Help

Answers to common questions about using Polaris Cards.

Getting started

What is Polaris Cards?: Polaris Cards is a marketplace for buying and selling trading cards. You can browse listings, place orders, manage a personal collection, and chat directly with sellers.
Do I need an account?: You can browse cards and listings without an account. To buy, sell, add to favorites, or message sellers you need to register — it's free.

Buying cards

How do I buy a card?: Find a listing you like, add it to your cart, and proceed to checkout. You can also submit a buy order to let sellers come to you with matching cards.
What are buy orders?: Buy orders let you specify a card, condition, and maximum price you're willing to pay. Sellers who have a matching card can respond with an offer. If you accept, the sale proceeds like a normal order through secure checkout.
Can I make an offer on a listing?: Yes. On listings where the seller has enabled offers, you can propose a price. The seller can accept, decline, or counter. Track your active and past offers under My offers. If your offer is declined or expires, you can make another offer on the same listing after a 24-hour cooldown.
Can I message a seller before buying?: Yes. On any listing page you can open a chat with the seller to ask questions before committing to a purchase.

Fees

What does it cost to sell on Polaris Cards?: Polaris Cards charges a 4% platform fee on the items you sell. This fee also applies to any shipping collected through the platform. There are no listing fees or monthly charges.
Is there a fee for buyers?: Buyers pay no platform fee. You pay the listing price plus any shipping cost chosen at checkout.

Order limits

Is there a minimum order amount?: Yes. Card payment orders must be at least €5 in item value (excluding shipping). Local pickup orders are exempt from this minimum.
Is there a limit for new buyers?: First-time buyers are limited to online orders of €75 or less in item value until their first order has been delivered. After that, the cap lifts automatically. Local pickup orders are not affected.
Why am I blocked from buying a high-value item?: Individual sellers can require buyers to have a minimum number of completed orders before purchasing listings above a certain price. This is set by the seller to protect against fraud. Local pickup orders are exempt. Contact the seller if you'd like to discuss an alternative arrangement.

Selling cards

How do I create a listing?: Go to New listing from the navigation menu, fill in the card details, condition, and price, then publish.
How do I manage my listings?: Visit My listings to edit prices, mark items as sold, or remove them entirely.

Shipping

What shipping methods are available for sellers?

Sellers can choose between two shipping methods per listing. Shipit lets buyers pick a carrier at checkout — the platform calculates rates based on the package dimensions and generates a label the seller can print. Manual shipping lets you handle postage yourself using configurable weight-based tiers. You set your prices once in Seller settings and the right tier is applied automatically at checkout. You can enable both methods and choose per listing.

How do I set up manual shipping?

Open Seller settings, scroll to Shipping settings → Manual shipping, and toggle it on. You will see two default rows — a letter tier and a tracked package tier. Enter the price for each, then click Save shipping rates. Once saved, you can select Manual shipping when creating or editing any listing.

What do the tier fields mean?

Name: — a label shown to you (e.g. “Letter”, “Tracked package”, “Insured package”). Choose any name that makes sense for your shipping options.
Max weight: — the heaviest order this tier can cover, in grams. Leave blank for no weight limit. Card weights are calculated automatically (2 g per raw card, 75 g per graded slab). Products use the weight you enter on the listing.
Price: — the amount you receive for shipping.
Tracked: — tick this if the tier includes a tracking number or registered delivery. Tracked tiers are automatically required when an order’s value exceeds the tracked threshold.

Can I add dimension limits to a tier?

Yes. Click "Show max dimensions" below the tier rows to reveal length, width, and height fields for each tier. If the combined package dimensions exceed a tier's limits, that tier is skipped when selecting the right rate at checkout. This is useful for distinguishing between letter formats that have strict size restrictions.

How does the system pick the right tier at checkout?

When a buyer checks out, the platform calculates the total weight of all items in the order from that seller. It then selects the cheapest tier whose weight (and dimension limits, if set) covers the order. If the total item value exceeds the tracked threshold, only tiers marked Tracked are considered — the cheapest applicable tracked tier is used.

What is the tracked threshold?

