If a physical card arrives damaged or defective, or you received the wrong item, we will help put it right. This article explains what the process covers, what it does not cover and what you can do instead in those cases, the evidence we need, and how condition is assessed.
Quick summary
This process covers physical cards that arrive damaged or defective and cases where the wrong item was shipped. Report the issue within 14 days of delivery, with photo or video evidence and your order number. All cards are sourced to a Near Mint standard. Our team reviews your evidence, assesses how severe the issue is, and offers a resolution that matches. Printlines are a normal factory artifact and are not treated as a defect. Being unhappy with a pull and damage that happens after delivery are outside this process, but there are still things you can do in both cases, listed below.
What this process covers
A physical card that arrives damaged, for example bent, creased, scratched, or water-affected in transit.
A physical card that arrives defective, for example a manufacturing fault such as a miscut or a badly off-centre print.
The wrong item shipped to you, meaning the card in the package is not the card you withdrew.
A card whose authenticity you have genuine concerns about.
A graded slab that arrives with a cracked or damaged case.
Our condition standard
All cards on BOXED are sourced to a Near Mint standard. Occasionally a Near Mint copy of a specific card is not available. In that situation you may be offered a Lightly Played card together with a gem voucher to offset the difference in condition. You are told about this before it is applied, so a Lightly Played card arriving with a voucher is expected rather than a defect.
Printlines are not a defect. A printline is a faint line in the card's surface created during manufacturing, and it appears on cards straight out of a sealed pack. It is a factory artifact, so it does not qualify as damage under this process. If a line on your card is heavy enough that you are unsure whether it is a printline or transit damage, send us a photo anyway and our team will tell you which it is.
How condition is assessed
When we review a claim, we look at how severely the issue affects the card, rather than applying a single fixed rule to every case:
Minor. The issue is cosmetic and barely affects the card overall. Resolutions here are usually a gem credit or voucher.
Moderate. The issue is clearly visible and affects the card's condition. Resolutions may involve a larger gem credit or a replacement where one can be sourced.
Significant. The card is substantially damaged, is the wrong item, or is unusable as a collectible. These are handled as a full resolution, typically a replacement where one is available or a return of the card's value in gems.
Authenticity concerns are routed to a specialist for review rather than assessed on severity, and those reviews take longer because the card is examined properly.
How to report an issue
Report within 14 days of delivery. This is the window in which a claim can be reviewed, so open the package and check your cards promptly rather than leaving them sealed.
Take clear photo or video evidence. Include a shot showing the issue close up, a shot of the whole card front and back, and a shot of the packaging it arrived in. Video works well for damage that is hard to capture in a still, such as a bend or a surface scratch that only shows at an angle.
Have your order number ready.
Ask to speak to a human in chat, share the evidence and a short description of what is wrong, and our team will look into it.
Evidence is required before a claim can be reviewed. If your photos are hard to read, our team will tell you exactly what to re-shoot rather than closing the claim. If you have already thrown the packaging away, send photos of the card itself and say so, and we will work with what you have.
What is not covered, and what you can do instead
Being unhappy with what you pulled
Outcomes from boxes, Box Battles, and other openings are final and cannot be reversed, because every result is generated and recorded up front. You can verify any result yourself through Provably Fair.
What you can do with a card you do not want is choose any of the other options available for it: sell it back for gems, swap it through the Exchange, trade it on the Marketplace for a graded slab or a CS2 skin, use it toward Luckback, or keep it and display it in a Binder on your profile. All of these are covered in Cards: sell back, withdraw, exchange or display. These options apply while the card is still in your inventory, so decide before you withdraw it physically.
Damage that happens after delivery
Once a card has been delivered and is in your hands, damage that happens afterwards is not covered by this process. If you are not sure whether the damage was already there when it arrived, report it anyway within the 14 day window with photos of the card and the packaging. Transit damage often leaves marks on the packaging that make the cause obvious, and our team would rather look at a borderline case than have you assume it does not qualify.
Claims raised after 14 days
Claims are reviewed within 14 days of delivery, so report as soon as you notice a problem. If you are past that window, please ask to speak to a human and our team will look into it and tell you what is possible in your specific case. Note that a package that never arrived at all is a different situation with different timelines, covered in Lost or undelivered packages.
What happens after you report
Our team reviews your evidence, assesses the severity, and comes back to you with a resolution. If the card's authenticity is in question, it goes to a specialist and we will tell you that the review is under way. Do not send a card back to us unless our team has asked you to and given you instructions, because an unrequested return cannot be matched to your claim.
If the resolution involves gems returning to your balance, Refunds: what's refundable explains how that works alongside our other refund rules.
Common questions
I do not like the card I pulled. Can I return it?
No, you cannot return a card because you do not like the pull, since box and mystery outcomes are final and verifiable through Provably Fair. What you can do instead is sell the card back for gems, exchange it, trade it on the Marketplace, put it toward Luckback, or display it in a Binder. This damage process only applies to items that arrive damaged, defective, or incorrect.
My card was damaged after it arrived. Is that covered?
No, damage that happens after your card is delivered is not covered by this process. If you are not certain when the damage occurred, report it within 14 days of delivery with photos of both the card and the packaging, and our team will assess whether it happened in transit.
Do I really need photos?
Yes, you need photo or video evidence before a claim can be reviewed, because the assessment depends on seeing the actual condition of the card. If your first images are unclear, our team will tell you what to re-shoot rather than rejecting the claim outright.
I think my card might not be genuine. What should I do?
If you think your card might not be genuine, report it the same way, with photos and your order number, and say that your concern is authenticity. Our team routes authenticity cases to a specialist for a proper review. These take longer than a standard damage claim, and we will keep you updated while it is with the specialist.
My card has a faint line across it. Is that damage?
A faint line across a card is usually a printline, which is a factory artifact created during manufacturing and is not treated as a defect. If the line is heavy or you are unsure what you are looking at, send a clear photo and our team will confirm whether it is a printline or transit damage.
My card arrived Lightly Played instead of Near Mint. Is that a defect?
A Lightly Played card is not a defect if it was supplied because a Near Mint copy was unavailable, and in that case it comes with a gem voucher to offset the difference. If you received a Lightly Played or worse card with no voucher and no notice, report it within 14 days with photos and our team will look into it.
The case around my graded slab arrived cracked. Does that count?
Yes, a cracked or damaged slab case counts as transit damage and should be reported within 14 days of delivery. Photograph the case from several angles along with the shipping packaging, since that helps establish how it happened.