So you’re getting into the card-flipping game…or you’re just looking to sell off that old collection to go buy something fun! You’re thinking of listing on eBay, sending cards in to get graded…or whatever the reason…but you’re wondering how to ship your cards!
In order to ship your trading cards safely, it depends on the value of the card and how many you’re shipping! For cheap cards (under $5), I ship in a top loader, team bag, and a plain white envelope. For more expensive cards, I put in a bubble wrap pouch and then inside a bubble mailer.
But there’s a lot more to it than that…so let’s dive in!
How Do I Ship Trading Cards Safely?
First of all, there are a lot of people in the hobby who are VERY particular about the way their cards come! I know that there are certain things that definitely irk me.
There’s certainly a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it—and obviously the right way to do it is the way that gets the cards there in the best shape! Without overdoing it, of course….
I once had a $5 card sent to me that practically required a blowtorch to get it out of the tape, cardboard, and bubble wrap mess he sent it in. While that’s better than just tossing it in an envelope with no protection, it’s still annoying. So let’s talk about how to split the difference so everyone’s happy.
Shipping Cheaper Cards (<$5)
Here’s what you’re going to need:
- Plain white envelope or small mailing envelope
- Top loader
- Penny sleeve
- Painter’s tape
- Team bag
- 2-4 common cards or 2 old top loaders
I know…sounds like a lot for a cheap card, but let me run through it and you’ll see it’s not that bad! You can buy all those things quickly in bulk, and then you don’t have to worry about it for quite awhile.
The reason I use plain white envelopes is because of eBay’s standard envelope feature. For sending trading cards, coins, postcards, and stamps, you can ship items up to 3 ounces for just over $1. Sweet huh?
I know people are particular, but I think most buyers are happy to have such cheap shipping if they’re purchasing a card for $1. Doesn’t make a lot of sense to pay 3x more than the card is worth for First Class shipping.
If you’re wary of something as cheap as a PWE (plain white envelope – here are the ones I buy), you can buy something a little more “official” looking. It can be anything that’s larger than 3.5 x 5, but smaller than 6.125 x 11.5. Something like this would work.
Now, take your card, and put it in a penny sleeve and then inside a top loader. Here’s are the only ones that I recommend and use!
Then, take a piece of blue painter’s tape and put it over the top of the top loader so the card can’t slide out. DO NOT USE SCOTCH TAPE! That’s the fastest way to irritate a collector! If the card does slide up and stick to the tape, the Scotch tape will ruin it! Plus, pulling it off is a nightmare and will leave icky residue on the top loader. No one wants that!
Painter’s tape comes right off, so that’s the way to go.
Now, you’re going to take your protected card, and put it inside a team bag, with two common cards on each side. Common cards are just the regular ol’ player cards that aren’t worth anything. They’re only going in there to protect the top loader and as added protection to keep the shipped card from getting bent.
Team bags are meant to hold a few cards together, and they’re self-sealing…another big bonus. (I only buy self-sealing stuff—just one of the simple pleasures in life.)
Then, I take a little piece of painter’s tape and tape the team bag with the cards to the inside of the envelope so it won’t move around!
I’ve sent out many cards this way, and I’ve never had a complaint! The best part is that I can ship cheapo cards that otherwise would’ve just sat on my desk and probably would’ve eventually ended up in my commons, to be honest.
Total cost: Around 60-70 cents. So keep that in mind—if you’re selling cards for a buck, it’s not like you’re going to retire soon. I’ll do this mostly to build up by eBay feedback, but I do try to sell mostly cards that are at least a couple bucks.
Again, you might say that’s not great ROI, but if you’re on a tight budget for collecting cards, it makes sense to try to recoup some of what you spent on a box so you can buy things you really want to buy.
With this method, eBay says that you can only ship 2 top-loaded cards, or 15 raw cards. I would never send raw cards this way, so my max is 2 with a few commons to protect them. Anything more gets the treatment below.
Shipping More Expensive Cards ($5-$500)
Here’s what you’ll need for this:
- Bubble pouches
- Bubble mailer
- Penny sleeve, top loader, blue painter’s tape, common cards or old top loaders
I can’t tell you how much I love these bubble pouches:
These are bubble wrap pouches and when shipping more expensive cards, they take the place of a team bag for me. The card goes in a penny sleeve, top loader, and then gets blue painter’s tape, a couple of commons or top loaders on each side, and then in the bubble wrap pouch!
If you’re shipping a graded card, then you just stick it in the bubble wrap pouch, seal it, then put it inside a bubble mailer. (Here are the ones I use)
Pretty simple and your card will arrive there safely (unless it gets run over or something…which I’ve definitely seen).
How to Ship Expensive Cards, Multiple Cards, or Cards to Be Graded
Once you start getting over the $500 range, I send my cards in a box. To be honest, I don’t ever buy boxes for shipping—I get enough in the mail from online shopping or others sending me cards that I just reuse them. There’s just a little more protection, and no one wants to feel like you skimped on packaging for a PSA 10 Kobe rookie.
So, you’ll take the card, put it in a bubble wrap pouch, and then you can even sandwich it in between two pieces of cardboard with blue painter’s tape holding it together. Then put it in the box with more bubble wrap (I also save bubble wrap from other boxes shipped to me), and make sure nothing is going to move. You can even tape the whole thing to the bottom of the box with painter’s tape to be sure.
I do basically this same thing when I’m sending several cards that won’t fit comfortably in a bubble mailer or cards to be graded. I’ll put them together in a bubble wrap pouch (or more than one depending how many cards I’m sending) and then make sure nothing is going to move around.
Also, in cases like these, I’d always make sure you’re purchasing some kind of insurance. When selling expensive cards on eBay, a good idea is to let the buyer know they can choose the shipping method and decide how much insurance they want (same goes for selling on Facebook groups or other websites as well.
Alright…that’s about all I got! Have any other ideas about shipping cards? If you’re sending in bulk, you can read my post about that here. Thanks!