Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Direct Message Content

Direct messages are separate from content posted within the existence. When dealing with DM content consider doing one of the following:

• Block the user
• Disable allowing direct messages from a specific server in your privacy options
• Report harassment, spam, NSFW content & advertising to Discord's Trust and Safety team: https://dis.gd/request

Stay On Topic

Welcome lists all channels and their topics. Additional guidance can be found in some channels descriptions and pinned messages. You are encouraged to chat & make friends, any attempts to exclude fellow claws based on race, ethnicity, color, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, national origin, and any other affiliation is prohibited.

Spamming

Any passages of text that disrupt discussions, including excessive use of emojis, markdown, capital letters, copy & paste chain messages.

Advertising And Self-Promotion

Do not advertise third-party services of any kind. Recruitment posts for external sites are not permitted. Links to other Discord Servers and Unsolicited DMs or ads to other members are not permitted. Giveaways are only permitted if not self advertising external sites. These still apply to #socials-self-promo and #deadrop-share and #fan-art

Scamming

Do not link any scam websites. Do not DM link any scam related links. Do not attempt to impersonate any members of the Existence including but not limited to the Midnight Merchant, Okonami One, or Midnight Merchant Team. All chat protocols apply to voice chat. Keep in mind that we are unable to monitor voice channels at all times but our moderators will occasionally check in. Be respectful of your fellow Neon Buyers. If someone is causing issues ask for them to leave nicely. If they refuse try creating another voice channel. Report any issues by creating a ticket. No mic spam/unwanted music or obnoxious noises.

Postage

How does shipping work on your platform?
Midnight Merchant allows sellers the flexibility to set their own shipping options for each listing. When listing an item, sellers can specify a fixed or free postage cost on top of the listing price. Additionally, sellers can dictate whether they allow shipping to domestic locations, international locations, or both.

The shipping price will automatically adjust based on buyer’s location and seller’s item location. When an item is sold, it is the responsibility of the seller to post the listing item (with or without tracking). The buyer will also have the ability to provide feedback to the seller, based on their postage experience.

Can I choose my preferred shipping method?
As a seller, you will have the freedom to choose the shipping method that best suits you. You can opt for different carriers, shipping speeds, and services based on your location and the destinations you are willing to ship to.

What are the shipping options available to buyers?
When listing an item to sell, you will have the ability to specify costing and availability in our Shipping Options section.

• If you only wish to ship to local buyers in your country, you will select the “Domestic” option.
• If you wish to ship to both local and international buyers, you will select the “Domestic & International” option.
• You will then be able to type in a fixed price per the option you have chosen. The buyer will pay for this fee on top of the listing price. Buyers will be able to view the postage cost in the listing, which is automatically determined based on the buyers location. If postage isn’t available to the location, the listing will remain visible, but the buyer will need to contact the seller to arrange changing the listing to “International” shipping.

Can I provide tracking information for shipped items?
Yes - when an item is sold, the seller will be notified and have the ability to add tracking information under “Sold Listing” in their Account section.

Alternatively we do recommend also adding tracking information in your Paypal Account for the specific transaction that was made through the buyer.

We highly recommend providing tracking information for shipped items whenever possible for the best buyer experience.

What if I encounter issues with shipping or delivery?
If you encounter any issues with shipping or delivery, such as delays, damages, or lost packages, please communicate promptly with the seller. It is the responsibility of the seller to contact their postage service and resolve the issue.

Fees, Tax and Charges

What fees are involved for Sellers when listing items on your platform?
When listing an item for sale on Midnight Merchant, please be aware that there are two types of fees applicable to sellers.

• Platform Fee - charge a platform fee of 7.5% on sold listing price.
• PayPal Fee - our payment gateway partner charges 3% plus an additional fixed fee ($0.30+). There is a 1% charge for accepting payments in foreign currencies. Please refer to Paypal merchant fees for more updated values.

How are the Midnight Merchant Platform Fees and PayPal fees deducted from my earnings?
Once your item is sold, the platform fee of 7.5% will be automatically deducted from the listing price sold, and the Paypal Fee is then charged based on the total amount paid.

For example, if your item sells for $100 + $10 shipping, the platform fee will be calculated on the $100 , for a total $7.50. We do not include shipping cost as a part of our Platform Fee!

The Paypal Fee will then be calculated using the total amount, including shipping of $110, which comes to a total of $3.60 (3% + 30c).

Bringing our total fees of $11.1, giving the seller a total earning of $88.9!

Are the fees subject to change?
As a transparent platform, we will always strive to provide a clear view of the profit we are making. If there are any changes made to Paypal fees in future, we will need to align to those changes, and may need to add additional costing and fees to run and maintain the platform.

Are there any additional charges on-top of the listing price during checkout?
In some cases, the buyer may be required to pay for:

• Shipping cost - if the seller has provided a shipping cost.
• Tax - different tax rules can apply depending on the country and location of buyer and seller.

