Everything collectors ask us about Select’s general sale drops, release days, purchase limits, cancelled orders, bots, and how hobby and premium releases generally work. 

 

We know a lot of collectors - especially newer ones -  worry that major hobby releases are gone before they get a chance, and that most likely bots and “flippers” will get the majority of product as it becomes available. It's the most common concern we hear - but it’s false.

Here's what actually happens behind a product drop, and why the collectors who miss out are almost never losing to bots and flippers.

This article explains how our product drops actually work, and steps through the practical steps that make sure every collector is well positioned  for buying a product when we release it. 

How does a major Select Cards release work?

Major releases generally follow this cycle:

• The product is announced, and at the same time or close to it, we release  product information including checklists, sale date, release date, insert ratio, production quantity etc. This usually starts with a scheduled facebook live stream, or a recorded video reveal.

• Select Collector Club (SCC) member pre-sale access opens at around the same time, so current members can take their option to buy the product (usually up to 2 boxes) at their convenience until that pre-sale period closes. That window closes a day or two before the published general sale date.

• The main product page on our website (where the general sale takes place) is stocked at the advertised time. All product remaining after SCC purchases, and any hobby card store allocations, is made available in the general sale(Select may withhold a very small amount in archive for future promotional use, giveaways, etc).

• The general sale remains open until the product is sold out, whether it be minutes, or days, or beyond..

• All successful legitimate orders made on the date of the general sale opening, are shipped on the official release date. There are multiple shipping methods to choose from, so collectors can decide what suits them best. 

• On or shortly after that same release date, some products may be available at selected hobby card stores. Check directly with them if they have an allocation. 

Every major drop has published terms and purchase limits on the product page. Further terms about misuse of our website are published in our general policies.  Most of those terms are enforced or flagged on orders in real time, during and after the general sale, using automatic fraud detection systems. Select has the right to cancel a paid order at our discretion at any time by issuing a full refund. 

Why could hobby releases sell out so quickly?

Our release structures (product “make-up”) is often closed up to a year in advance in order for designs to be made, signed card agreements to be made with players, and full product manufacturing. So we make decisions to balance exciting, valuable, innovative card concepts and rarity versus the quantity we predict will be appropriate for collectors to have the opportunity to access the product. Collectible products are only collectible, by definition, if there isn’t infinite quantities available or if it's not  available all the time.

We design products in a way where, on average, the cards within a box are expected to be more valuable than the RRP of a box. When the market deems this to be true, we often see sealed boxes increase in value on the secondary market or buy-ins for community breaks positioned at a high price also. During that production and pre-production time, the hobby we love and are passionate about, might have more new collectors come into the ecosystem than we predict.  

Selling out fast isn't our goal. Giving passionate collectors - being our loyal customers - as much opportunity possible to access the product, is the goal. The more exciting and popular a release is, the quicker it will take to sell out. 

Do bots (used by “flipper networks” in many different industries) get all the stock?

No, and stopping bad actors misusing the website to get an advantage over collectors, is something we heavily invest in.

We run automated systems that work in real time before, and during a major release to detect:

• Software bots and automated purchasing tools

• Direct add-to-cart links used to skip the normal buying process

• Multiple and related accounts being used to get around purchase limits

• Other misuse of the website intended to gain an unfair advantage

When these are detected, the order is either stopped before it completes, or cancelled and the stock returned to sale. Usually this is in realtime, but could be up to a day after the general sale while automatic systems recheck if an order was made by a real person, and where necessary, manual reviews are conducted. 

This is automated technology that makes decisions to cancel orders that are deemed against our terms, or misuse the website for an unfair advantage, or potential fraud in some way. We continually see new patterns of how bot networks behave, and update our systems to clear them out - even up to minutes before a release.

Select will not divulge why an order was cancelled if asked, in order to protect our own detection methods and how we know it was not a genuine purchase. Decisions are final and that is to protect collectors. 

There is a very important distinction between a bot and “flipper” or “reseller”. 