The tracked threshold is a value limit above which the system always requires a tracked or registered shipping option. The platform maximum is €25 — orders worth more than this must use a tracked tier. You can set your own threshold lower than €25 in Seller settings if you prefer to require tracking for smaller amounts.

Can I add more shipping options beyond the defaults?

Yes. Click "Add tier" to create additional rows. Common additions are a lighter letter tier for small single-card orders, an insured package option for higher-value items, or a separate large-letter tier for thick stacks. You can have as many tiers as you need — the cheapest applicable one is always selected automatically.

What if no tier fits an order?

If an order’s weight or dimensions exceed all available tiers, or if tracking is required but no tracked tier is configured, no shipping cost is charged. To avoid this, ensure you have at least one tracked tier with no weight or dimension limit so it acts as a catch-all for large or high-value orders.

What happens to shipping costs when a buyer orders multiple items from me?

The platform combines all items from your store into a single shipment per order. It calculates the total package weight across all items and selects a single tier for the whole order — buyers never pay separate shipping for each item they buy from the same seller.

Buy orders in detail

How do I create a buy order?: Go to New buy order, search for the card or product you want, then set the condition, language, and the maximum price you are willing to pay. You can also specify extra details such as grading company, grade, reverse holo, first edition, and more. Once submitted, your buy order is visible to all verified sellers.
How does a seller respond to my buy order?: Sellers browse open buy orders and can submit an offer if they have a matching card. You will be notified when an offer arrives. You can accept or decline the offer — if you accept, you are taken straight to checkout.
Can I have multiple buy orders open at once?: Yes. You can have as many open buy orders as you like. Manage them under My buy orders, where you can also close orders you no longer need.
What happens when a buy order is fulfilled?: Once you accept an offer and complete payment, the buy order is automatically closed. If an offer expires or is declined, the buy order stays open for other sellers to respond to.

Collections

What is a collection?: A collection is a personal catalogue of cards you own. You can create multiple named collections — for example one per game or binder. Collections are private by default but can be made public so other users can browse them. Visit My collections to get started.
How do I add cards to a collection?: Open a collection and use the search to find a card by name, set, or card number. You can set the condition, language, quantity, grading details, and personal notes for each entry. Cards can also be added directly from any card page on the platform.
Can I list a card for sale directly from my collection?: Yes. Each card in your collection has a List for sale button. Clicking it pre-fills a new listing with the card details and condition already set — you just add your price and photos. The collection entry remains so your inventory stays up to date.
Can other users see my collection?: Only if you make it public. Public collections are visible on your profile page and can be browsed by anyone. Private collections are visible only to you.

Importing your collection

Can I import an existing collection?: Yes. Inside any collection open the Import menu and upload a CSV or Excel (.xlsx) file. You can download a ready-made template from the same menu to see the exact format expected. The only required column is card_name; all other columns are optional.
What columns does the import file support?: card_name, card_number, expansion, game, condition, language, graded, grade, grading_company, reverse_holo, first_edition, stamped, altered, quantity, notes
What happens after I upload a file?: The platform previews each row and attempts to match it against the card database. Matched rows are shown in green and selected by default. Unmatched rows (card not found) are shown in orange and excluded. You can review the matches, deselect any you don't want, and then confirm the import.
Can I import from Cardmarket or other platforms?: If your existing platform lets you export a CSV or Excel file, you can usually map those columns to the Polaris Cards format. Download the template to see the expected column names, rename your export columns to match, and upload. The card_name and expansion columns are the most important for matching.

Account & orders

Where can I see my orders?: Open My orders to track purchases as a buyer. Sellers track completed sales under My sales.
How do I update my shipping address?: Go to Profile and edit your saved addresses. You can set a default address used at checkout.
Where do I track offers I've made or received?: Buyers can see their submitted offers under My offers. Sellers see offers from buyers under Incoming offers.
How do I manage my collection and wishlists?: Use My collections to track cards you own — you can also list items for sale directly from there. Use My wishlists to save cards you want. See the Collections and Importing sections above for full details.

Still have questions? Send us a message and we'll get back to you.