How to Sell Your Doubles to Swappies (and Get the Best Price)

Updated 27 September 2026 · by the Swappies team

Every collector ends up with doubles - the stickers, cards and minis you opened twice, or three times, or ten. Swappies buys them. This guide explains exactly how selling to us works, how to grade your collectables so the quote holds, and how to pack them so they arrive in the condition you promised.

How it works, step by step

Start a sell list. Go to sell your collectables, pick the collection, and enter the numbers you have.
Grade each item. Choose Mint, Near Mint, Good or Played for every item (more on this below).
Get your quote. We show you an offer for the whole list. The quote is valid for 14 days.
Accept and post. If you are happy, accept the quote, then send the parcel via PAXI or PUDO to the store or locker shown to you. Double-check the destination before you pay for the waybill.
We check the parcel. When it arrives, we match every item against your list and your grades.
You get paid. If everything matches, we pay the amount you accepted.

Grading honestly: what each grade is worth

Your quote is worked out from the condition you give each item. Mint pays the full offer price, and the other grades pay a share of it:

Mint - 100%. Perfect, as if just opened. Stickers still on their backing.
Near Mint - 60%. A tiny corner or edge nick, nothing you notice at a glance.
Good - 40%. Visible wear, soft corners, light creasing.
Played - 10%. Heavy creasing, marks, writing, or it has been stuck down.

Look at each item under a good light, front and back, before you choose. If you are unsure between two grades, pick the lower one. An accurate list is paid faster than a generous one, because nothing needs to be revised. Deliberately grading too high only wastes everyone's time - we may stop buying from an account that does it repeatedly.

What happens if the parcel does not match

If items are missing, are not the numbers listed, or are in worse condition than you graded them, we send you a revised offer with the reason. You can accept it or refuse it. Nothing is paid until you answer, and we will never pay you less than you accepted without asking first. If you refuse, we send your collectables back and you cover the return postage.

Why there is a R100 minimum

You pay the postage to send your parcel to us, and a PAXI or PUDO waybill costs around R49. On a R30 offer, half your money would go on postage. The R100 minimum makes sure a sale is always worth your while. If your list comes to less than that, keep your doubles aside and send them together with the next batch - or add another collection to the same list.

Packing so nothing gets damaged

Until your parcel reaches us and has been checked, it is your risk, and a bent card arrives as a lower grade. A few minutes of careful packing protects your money:

Cards: put each card in a penny sleeve, and valuable ones in a toploader as well. Stack them neatly with the sleeves all facing the same way.
Stickers: keep them on their backing and lay them flat between two pieces of stiff card, taped at the edges so nothing slides out.
Minis: wrap them in a small plastic bag and pad the space around them so they cannot rattle.
Waterproof it: put everything in a sealed plastic bag before it goes into the parcel. Rain and damp are the fastest way to ruin a sticker.
Fill the gaps: use scrunched paper or bubble wrap so the bundle does not move around in the bag or box.
Avoid elastic bands and staples: both dent or pierce the items they touch.

Keep your tracking number and proof of postage until you have been paid. The courier's tracking is what decides where a parcel went, and we cannot trace one without it.

Getting paid: wallet or EFT

You choose how you want to be paid. Payment into your Swappies wallet is free, and you can spend it on the singles you still need. If you would rather have cash, we pay by EFT; there is a small bank charge for this, and it is shown to you before you choose, so there are no surprises.

Tips for the best price

Sell while a set is still popular. Doubles are in demand while other collectors are still filling albums.
Look after them from day one. A double kept flat in a sleeve is worth ten times one kept in a pocket.
Send one bigger parcel. One waybill for all your doubles beats several small ones.
Check what we buy. Browse all our collections to see which sets we carry.

Missing a few?

Browse every checklist we carry and buy exactly the singles you need - delivered anywhere in South Africa.

Browse collections Sell us your doubles