Our commitment is we do everything possible to stop any “bot”, or other misuse of the website to have any advantage at checkout over legitimate collectors. 

If a customer makes a “legitimate” order, and then goes on to sell on eBay, facebook, etc; as a”flipper”, that’s their choice and their right to what they do with anything they purchased, and Select cannot and will not interfere with those rights. Some collectors like to buy two boxes, open one, and sell the other to fund buying the cards they want. Some collectors invest in sealed product for the long term. These and other decisions are healthy for collectibles and ultimately the benefit of the Australian hobby market. 

What are the purchase limits?

Limits vary by release, so always read the terms on the product page before you buy.

Two rules apply across every major drop: there's a maximum quantity per person, and only one account per household. According to our systems, accounts sharing an address, IP address or payment method  count as the same buyer. If there are genuinely multiple collectors in the same family / household, let us know in advance about that (best at SCC application time), so we work with collectors to approve and configure accounts with the same address. It's all so a product reaches as many individual collectors as possible.

Why was my order cancelled?

Select reserves the right to cancel an order at any time, and issue a full refund. Often, orders are cancelled when they breach our “User Agreement” or terms published on the product page. The most common reasons are:

• More than the advertised limit, across one or more orders

• Multiple or related accounts - same address, IP address or payment method

• Detected use of bots, automated tools, or any other misuse or unfair use of the website to gain any advantage.

• Failed fraud or payment checks

Importantly, compliance with our terms and conditions don't stop when a product sells out. An order can be cancelled after the sale, at which point we will issue a full refund to the customer. 

Which payment method is best to use?

A credit card saved in your account, with you logged in before the sale opens. 

It's the fastest path through checkout as the transaction doesn’t leave Shopify’s platform. 

External payment methods like Afterpay and PayPal work differently - they take you off-site to process, and each one communicates back to Shopify in its own way. It’s possible a product could be sold out in that time if it’s super popular. Quickest transactions are by saved card, ApplePay, GooglePay, followed by PayPal Express Checkout. AfterPay is often the slowest.

Why was my payment declined or put on hold?

This one is not visible to us and is between the payment processor and your card issuer.. Shopify and the payment processors apply their own fraud checks, and they're deliberately stringent - the same as they would be on any online purchase, anywhere. If they decline a transaction, the order doesn’t make it to our system.

The most common trigger is a mismatch between the card and the order. To avoid it:

• Use a payment method that is your own - not a partner's, parent's or friend's card

• Make sure the billing address on the card matches the shipping address on the order. If they don’t match, the payment processor may decline the translation as part of general online fraud prevention. 

Why can't I change my address after I order?

Orders on major releases cannot be edited after purchase.

Release-day orders move into pre-fulfilment and packing quickly - often before a customer service enquiry can be actioned. By the time a change request is picked up, the order has usually already been processed.

Further, with credit card transactions, the payment processor has approved the transaction based on the addresses provided. 

Check your default address and phone number in your account before the drop. This is the single most common avoidable problem we see.

Why does my tracking show no movement?

On major releases, orders are often labelled and assigned tracking numbers days before the actual shipping date. This is so that all packages are ready to be picked up by each of the carriers on the shipping date. 

That means, your order is marked as shipped and issued tracking when that label is generated, but is not with the carrier yet.

Parcels are picked up on release day by the three carriers. For very large parcel movements, the carriers (Parcel Post, Express Post, and StarTrack Premium) have a special process for getting the parcels into the network.

For example, for release day movements on Express Post, our fulfilment centre loads packages into cages labeled by State. Express Post send a dedicated semi-trailer to take the cages directly to Melbourne Airport facility, instead of our closest major sorting facility  - and could load the cages directly on flights to that destination without needing to scan every parcel. This means that a scan might not appear until those bulk cages reach their destination facility, during the evening or next morning. 

So don't be surprised if your tracking number sits with no ping on it for a few days. It's completely normal and not a sign that anything is wrong. All packages go out at the same time for each carrier.

The earliest a parcel will scan is late evening on the day we release all the orders. 

What if something goes wrong with delivery?

