So I have done 30+ trades so far and have now encountered the problem of the mail I sent not arriving.
My question is: Couldn't someone just state that cards never arrived if no one provided tracking?

I think I am just going to start doing tracking on all my trades, but to you people with 100 or 200+ trades who don't do tracking on all of them, how do you deal with this?

From a purely technical standpoint, with no tracking, anyone could claim that your cards never arrived. To this end, much of the trading done on here is done on the honor system. However, as stated in the trading rules section, you'll note that it is recommended that you use tracking if you're ever in doubt as it is the sender's responsibility to get the cards to the other party - with any luck, they'll be upstanding enough to be honest about whether they received them or not (also a good reason to typically deal with people that have existing rep if possible).

Now, speaking from personal experience, you really are just taking a risk. Thankfully every trade I've made has arrived safely, tracking or no, but that's not to say that something couldn't have been lost in the mail. If it's a small trade (say less than $10), most people will send it without tracking with the knowledge that it could be lost and they're just out of luck (such is the price of doing business this way I guess). For anything over say $30, I would say to ALWAYS use tracking as, if nothing else, that covers your rear in the event something gets lost.

Sorry to hear something got lost... but odds are if you maintain clear communication with your trading partner, you'll be able to work something out.

When I was trading frequently, almost every trade went out with tracking (I print shipping labels through PayPal, and delivery confirmation is included). Yes, I even did it for some trades that were less than the cost of the postage (for me, the cost of driving to a local game store would have cost more than postage). I've only shipped via first class mail (without tracking) once or twice; the most value I've ever sent that way was about $3.00. To me, anything higher than that would be shipped in a package with tracking (just because I didn't want to risk having to send the cards again).

The rules for the site make it clear that it is each SENDER's responsibility to ensure delivery. Tracking methods like delivery confirmation provide that, and are relatively cheap (especially if you print your own labels through services like PayPal, which is significantly cheaper than paying for postage and delivery confirmation via the US Postal Service Post Office sites). If you want to protect yourself from the risk of non-delivery (or claims of non-delivery), just use delivery confirmation on each trade.

dave0192 wrote: I think I am just going to start doing tracking on all my trades, but to you people with 100 or 200+ trades who don't do tracking on all of them, how do you deal with this?

If your side never arrives then you find a way to make it up and send out again. You can run the calculation as to whether it is worth paying for DC on everything or if you'd rather use that money to replace cards when your side doesn't show up. Personally, I make that calculation based on the value of the trade in question.

Also, just because your side doesn't show up doesn't mean that the other person is dishonest. Mistakes happen and mail gets lost, damaged or mis-delivered, and sometimes you have to make up for it, even if it isn't your fault. Even if you pay for tracking you can still have your side not arrive or have the DC code not scanned as the item gets delivered. The only way to stay safe is to get insurance on everything in addition to DC, and that adds up even more than just DC.