are closed, what should I do?

If the trade in option you desire is not available on this page, this means we are not accepting more of this trade in at present but will again soon.  We close off trade ins when we have a high volume of trade in orders already placed.  We do this as we have a small team, so it allows us time to work through our current orders and minimises turnaround times for customers. 

If you are unable to place the trade in order you want due to it being closed, but would still like to trade in with us, simply contact us at hello@pucapucagames.co.uk and request to be added to the mailing list for the particular trade in. We will then contact you when we open up trade in orders for that option again.  When you receive an email from us remember to place your order as soon as you can to avoid disappointment as our spots tend to fill up quickly.  

Trade ins being closed does not apply to orders already placed, you may still send in your trade in.  This just means we are not currently taking on more trade ins while our current trade in orders are in progress.

Please do not place a trade in order for an inappropriate product e.g do not place a video game trade in order when you would like to trade in TCG.

Do I need to let you know what I am sending?

Video Games:

When it comes to video games, we request that you do send us either a list or some clear photos of the video games, consoles, and accessories that you intend to trade in with us via email.  We will then get back to you with a custom quote.  This quote will be based off current market value which will be reassessed once your trade in arrives with us.  However, it will give you a rough idea of the pricing that we will offer for your items.  This will allow you to decide whether or not you are happy with our prices prior to sending your games to us.  

You may request a quote either before or after placing a trade in order.

Trading Card Games:

If you are sending trading cards to us that would not be considered bulk, trading cards whose prices are not listed on the trade in page where you placed your order, trading cards that would be considered some of the higher rarity cards within that particular trading card game (for example, but not limited to, rainbow rare cards in Pokemon or Fabled cards in Flesh and Blood), or sealed trading card game products, then please send us either a list or some clear photos of the cards in question via email.  If sending photos, please make sure that the set number is visible so we can verify we are pricing the correct card.  We will then get back to you with a custom quote.  This quote will be based off current market value which will be reassessed once your trade in arrives with us.  However, it will give you a rough idea of the pricing that we will offer for your items.

You may request a quote either before or after placing a trade in order.

If the pricing of the cards you are intending on sending to us is listed on the page where you placed your trade in order, you do not need to let us know what or how many of each you are sending.

*Please note that all cards sent must be in mint / near mint condition.  This means the card should show no signs of wear or play (scratches, dents, folds, whitening etc).  Holo cards are particularly prone to scratches so please ensure that you have checked them over before sending them in to avoid disappointment.  All cards should smell fresh and be free from odours such as damp or smoke.  Any cards we are unable to take can be returned to you at your expense or can be disposed of at your request.  Any unreturned items will be held for 28 days before being disposed of.

How should I pack my order?

Securely! There is no correct way to pack your items in order to send them to us as long as you have packed them safely with plenty of padding material.  

Packaging from previous deliveries can be reused, and old magazines or newspapers can also make for some good padding material.  In the case of TCG we have seen individuals use unwanted tins or ETBs, cling film, one touch bags, and cardboard slabs to help protect their cards and keep them cards together.  Holo foils have a tendency to rub against each other which can cause damage to the foiling so please bear this in mind when packaging them.  Penny sleeves can help avoid this.  Top loaders or some rigid cardboard cuts can also be used to help ensure the safety of higher value cards.

We can only assess your items based on the condition in which they arrive to us, so make sure you have packed them securely so that they arrive to us in the same condition you sent them in.

Púca Púca Games is not liable for any damage caused to items on their journey to us.  If you believe damage has been caused to your items in transit, you may be able to raise a case with the postal courier.  We can provide photographic evidence but as you are the sender, will not be able to raise the case on your behalf.  

For our TCG trade in customers, please make sure your cards are sorted according to the criteria listed on our 'How do I sort my trading cards for trade in?' page which can be found in the 'About Us' section at the bottom of our website.  Any TCG Trade ins sent in where the cards are not sorted according to our criteria will have a sorting fee of 30% of the value of the trade in applied to the order.  This is to account for the staff costs associated with the time taken to sort your order on our end.  This service charge will be listed in the buy in quote and deducted from your total.  If you wish to have your cards returned to you after we have sorted your order, then the service charge of the sorting fee will have to be paid before your cards will be returned to you at your expense.