By default, we don't ship major releases to parcel lockers or PO boxes due to payment fraud risk/declines. If a transaction does get approved by the payment processor;

• Parcel Lockers - we will cancel and refund all orders with parcel locker or anonymous mailbox services.
  PO Boxes -we will release the order (on Parcel Post or Express Post only) if the customer has order history with Select and deemed not a fraud risk. If there is no history on that account, the order will be cancelled and refunded. Any order made to a PO box with StarTrack Premium will be cancelled and refunded, or downgraded to Parcel Post if feasible in time, as STP do not deliver to PO Boxes.

Make sure the default address on your account is to your residential address with a correct mobile phone number. Carriers no longer accept parcels without a mobile number. 

Having your address and phone already saved and correct also means the checkout doesn't have to run address validation while you're trying to buy.

If there's a problem with delivery or tracking after dispatch, contact the carrier first. They hold the live information on where a parcel is, so it's much the quickest way to get an answer on anything delayed or missing.

What if I miss out completely?

Our website isn't the only place to get most releases. Check with good hobby card stores to see if they have an allocation. 

Why do breakers get so much hobby/premium stock?

They don’t. Not from Select, anyway.

We do not allow online card shops/ebay stores/breakers wholesale access to our limited card releases. 

The only purely online business we allocate product to is our licence partners (i.e NRLShop.com). Breakers often source their stock off the secondary market, or by offering bounties in advance to collectors.

Collectors collect in different ways, using boxes to trade for specific cards, for example. This is all positive for the overall ecosystem for collecting.

Breakers play a positive part of the hobby ecosystem overall, giving access at a lower price point to collectors. Physical hobby card stores and ambassadors of our licenced product that we supply,  may offer breaks as a secondary channel. 

How do I give myself the best chance for a release that is extremely popular?

Do these before the drop, not during it:

• Log in before the sale opens - don't leave it until stock is live, as a checkout needs to have an active logged in session 

• SINCE LOGIN TO YOUR ACCOUNT IS VIA ONE TIME PASSCODE BY EMAIL, MAKE SURE YOU GET THAT CODE AND LOG IN SUCCESSFULLY. IF YOU AREN’T LOGGED IN AT A CHECKOUT, IT WILL FORCE THIS PROCESS OF LOGGING IN AT THAT TIME AND EMPTY THE CART.. Many factors (beyond our control) affect speed of email. Select in no way has any control over logins and codes. We use the shopify platform and their account / authentication system. 

• Check your saved details at https://myaccount.selectcards.com.au in advance, and make sure your default address has your mobile phone number in the profile. If it doesn’t, the checkout will not allow you to choose a shipping method given carriers now will not accept a parcel without a mobile phone. 

• Save a credit card as your payment method in your account - your own card, with a billing address that matches your shipping address

• Read the product page terms, including the purchase limit and any conditions on separate orders or combined shipping

• Don't give up when the add to cart button changes to SOLD OUT if there is quick sell out. The button could say sold out while the system is still automatically cancelling fraudulent orders and restocking. We will put a message at the top of the product page when that process has finished and all the product is actually sold out. 

• Don't create extra accounts - related accounts are detected and cancelled, and you risk losing the order you would have kept.
  

Our commitment

• To continue to produce innovative, exciting and fun releases for collectors and fans at all levels.

• To grow the hobby and support a healthy ecosystem for growth.

• To encourage new collectors at grass roots.

• To do our best to ensure as many collectors as possible to have the opportunity to access the product, including working with the right retailers.

• To continue to be ahead of the curve when it comes to having terms and processes in place to protect collectors from bad actor networks trying to gain an advantage during online sales.

• To continue to uphold all the values and long term strategy to grow the hobby in ways collectors love and enjoy, as we have done for 35 years. 

• To continually improve our service, communication, and technology products in a dynamic market. 

Watch this space, and we hope you continue to enjoy the hobby in your own ways, and that you enjoy our releases to come. No product is launched unless we are confident it is what the collectors will enjoy, and what is right to grow the hobby.

#CollectSelect