How does Tax work?
As there can be different tax rules based on the location of buyers and sellers, we have broken down some different scenarios as a guide, based on only accepting Australian sellers:

• Local Seller to Local Buyer transaction - GST is inclusive in listing price, no extra charges to buyers
• Local Seller to International Buyer transaction - No tax is charged, Buyer is responsible for any customs duties or import taxes imposed by their country
• Australian sellers may be required to declare and pay GST if they are a registered business. Please contact professional advice or head to the ATO website for more information.

Seller Onboarding

How can I become a seller on your platform?
To become a seller on our platform, you can sign up using various authentication services (for example: Gmail, Facebook) or provide a valid email address. Once you have registered and logged in, you will be able to start the seller onboarding process. We currently have two restrictions based on our alpha phase:

• Currently we can only accept sellers in Australia.
• To begin listing an item, you are required to have a registered Paypal Account.

Why is a PayPal account required for selling on the platform?
Having a registered PayPal account is essential to facilitate buyer and seller transactions. PayPal is a widely trusted and reliable payment processor, and also provides buyer/seller protection insurance to ensure that you are protected against any scammers, damaged or lost goods.

How do I link my PayPal account to my seller account on the platform?
On your Account page (or during the Listing Creation process) you will be asked to sign in and authenticate your PayPal account. If you already have a registered PayPal account, simply log in using your PayPal credentials. If you don't have a PayPal account, the onboarding process through PayPal will guide you through creating one.

What type of PayPal account do I need for selling, personal or business?
As a seller, you can use either a Personal or a Business PayPal account for transactions on our platform. Just choose the account type that best suits your needs and business model.

How do I know when I’ve connected my Paypal Account to start selling?
On your “My Account” page, we will indicate to you if we have your information and are ready to sell! If the connection was not successful, a Paypal sign-in box will still be visible to sign in.

Seller Item Sold

A listing has sold, what do I do now?
Congratulations first of all!

• Currently we can only accept sellers in Australia.
• To begin listing an item, you are required to have a registered Paypal Account.

When a listing is sold you will receive an email notification first. From there you can navigate to the “My Account” section and “Sold Items” you can proceed to these steps:

• You can “View Listing” to confirm the item that was sold and details
• You can “Contact Buyer” if you wish to advise them how long it will take you to post the item or just a general thank you. You will have 5 business days from the day of purchase to mail the item, after that time has passed the buyer does have a strong reason to contact you or report an issue to us.
• Package up your item, make sure it’s protected well with these examples: Plastic card sleeve to protect it from scratches, Cardboard or hard case sleeve to stop it from bending, Ziploc bag to seal it away from water damage, Bubble wrap to protect graded slabs from cracking
• Grab the “Buyers Details” from “Sold Items” to figure out where you are posting the item or navigate to Paypal to check the postage address details either via logging into your Paypal Account or checking emails regarding the item sold
• Mail the item, it is recommended you grab a tracking ID so you can pass the information onto the buyer to improve their experience with you.

Purchasing

What can I currently buy on your platform?
At the present time, sellers are only able to list English Pokemon cards. We are currently in the process of adding more languages, and eventually other TCGs.

How do I find a card on your platform?
On the Marketplace page, you will be able to see a number of cards listed from various sellers. If you are searching for a specific card, use the Search Bar at the top of the page and type in some of the card details. It can be either the card name, card number or even set names. For broader searches, you can use the Filter Panel on the left of the page to navigate through specific card details.

What is important information I should consider before purchasing?
If you have found a card you are interested in purchasing, make sure that you consider these factors:

• Price of the card (is it fair value, within my budget, what does our Market Analysis say for estimated value?)
• Condition (Ungraded or Graded, do the images tell you enough about the condition?)
• Seller rating (Positive feedback, new or frequent seller?)
• Location (Local or International)

How do I purchase on your website?
Click on the listing that you are interested in purchasing. This will take you to a page with more detailed information on the listing, and there you will see a “Buy Now” button.

Once clicked, you will be navigated through to our checkout screen.

You will be required to use the Paypal checkout process, where you will have the option of choosing from various payment methods to suit you. Paypal will also handle your shipping address. Once the purchase is confirmed, the order details will be sent to the seller.

Please see our topic on “Tax, Fees and Charges” to know more about additional costs.

When will my purchased item be sent?
Sellers are encouraged to send any purchased items within 5 business days of the purchase confirmation. The seller will confirm when they have posted the item, along with any tracking information, which is then passed on to you.

What happens if the Seller hasn’t posted the items after 5 business days?
If the seller hasn’t posted the item/s within 5 business days, we first recommend that you enquire with the seller, in case there are any issues preventing the postage and see if a resolution can be reached.

