Need to know how to ship sports cards? You have come to the right place! I have over 1K successful sales of individual sports cards via online marketplaces and I can point you in the right direction for shipping and packing.
This begins a three part segment on shipping sports cards. In this post we will cover the necessary supplies needed to get your cards safely out the door.
When shipping cards there is a lot to consider. I will reiterate this in the future, but the number one rule? Don’t gamble with your shipping! It can lead to returns and additional costs that you, as a seller, cannot take on in an industry with razor thin margins! We will cover the following topics:
- Supplies
- Shipping Services
- Best practices
Part 1 – Supplies
There is an investment in shipping sports cards the right way. It requires the purchase of a few items. These are items you don’t want to skimp on, and done right, shouldn’t be too much of a financial burden over time.
Item #1 – The Bubble Mailer
In the picture above I have included two sizes. I find these cover most of my needs. The large one on the left is a 6×9 and I use this mainly for graded cards or larger lots, depending on what is needed. The one to the right is 4×7 and that is used mainly for single cards or small lots depending on the fit.
Do not skimp on this piece of the packaging. These can be bought through various online retailers like Amazon, Uline, or Ebay. If you buy them in large enough quantities, the price per shipment becomes very manageable. These can cost anywhere between $0.13/each to $0.20/each depending on the amount you buy.
Any card over $20 value should be shipped in a Bubble mailer. As a personal rule of thumb, I ship anything over $10 in a bubble mailer.
Item #2 – Top Loaders & Penny Sleeves
We put these together, as they should always go together. You never insert a barenaked card into a Top Loader. Put a Penny Sleeve on it first. This should actually happen as a part of the pack opening process and subsequent storage for any card of value or future value. So yah, this is more of an initial storage tip before selling, but a definite need for any card of value that is being shipped.
Top Loaders can be acquired in cases of 1000 for around $120 shipped if you look hard enough. That’s $0.12/Top Loader and it’s by far the cheapest way to buy it in lots. Ebay, BCW, and various outlets are places to buy top loaders. I could probably write a whole post on top loaders and the significant brands, etc. They are an essential supply across the hobby.
Penny Sleeves are even cheaper, but oh so important. A naked Top Loader will just scratch up the cards surface among other issues. Sleeve it first! The cost of 100 Penny sleeves usually sits around $0.06/sleeve. Notice in the picture below, the card is in the Penny Sleeve and being inserted into the Top Loader.
Item #3 – Team Bags
Yup, It’s called a team bag, but it really just constitutes one more level of protection. It’s basically a poly bag with a sticky seal at the top. This has a few perks, but mainly it keeps the card in the top loader from sliding out, and protects the card from any outside elements getting in the top loader. I have had team bags save my cards from a rainy day. Use them!
Pretty sure I paid a few cents per bag in the 100 count, and less in bulk. They are also for sale all over the place where you buy card supplies.
Item #4 – Cardboard
Yah, that’s a bit vague, but cardboard is needed. We need something to pack the card in to keep it from bending. The bubble mailer and the Top Loader with Penny Sleeve alone are not going to cut it. This can be a low cost option or you can add a little cost to spruce things up. Sometimes, I just cut up a stiff cardboard box into 2×3 (or slightly larger) pieces. It works and keeps the cards rigid enough. Two pieces with the card sandwiched between the two always works in a pinch.
If you want to go one step further, some enterprising names have taken to creating rigid slabs of material to back cards. Ding Defend & Hobby Armor are such companies. I have used both and I like both. You can read about their product on their sites, each one is a bit different.
Item #5 – Painters Tape
There is only one tape we use, and that is painters tape. If anything needs to be sealed or taped shut, painters tape is the option. Want to anger a buyer? Put scotch tape on the top of a Top Loader to seal it. This is a major hobby faux pas and screams rookie seller! Painters tape is the only tape to use. If you are unsure of what it looks like, it’s the blue stuff (see image below.)
Item #6 – USPS Scale
A scale will help you be a more efficient shipper. Weighing a package in home can cut costs and take some of the pain out of shipping product. Here is my trusty scale, it sits on the corner of my desk, and has been with me for years!
A version of this can be acquired at your local post office or you can go online at usps.com and order one. They cost around $35 and while that seems like a decent size investment, for the seller shipping hundreds of shipments, it comes back in cost saving over going to USPS and shipping direct, especially if you are an eBay seller taking advantage of eBay discounts on shipping.
Having the correct shipment weight is critical. It can keep an ugly “return to sender” issue from cropping up, or even worse, a piece of mail getting lost in the shuffle.
Item #7 – Printer/Label Printer
Well, if you are gonna ship a lot, and you are shipping from home, you are gonna need a label printer. You can use a regular old inkjet printer. It requires a few extra steps, but it may just be enough to get you home. Printing the label and then taping it to the bubble mailer is a fine process, but if you want to shave some time at a bit more of a cost, then grab a label printer like this one. I have the Dymo 4XL, and again, it’s essential to my workflow for shipping. It is a bit pricey, costing just over $250 at most places, but deals can be had if you look around.
So we have our supplies, right? Part 2 will go over the in’s and out’s of assembly and shipping services. Stay tuned!
UPDATE: Part 2 – Shipping Services – can be found here!