Studio process

How a card moves from intake to a Shopify listing to your hands. We document the entire workflow because trust in TCG retail comes from process transparency, not marketing claims.

1. Sourcing

Every card we sell comes from one of three channels:

  • Direct buys from collectors. Verified through the Australian TCG community. Receipts and provenance documented for everything Choc Mint tier.
  • Sealed product through verified distribution. No grey market sealed product, ever. We pay slightly more to source through verified channels and the trade-off is worth it.
  • Auction acquisitions for headliners. Goldin, PWCC, Heritage. Documented bid history accompanies any Choc Mint card sourced through auction.

2. Intake

Within 48 hours of arrival, every card gets:

  • Logged in our internal inventory system with SKU, source, acquisition cost, and intake date.
  • Visual inspection in daylight for any damage in transit from the source.
  • Tier assignment — Vanilla, Strawberry, or Choc Mint based on the card itself and its condition.
  • Status assignment — Intake, Photographed, Listed, Held, or Sold. Drives the rest of the workflow.

3. Authentication

Graded slabs

The cert number gets entered into the grader's official database (PSA, BGS, CGC, SGC, TAG, ARS) before the card moves to the photo queue. The cert lookup result is photographed alongside the slab so buyers can re-verify. If the cert doesn't resolve or the card pictured doesn't match the cert lookup, we send the slab back to the source.

Raw singles

Every raw single — even Vanilla bulk — gets inspected for:

  • Print dot pattern under magnification (counterfeit detection).
  • Holofoil pattern compared to known authentic reference cards.
  • Back-tone consistency across the print run.
  • Edge inspection for re-painting, edge whitening that's been touched up, or restoration.
  • Surface inspection under raking light for cleaning, fillers, or surface restoration.

If we have ANY doubt about a raw single, it doesn't get listed. We'd rather lose the cost of the card than damage trust with a buyer.

Sealed product

Sealed product gets:

  • Weight check against the known weight range for that specific set and product.
  • Outer shrink-wrap inspection for re-wrap signs (different shrink type, asymmetric seal, telltale heat marks).
  • Date code verification — print codes must match the expected production window.
  • Corner inspection for tamper signs.

4. Photography

Every listing gets a minimum of four photos: front centered, back centered, corner closeup, and a context shot. Slabs add a cert closeup. Sealed boxes get all 6 faces.

Standards:

  • 2000 × 2000 minimum resolution.
  • Natural daylight or 5500K LED studio lighting. Never tungsten/yellow.
  • Consistent neutral background.
  • No filters, no auto-enhance, no Photoshop beyond cropping and white-balance correction.

5. Listing

Photos plus a written description go live in our intake sheet, which syncs to Shopify automatically every 30 minutes. Every new listing starts as a Draft on Shopify — a team member reviews the draft (cross-check title, price, photos, tier, tags) before flipping to Active. The tier badge (Choc Mint / Strawberry / Vanilla) appears on every listing so buyers see the quality signal up-front.

6. Storage

Between listing and shipping, every card is stored climate-controlled in our Melbourne facility:

  • Temperature 18–22°C, humidity 40–60%.
  • Singles in penny sleeves + perfect-fit sleeves + toploaders in sorted boxes.
  • Slabs in case savers in upright filing.
  • Sealed product on padded shelving, never stacked beyond 3 high.

7. Packing

When an order comes in, the card moves from storage to the packing bench. The packing standard depends on tier and product type. See our Shipping & packaging page for the full standard.

8. Documentation (Choc Mint only)

For every Choc Mint order, we photograph the product at every packing stage. The photos arrive in your inbox alongside your tracking. If anything is ever disputed in transit, you have an audit trail.

9. Shipping

Standard / Express via Auspost domestically. International tracked through Auspost and DHL. Signature required on all orders over $1,000 AUD and all Choc Mint orders. Auspost SecurePost insurance included automatically on Choc Mint orders.

10. Post-sale

14 days from delivery: if anything is wrong — misdescription, damage in transit, authenticity concern — a team member handles the resolution personally. We don't farm customer service out to anyone.

What we don't do

  • Stock photo listings. Every photo is of the actual card.
  • Inflated compare-at pricing. If we list a card as a 15% sale, the original price was 100%, not 130% nominal.
  • Under-graded condition. If a card is borderline Near Mint, we list it as Lightly Played. Our pessimistic grading is deliberate.
  • Bait-and-switch. The card pictured is the card shipped. SKUs are 1:1 with physical items.
  • Influencer-style hype copy. No "absolutely insane pull" listings. The card is described, not sold.

Questions about how we'd handle a particular intake, sourcing, or shipping scenario? Email scoopedtcg@gmail.com. We're happy to walk through anything in detail.