Priority will also be given to sorted orders. Any cards considered damaged or that do not meet our requirements for mint / near mint condition can either be disposed of at your request, or can be returned to you at your expense.  We may consider purchasing played condition cards if they are form older generations, please email us first if you feel that your cards may meet this criteria.  

Any unreturned items will be held for 28 days before being disposed of.

How do I send my stuff to you?

UK Based Customers:

If you are a UK based customer you can generate a Pre-Paid Shipping Label via this link. Royal Mail has a 20Kg limit per box so should you require, please generate a new individual label via the link.

You can use the tracking number listed below the barcode on the generated label to follow your parcel on its journey to us using Royal Mail Track and Trace (Link Below).  Please allow up to 48 hours for this email to arrive.

Should you decide for any reason not to use our pre-paid label and instead would like to pay for postage yourself, please let us know when when your parcel has been sent.  This lets us know when to expect / collect your parcel as we will not be able to track its progress to us in this case.

When you placed your trade in order you will have received a confirmation email that will contain your name and order number.  Please print this and place it inside your trade in order so we know who it is from.  If you are unable to do so, please write your name and order number on a piece of paper and place it in the box instead.

International Customers:

For our international customers, we unfortunately do not provide a pre-paid postage label in order to ship your trade in to us.  However, if you are willing to pay for the shipping, we would love to receive your trade ins too!  Once you have placed your trade in order we will send you an email containing the postal address.  Please allow up to 48 hours for this email to arrive. 

Please place a copy of your postage label inside of the box as well as displaying a copy on the outside of the box.  This means that if the label on the outside of your box gets damaged that your parcel will still find its way to us and will not be lost in transit.

When you placed your trade in order you will have received a confirmation email that will contain your name and order number.  Please print this and place it inside your trade in order so we know who it is from.  If you are unable to do so, please write your name and order number on a piece of paper and place it in the box instead.

Video Games: Games must be PAL A or work natively on PAL A Systems.

Trading Card Games: All trading cards must be English language.

I have sent my order, what now?

If you are using one of our pre-paid labels, you do not need to let us know that your order has been posted.  We check the tracking numbers regularly and will be able to tell from that.  Now that you have sent your order, you can use your tracking number on the postage label provided in order to track your parcel on its journey to us.  From here you can see when your order has been delivered to us!

How long until I hear back about my trade in?

Once we have collected your order we will process it as quickly as we can.  For video games this involves testing and grading all of the games (see video game grades for more information on how we decide what grade a game receives), and for trading cards this involves counting the cards and checking them for any signs of damage.  

We aim to have a turn around time of anywhere between 3-5 working days days, but could take up to 3 weeks.  Please allow additional time for particularly large trade ins.  While we do aim to stick to our turnaround times, as a small team there may be extenuating circumstances that may mean slightly longer turnaround times.  In these instances we will reach out and let you know when we expect to complete your trade in.

When do I let you know whether I want cash or store credit?

Once we have processed your order we will email you with a final custom quote for your trade in.  This quote will contain a breakdown on what we are offering in both cash and store credit for each item along with a cash total and a store credit total.  You can then let us know whether you would prefer cash or store credit.

If you have traded in with us and received store credit in the past and would like us to put any new store credit onto an already existing voucher number, please provide the voucher number and let us know at this stage.  

If you choose cash, we can pay this via bank transfer or PayPal.  If PayPal is selected as the preferred method of payment please note that any fees charged by PayPal will be paid by you, the customer.  As a business buying in stock, we must select 'Paying for goods or services' rather than 'Friends and family'.  This means that fees will be applied to the transaction.  Money paid through PayPal can be held for up to 21 days, and we are not responsible for this wait and therefore cannot assist in speeding it up.

Will my store credit expire?

No.  There is no expiration date on store credit.  It can be used across as many transactions as you like and can be used to purchase anything on our website just as cash would (including pre-order products).  Read our 'How do I use my voucher code or store credit?' page for step by step instructions on how to use your store credit voucher code.

