Multiple Cardmarket letters arrived with all cards removed – possible theft within Deutsche Post? Looking for advice.
Hi everyone,
I run a small commercial MTG/Cardmarket business in Germany and we’ve had something pretty concerning happen with our recent shipments. I’m wondering if anyone here has experienced something similar or has advice on what we should do next.
We regularly send trading cards through Deutsche Post. Until now we haven’t had any systematic problems.
Recently, however, we sent out a batch of orders on a Saturday. Every single shipment from that batch appears to have been affected. Several buyers received our actual envelope, but all of the trading cards were missing. Other contents, such as the sheet of paper we include with the order, were still inside.
Initially, we thought this could perhaps have been some bizarre sorting-machine issue or damaged envelopes.
But there are a few things that make us increasingly suspicious:
- We now have at least six affected buyers.
The envelopes themselves are reaching the correct recipients, but the cards are gone.
- In at least one case it was a Großbrief where the cards were securely packed between two sheets of rigid paper/cardboard, with additional packaging/envelope inside.
- The cards were still completely missing when it arrived. It seems extremely unlikely that they could simply have “fallen out” while everything else remained.
All letters from the first affected Saturday batch either did not arrive normally or had their cards missing.
We then sent another batch on a different Saturday. The first buyer from that batch who has reported back has also received the envelope without the cards. We’re currently waiting to hear from the others.
The letters were posted using two different Deutsche Post mailboxes, so it doesn’t appear to be an issue with one particular mailbox.
However, as far as we can tell, both mailboxes feed into the same regional Deutsche Post processing/distribution route/centre.
This makes us wonder whether somebody somewhere in the postal chain is deliberately opening letters that appear to contain trading cards and removing the cards.
Obviously, we don’t want to accuse any particular Deutsche Post employee without evidence. But after this many cases, across two separate batches, it no longer feels like normal lost mail to us.
We’re documenting every affected shipment and asking buyers to photograph the envelopes and remaining contents. We’re also planning to contact Deutsche Post and report the entire pattern as one incident rather than reporting each letter simply as “lost”.
We’re considering filing a police report as well.
Has anyone here experienced something similar with Deutsche Post, especially with trading cards?
And for anyone familiar with the German postal system:
Who would you contact about something like this? Is there a specific Deutsche Post security/investigation department for suspected systematic mail theft/tampering? Would you file a police report at this point?
Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.