Best practices in packing and shipping your cards
Most collectors have at one point in time sold a card and shipped it. And if they haven't, they certainly have received one in the mail. And the key to keeping it safe is good packing. So what are some of the best practices?
Shipping Plain White Envelope (PWE)
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Shipping a card in a plain white envelope (PWE) is a nice way to send a low dollar card for minimal cost. EBay even offers it for cards under the $20 threshold. While it offers minimal protection for the card, there are ways to mitigate the risk.
One of the best envelopes to use is the A4, sized at 4.25" x 6.25". It's big enough to fit your standard card and there isn't much extra room for the card to flop around inside when it's in transit. The next step is using cardstock paper to brace the inside. Cut a standard 8.5" x 11" sheet of card stock in half and take one piece and fold it in half to a size of 8.5" x 5.5".
Before you stick the cardstock in the envelope, you need to brace the card inside it. After using a penny sleeve, a card saver is a nice option instead of a top loader because it's more likely to make it through the sorting machine at the post office. Whle the card saver is not as rigid, that actually helps. If it bends a little in transit (which is not ideal but sometime unavoidable), the the flexibility itself protects the card. If a top loader is bent, it's more likely to crease and cause serious damage.
From here you can do one of two things. Using painter's tape, put a small piece over the opening of the card saver. Painter's tape is recommended because it holds together for shipping and is easy to remove when unpacking the card. The other option is to take a sleeve made for a graded card and stick the protected card in there.
At this point, use a few small pieces of painter's tape to attach the card to the inside of the folded cardstock. Then slide the cardstock, with the protected card inside, into the A4 envelope. Seal the envelope, address it, stamp it, and stick it in a mail box.
Shipping Bubble Mailer With Tracking (BMWT)
The next level of protection is using a bubble mailer with tracking (BMWT). This method is generally used for cards with values higher than $20, but not exclusively.
With this method you still want to put your penny sleeved card into a top loader or card saver. At this point, given the level of protection that this offers, it boils down to preference between the top loader and card saver. Once the card is in the top loader/card saver, you can again choose to simply tape the opening or use a larger sleeve. If you're shipping more than one card, the recommendation would be to use a graded card sleeve.
Here's where the road branches out from PWE to BMWT. After the card is protected, find two pieces of cardboard, and cut them to just fit in the bubble mailer. Once the cardboard pieces are the right size, using the painter's tape, attach the sleeved and protected card or cards to one piece of the cardboard. Place the other piece of cardboard on the other side so the cards you want to protect are sandwiched in the middle. Take a larger piece of painter's tape and attach all the lose pieces together.
Once your cards are protected and locked together, simply take them and slide them into the bubble mailer. Bubble mailers come with their own adhesive seal, but for added protection, take clear packing tape and tape the opening after the adhesive seal has been used.
This method allows you to purchase a shipping label that has tracking information, which is nice to the person receiving the card, especially if it's is one of higher value.
Standard Cardboard Box
Shipping in a standard cardboard box is really the same process as a BMWT, but with added space. Usually meant for shipping high valued cards or card lots, you can still use the standard penny sleeve-toploader/card saver and put that between cardboard planks. But with the extra space, it is good to find either packing peanuts, bubble wrap, or just extra brown packing paper to prevent the card rattling around while in transit.
After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 2008, Cole worked as an advertising copywriter until shifting to print journalism a few years later. Managing three weekly newspapers in the Dakotas, Cole won numerous awards from the North Dakota Newspaper Association including Best of the Dakotas and, their top award, General Excellence. He returned to collecting in 2021 and has since combined his passion for writing with his love of cards. Cole also writes for the Sports Cards Nonsense newsletter and has made guest appearances on multiple sports card collecting podcasts including Sports Cards Nonsense, and the Eephus Baseball Cards Podcast. IG: coleryan411 X: @colebenz