Card Security Best Practices for Shipping Valuable Trading Cards

So I have completed quite a few trades on this subreddit, and have seen many ways people send cards, as well as refining my own method of sending them. I have gathered quite a few techniques which I would consider to be best practice. And if any of these aren't feasible for you, I have included alternative methods.

This is not intended to be a call out or anything, it's more of a resource for people to reference.

Packing the card:

Industry standard for shipping single cards is a penny sleeve and a top loader Hard plastic sleeve). This insures the card will stay flat, and unscratched. Penny sleeves are cheep, you can buy a hundred for like a dollar (hence the name), and a pack of 25 top loaders is around 6 bucks.

For multiple cards, you can put around five or six in one penny sleeve, then put them in a semi-rigid sleeve. The amount of cards is usually enough to keep it flat, but if you are worried about it bending, you can tape it to a peace of card board.

With either of these, the sleeve should be taped closed so the cards don't fall out during shipping. I've found blue painters tape works the best for this, as it leaves little to no residue.

If you don't have any of these, you can stick the card in a plastic baggy, and sandwich it between two peaces of card board.

Shipping in a plain white envelope (PWE):

PWE is by far the cheapest shipping method, but it does come with some risks, especially when sending cards. Namely: The Machine.

Pretty much all mail today is sorted by a big machine. Envelopes fly trough it and go around bends at like 60mph (97kph).

With one top loader, or one semi rigid sleeve, things should be fine, but any more than that an you run the risk of a hole getting torn in the envelope and the cards flying out. I almost had this happen to me once. An envelope arrived with a hole in it, but not big enough for the cards to fall out.

The solution: send things as non-machinable. It's more expensive (costing two US forever stamps), and takes longer, since it has to be hand sorted, but imo, it's worth knowing your cards are more likely to get to their destination safely.

To get things sent as non-machinable, you have to take it in to the post office, hand it to the person behind the counter, and request it. They will mark it with a special non-machinable stamp that tells the people at the sorting center not to stick it in the machine.

Thing is, some sorting centers, wont do this, because "hand sorting costs them money." Even though in most instances, the postage is already sufficiently payed, so they're kinda just pocketing the extra. The envelope I mentioned that arrived with a hole in it: yeah, that was marked as non-machinable

So what I've started doing is, even if I'm only sending one card, is taping the top loader to a piece of card board, slightly less than the length of the envelope, so it's stiffer, and less likely to be put in the machine. And make sure it's as thin as possible. If the envelope ends up too thick, you might have to end up paying the price you would for a package, so make sure it's within your country's proper letter dimensions.

If all of this sounds scary, you can always use bubble mailers, but shipping those are more expensive.

That's all I could think of rn, but if you have any questions please ask :3

I appreciate everyone who takes the time to formulate their first hand experiences in as much detail as possible to showcase what products you use to protect your Cardsmiths Cards, specifically Cryptocurrency Series 1 & 2.

I am looking at One-Touch Magnetic Trading Card Holders for special cards I hodl & I am not sure what [PT] I should use.

Currently, I delicately place all Gems I pull in Acid Free Penny Sleeves before feeding that combo into a Semi-Rigid Protector as shown in the photo.

Just looking for users to share their experiences and what "works" snugly & safely for these cards!

Card > Card Sleeve > Toploader/CardSaver > Team Bag > Envelope

This is how I ship and how I prefer to receive cards I buy.

However, most shipping methods are fine with me as long as it’s not taped into oblivion; between cardboard is fine, but give me pull tabs on the tape. Masking or painters tape preferably. Team bags exist and are a few cents each.

Not getting myself fired for that nonsense.

As many of you know, I'm a credit attorney. That means I sue the credit agencies, creditors and collection agencies, for violating federal credit reporting and debt collection laws. I also advice consumers on building credit, addressing negative credit items in general, and handling debt collection lawsuits.

I've written before on Users about how to deal with issues of identity theft, where account(s) are opened, in your name, without your authorization. Identity theft is a serious and increasingly common issue.

However, there's another form of identity theft / fraud which is increasingly common: Where a credit card that belongs to you, is somehow compromised / hacked, and charges are incurred in your name, without your knowledge.

I want to be very clear: Cases where you were charged by a vendor you chose to use, and disagree with the charges, are not what I'm referring to here. Rather, these are situations where someone gained access to your card (often through very sophisitcated means) and ran up charges. Sometimes, your card was stolen and this happened.

Here's the most important thing to know: Thanks to the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA), which is part of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) you enjoy very substantial protections in the first 60 days after fraudulent charges appear in a statement.

As long as you dispute the charges in writing (by mail ideally though online often works), your liability is limited to just $50 (most credit card companeis waive it to $0). The disputed charges must be investigated within 90 days.

The disputed charges cannot be reported on your credit reports, and you don't owe interest or fees on that money, during the investigation period. The credit card company will either decide that you owe the charges, or you don't, in which case they're cancelled and waived.

If they believe that you owe the charges, then it will appear on your credit reports, and you can be charged interest or fees. At this point, if you fail to pay interest on those charges under your minimum payment, you can be marked late. If you disagree with the results of the investigation, you can sue. Under the FCBA, they have to pay your attorney's fees and court costs if you win.

Now, here's a common situation: Someone calls and disputes these charges by phone. That does not trrigger FCBA protections, because it was not in writing. Many credit card companies (almost all) will investigate anyways, but you can't sue if you disagree with the results.

