Upper Deck Moving to 45 Day Redemption Fulfillment Program

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Program Will Run Through Preferred Redemption Centers



Carlsbad, CA – (July 20, 2007) – When Upper Deck President and Founder Richard McWilliam stated his goal to have cards redeemed for collectors within 45 days, he meant it. McWilliam announced this seemingly daunting task at the sports card industry’s annual trade conference in Ft. Lauderdale just three months ago. Since then, plans went into place to make this commitment a reality.



In September of 2006, Upper Deck identified and partnered with over 200 direct hobby shops to serve as Preferred Redemption Centers for the company. The goal was to offer enhanced service to these shops for fulfilling redemptions on behalf of their customers. Retailers involved have enjoyed the program as Upper Deck frequently refers collectors to these shops.



Today Upper Deck is proud to announce autograph cards redeemed through these Preferred Redemption Centers will be fulfilled within 45 days. If the card is not available after 45 days, the hobby retailer will receive a message asking if they wish to have the card exchanged. If they choose to have it exchanged for the customer, they can submit a list of what the customer is interested in and a comparable card will be sent out within the week. If they want that particular card, they have the option to continue to wait as well.



“We realize every collector is different,” said Chris Carlin, Hobby Marketing Manager for Upper Deck. “Some people want to move on and get a replacement piece after a few weeks. Other collectors are not so concerned with how long it takes and want us to continue to chase these athletes down until they ultimately sign. We will assist our customers with whichever option they prefer. This is just another way we are enhancing the redemption process to deliver the best customer experience possible.”



The company has made other strides in reducing the total amount of autograph redemptions being released in sets over the last few months as well.



“We have chosen to work more with players we have great relationships with and who we know can get the autograph cards back in a timely fashion,“ said Carlin. “These partnerships with premier athletes have allowed us to enhance content and reduce the amount of redemption cards we have to use. Senior management spends a lot of time looking at ways to reduce the number of redemption cards released in our products. From our President on down, we are dedicated to keeping the number of redemption cards in our products as low as possible. Our ultimate goal is to release every product on time, without redemption cards entirely.”



Upper Deck has also recently added several Canadian hobby shops to the Preferred Redemption Program. For a list of Preferred Redemption Centers in the US and Canada, please visit UD Sports | Redemption | Preferred Redemption Centers.





About Upper Deck

Founded in 1988, Upper Deck is a premier global sports and entertainment-publishing company that delivers a portfolio of relevant, innovative and multi-dimensional product experiences to collectors, sports and entertainment enthusiasts. For information on Upper Deck or its products, visit The Upper Deck Company: Sports Trading Cards, Authentic Memorabilia, Sports Collectibles, & Entertainment Products.