I don't agree with my pricing / the condition assigned to my video game or trading card, what can I do?

For some trade in items our pricing is listed on our website, and in instances where it is not, we request that you contact us for a custom quote prior to sending us your goods.  This helps us minimise disagreements on pricing.  

When we individually price video games we use Price Charting to obtain a base price for this game.  We then use a custom formula that takes into account the condition of the game (and therefore the grade we assigned it) to work out what we are willing to pay in both cash and store credit.  

When we are individually price our trading cards we use Card Market.  We then set the minimum quality to near mint and set the language to English.  We then look at the lowest price the card is listed for and we use this as the base price for the card.  The reason we use the lowest price rather than the most commonly listed price is because we want to competitively price our cards to move.  We then use a custom formula to work out what we are willing to pay for the card in both cash and store credit.

Although we are always willing to discuss possible discrepancies and correct ourselves where necessary, a number of factors go into our pricing.  As a result, we do not haggle on our pricing.  

When it comes to assigning grades to video games (see video game grades for more information) and dictating the condition of cards (and therefore whether we will accept them or not), we have processes in place to help our staff make consistent and reliable decisions.  This means that our decisions on grading and condition are formulaic and according to our store policies.  This allows us to build up consistency and trust as a seller.  As a result, we cannot make changes to our decisions on these grading and condition on products.  

Our decisions are not meant to insult.  If we reject a trading card for example, it does not mean that this card is unusable or in bad condition, it just means that as a store it does not meet our requirements for mint or near mint and we would not feel comfortable to sell it to someone who is expecting a card in that condition.

I am trading in for store credit because I want this exact product, can you guarantee it for me?

We understand that there is often excitement around certain products, we get excited for them too!  However, as a policy, we do not hold over stock for our customers.  We feel it would be unfair on our other customers to do so, and we want everyone to have the same opportunity to secure themselves stock from us.  

When it comes to restocks of existing products or older sets, we often don't know when or even if restocks of certain products will be coming.    We find out that there will be a restock of a product when it is listed for sale by our supplier, which often doesn't happen until when the product is almost ready to ship.  Therefore, unless it has already been confirmed with us by our supplier, we cannot guarantee that we will be getting certain products in stock again and we cannot predict if we will be getting certain restocks in the future.

If we pre-order out items, we always make sure to set some stock aside to list on the product's launch day.  This means there are multiple opportunities for our customers to secure the product for themselves.  We also use max order quantities on highly desirable items so that as many people as possible have their opportunity to purchase some.  This also means we cannot guarantee that you will be able to purchase the items you want in the quantity you want.

We work through our trade ins as quickly as possible, and we work through them on a first come first serve basis (with priority given to sorted orders within a batch).  We have a turnover time of up to 3 weeks.  Although we are usually much faster than that, we cannot guarantee that your trade in will be done in time for you to secure the pre-order product or in stock item that you want.  To increase your chances of having your store credit in time to purchase the product you want, you can send us your trade in as early as possible, sort your trade in according to our guidelines, and keep an eye on our social media for updates regarding new stock, pre-orders, and restocks.  

Products can sell out too, and having store credit that you would like to spend on a certain item will not guarantee you that item.  You will have the same opportunity to purchase the item as everyone else.  When trading in with us for store credit there is no guarantee that you will be able to secure the exact item you are after.  However, there is a variety of products listed on our website that you can use your store credit on.  Store credit can be used across as many transactions as you like and has no expiry date, which means you can always hold on to it until we get in something new in if there is nothing currently listed that catches your eye.

I have changed my mind and would like my products back.

If at any time for any reason before your trade in is complete you would like to cancel the trade in order and receive your products back, we are happy to return your products to you at your expense.  This means any applicable postage costs will be paid by you, the customer.  The cost of this postage will be determined by us.  If a sorting fee or any other surcharge has been applied to your order, this will also have to be paid before your items can be returned to you.

We will hold any unreturned items for 28 days before disposing of them.