Now, let's say that you did not dispute in writing, or you waited more than 60 days, or some other issue. While you can't make use of the FCBA, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) still applies. The credit agencies and credit card companies cannot report innacurate information, especially once disputed, and that includes a balance which is not owed.

You can file a police report and FTC report, and dispute in writing with the credit agenices. If the charges are verified as correct by the credit agencies and creditor, it's possible you also have an FCRA case against the credit agencies and creditor now as well. That's in addition to the FCBA case.

My suggestion is to check your credit card statements every month, and dispute truly fraudulent charges early on, in writing, with a police report and FTC report. This offers maximum protection if you ever have to take legal action.

Do you all still include your certs on your business cards? Like Jon Doe, PMP, CISSP. I used to but I have been seeing this less now. I'm about to order new cards and was just curious what you thought.

I’ve always used USPS priority first class boxes and never had an issue.

I’ve begun trying to sell my cards on tcg player and so far it’s been going alright, though I am confused about the best practices as a seller. I suppose this is a question for both sides, but I’m more curious about the buyers perspective - what do you want your cards to come in? From top loaders to shipping shields to even semi-rigids, what make you satisfied with the way a seller handles your cards? I’ve seen that top loaders are king and nothing else comes close, I see that shipping shields are the more cost efficient protector that still gets the job done, and even some people swear by semi-rigid containers cause they’re even cheaper, offer protection, and make it through the mailing machine. I’ve even seen people tape cardboard together but I feel like that doesn’t look professional or give the buyer a sense of security. So what’s your preferred method?

Ask the security guard company if their employees are allowed to do this. Otherwise you're putting yourself and the guard in liability.

I'll bet the answer is no.

There’s probably some that would do it for the money. And there’s some that might take the money and just trash the cards.

My personal concern would be possible conflict of interest.

Just dropping in to vouch for OP being an expert card shipper!!

I'm new to the game and was searching for basic tips guide

penny sleeve placed in a top loader with the open side of the sleeve facing the bottom/closed part of the top loader. minimal tape over toploader opening to ensure card does not slide out.

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honestly that's it until you start getting pretty pricey (which I understand is subjective but lets say over $50)

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the cardboard shipping shields have worked good as well but you cannot put as many cards in them properly vs a toploader

so i'm from canada and how i usually pack mine is penny sleeve>toploader>cardboard>greeting card. i'll always apply a "do not bend" sticker on both sides as well. though never knew "non-machineable" was an option! also the reason i include a greeting card is because sometimes if you're unlucky a picky person at the postal service will try to feel up the "lettermail" and as the name suggests, usually you're not supposed to send anything else other than "paper" via lettermail especially across borders. only ever experienced it once where a trade was sent back to me because it didn't qualify for lettermail. trading cards surprisingly is not considered paper. i've been trading within various communities for over a decade and never had any other issues or damages with my method of packing. i just make sure the measurements and weights meet the correct standards and apply the appropriate amount of stamps. also simply dropping it in a mailbox has saved me from too many questions and "suggesting i need to pay for more to ship" at the counter. (had a lady told me my envelope was considered oversized for 7$ but i slapped a 1$ stamp, dropped it in a box and it delivered fine. lol)

so i’m def taking this advice 🙂‍↕️ and if im ever trading with you i know im set LOL, thank you!! i was up last night trying to do research to sell cards too (my pokemon ones) and i was very unsure how to start

That’s what the insurance is for - honestly that’s the best thing to do is ship with USPS or UPS (not fedex who is notorious for opening packages and stealing) , insurance for what you’re comfortable for

Unless you live near a PSA diredt drop off (ie burbank sports cards) but even that has its risk since it’s being handled

USPS overnight (I’m in California so it’s not bad just shipping to LA), insured with signature on delivery

I use shipping shields, with the exception of cards $20+ which get toploaders backed with a shield. Only about 400 sales in but no complaints or reports of damaged cards. If you're using shipping shields, though, be sure to use painter's or masking tape as scotch can be trickier to pull apart. I typically pack 5-6 cards at most into a shield. People say they can fit more but I think it pinches the edges of the cards too much. And in any case I'm seldom shipping more than 5-6 cards at a time.

I also spring for the non-machinable stamps. The extra 40 cents is worth the peace of mind for me. I also use a third-party to track orders over $10. There are a few services that provide this but I use trackletters.com which gets the job done for 20-ish cents a pop.

My packaging & shipping is definitely more expensive and time intensive than a lot of sellers, but the peace of mind is worth a lot. It pushes a lot of smaller transactions out of profitability but I can just buylist those cards. Some folks just grip it and rip it with a toploader, a forever stamp, and a PWE, but that's way too risky for me.

I have roughly 30 NM cards going for 200-600 raw and 5-20k PSA 10. Reading horror stories of high value cards being stolen, misgraded, or lost during shipment gives me more dread than therapy can handle.

Will it be safer if I ask a local card shop or PSA dealer to send them in for me? I was also considering submitting for 3 day returns for when PSA shows up during a local card expo.

I'm an ex passionate collector selling a 10+ year collection, how can I make this process as safe as possible?

I am doing promotion for few events which requires handing out a few thousand business cards with a QR code on them. Would it be at all possible that I can ask a security guard somewhere, for a fee, to hand those out. I wonder if that causes a legality issue.

Edit: my apologies i meant to say security guards