If you are still not happy with the outcome or response of the seller, and you want to request a refund, go to “Purchase History” on your Account page and click “Report Seller”. From there we will begin our report process. For purchase refunds, you will be able to request a refund via Paypal. Please see our “How to issue refunds” topic.

What do I do once I have received my item?
Congratulations, you have made an excellent addition to your collection!

The final step of the purchasing process is to provide seller feedback. This can be found in “Purchase History” on your Account page. While providing feedback is optional, we highly encourage this step, as this helps to build our community and provides confidence in our buyers.

Condition - Ungraded

When dealing with Pokémon cards, there are several different condition types that are commonly used to describe the state and overall quality of the card. Understanding these condition types is crucial for both buyers and sellers to ensure transparent and fair transactions. The main ungraded card condition types are:

• Mint (M): Card is in perfect or near-perfect condition with no visible wear, scratches, or damage. Sharp corners and clean surface, perfect centering.
• Near Mint (NM): Card is very close to Mint but may have minor imperfections that are barely noticeable. Slight edge wear or small scratches may be present, centering off slightly.
• Lightly Played (LP): Card shows some signs of wear, including minor scratches, edge wear, or light play marks. Still in decent condition.
• Moderately Played (MP): Card displays noticeable wear, including scratches, edge wear, and possible bending.
• Heavily Played (HP): Card has significant wear, such as creases, fading, and prominent marks, still readable text.
• Damaged (D): Card has visible flaws that impact its playability and appearance, such as severe creases, water damage, tears, or ink marks.

It is important to note that card grading is subjective, and opinions of condition can vary between individuals. When listing or buying Pokémon cards on our platform, we encourage sellers to provide clear images and accurate descriptions of the card condition to ensure a fair and positive buying experience for all users. Buyers will also have the ability to provide feedback on the accuracy of your condition description.

Condition - Graded

Graded cards are cards that have been professionally evaluated and assigned a numeric grade by a reputable grading company. These companies will assess the condition, authenticity, and overall quality of a card, and then provide a standardized and objective rating that will then help collectors and players assess the card's value.

Our platform accepts all grading companies, but will also specifically allow you to select the below services:

• PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator)
• BGS (Beckett Grading Services)
• CGC (Certified Guaranty Company)
• Other (Other Grading Services)

A grading company will assign your card a score ranging from 1 (Poor) to 10 (Mint). We encourage you to review their sites for more information, but as an overview, here are the 4 assessment types:

• Centering (CEN): How centered the image is within the borders.
• Edges (EDG): Sharpness and integrity of the card's edges.
• Corners (COR): Sharpness and integrity of the card's corners.
• Surface (SUR): Any imperfections or damage on the card’s face.

Some grading companies also offer sub-grading, which breaks down all 4 condition types and provides a score from 1 (Poor) to 10 (Mint) displayed on the slab. Each score is then weighed together to give your overall grade score.

How do you determine the price of an item?

We gather various data points from all over the world wide web to determine the aggregate price of a card. We believe this a better approach to give you an average estimate of an item, as different marketplaces, websites or ecommerce sites can show various different prices for the same card, and we want to make it as simple as possible to know the average price out of all of them.

When does your data refresh?

As of now we are refreshing the data once a month, ideally around the end of the month. This cycle may change in the future.

We would like to refresh once a week, but we will need to gather more sample data. This can be achieved when we see more transactions sold on our website so we can use it to update our data more frequently.

Discord Guidelines

Join the Midnight Merchant community on our Discord server: https://discord.gg/mGGDspK8YG.

Please note that the Discord server will have its own set of rules, enforced separately. For more details, refer to the Midnight Merchant Discord rules channel.

Community

Our goal in Midnight Merchant is to make a platform for the community, encouraging buyers, sellers, collectors and players to submit feedback so we can prioritise and grow as a group. We are a relatively small team, so to keep our platform a safe environment for all we love if you can report listings or sellers to keep the streets safe!

Our discord will house the majority of our communication, polls and interaction with our customers. It’s free to join and we love you to be a part of it :)

Seller Responsibility

It is our sellers responsibility to ensure the details of their listings are accurate and honest. Midnight Merchant will enforce remediation on any and all fraudulent seller activities.

• Have ownership of the listed product at the time of sale.
• List an accurate assessment of the product information.
• Post listing item/s in a timely manner on successful sale of product (up to 5 business days).
• Input any available tracking numbers to sold listing item/s through ‘Sold Items’ (sub menu in your Account page).

Listing Duplication

We do not tolerate listing spamming. If you are a buyer, seller or community member and notice duplicate listings that could indicate fraudulent activities, please use our Report Seller function. We will conduct a case-by-case review to determine the legitimacy of these listings.

Please be aware that sellers may have multiple identical listings due to ownership of duplicate products.

If Midnight Merchant finds listings that do not comply with our Terms and Conditions, we will take appropriate actions to address the issue. This may involve communication with the involved parties and necessary steps to remediate or remove the non-compliant products from our platform.