Part of the fun collecting Pokémon cards has been and will always be trading them. I personally remember doing it as a kid and being pumped to get new cards to show off and make trades with. And nowadays? Shipping Pokémon cards is almost a necessity to level up your collection.
Even as an adult, part of the fun has continued to be buying, selling, and trading to level up the collection. The selling process though is a whole different game.
Knowing how to properly ship your cards can make a world of difference for you and the people you sell to. Having any claims, damages, or other issues can quickly turn into a major headache.
Shipping effectively can also ensure that you have a good online presence. Making sure that you are a trusted seller can continue to get you more and more business!
This article is going to dive into all of the best ways to ship Pokémon cards. I’ll give you options for doing it cheaply, shipping expensive cards, shipping a lot of cards, and even shipping a full binder and more!
Let’s get to it!
Pokémon Card Shipping Materials
Shipping Pokémon cards or any cards for that matter require them to be protected appropriately. I actually have another article on protecting Pokémon cards which covers a good amount of the process when preparing to ship also.
We will cover them again here briefly but feel free to check out that article if you want to dive into it more.
Let’s start with some of the absolute must-haves.
The Basics of Pokémon Card Shipping Materials
We will cover three different parts of shipping below. We will cover basic protection, additional protective measures, and then the “container” that the cards will be shipped in. My recommendation for what to use below will vary based on where you are sending them, how many you are sending, and what the overall value is of the card(s).
Ultimately though, having one item from each of these three sections will make sure your cards are protected effectively! I’ll recommend one additional item for graded cards. For now though, expect to grab some of the below items before shipping out your cards.
Penny Sleeves
Penny sleeves are an absolute necessity when shipping cards. They are the first layer of defense against scratching and other damage and are fortunately not going to break the bank to purchase.
In case you aren’t aware, a penny sleeve is a light plastic casing that you can fit your cards into. They can come in “perfect fit” sizes and other standard sizes. Perfect fit leaves no room for the card to move while most others leave some extra room around the sides and top for safe keeping.
The most cautious of shippers will double sleeve with both a perfect fit as well as a standard sleeve, but we will cover this more later.
Regardless of if you are holding cards in a binder or preparing to send them out, penny sleeves are an absolute necessity.
Top Loaders, Card Savers, or Cardboard
The next protective measure when shipping Pokémon cards is one of the three following things. A top loader, a card saver, or good old basic cardboard.
Each of these items can be used to safely hold a card in a penny sleeve. A penny sleeve by itself will protect from light scratches, but will not protect from bending or other dents.
That’s where these next three items come in. They offer superior protection even throughout the shipping process and won’t break the bank. Let’s do a quick overview of them.
Top Loader
The top loader is really the ultimate protection in most situations. It fits a single card (sometimes more) almost perfectly contains it in a firm, rigid case. Because of this, top loaders should be used in almost every shipping situation.
They are the most rigid of the three and offer better standalone protection next to any other item.
The main downside to a top loader is that Pokémon cards can sometimes be hard to get in and out of them. This means that a top loader can scratch or damage a card if you don’t have the right ones. The thickness of the penny sleeve can also play a role in the fit.
PSA that a penny sleeve should always be used before putting a Pokémon card into a top loader.
Outside of that downside, top loaders will be one of your best friends when shipping cards.
Card Saver
The card saver, while similar to a top loader, is not nearly as rigid. It will still protect from scratching and dropping, but it can bend much more than a top loader will.
The fact that the card is easier to get in and out is why grading companies prefer these over top loaders. For nice cards in really good condition, a card saver might be preferred by your buyer as well.
Because it’s semi rigid though, you may need another layer of protection. Depending on how you package, our next item might be a necessity along with it.
Cardboard
Don’t have the other two above and want to ship something out? Cardboard to the rescuse.
Cardboard can be a cheap and easy option that can be both rigid and protective! It can also offer reasonably good protection if you don’t have the other two lying around.
The main downside of cardboard is that it’s not specifically designed to hold cards. Because of that, you will likely have to do a lot of cutting. On top of that, it’s not always smooth and won’t offer the best protection. Outside of that though, its cheapness and availability might make it your best option.
Bubble Wrap
While the above items will get you shipping most items, bubble wrap is definitely a useful item in a lot of situations. It can and will essentially fill in where cardboard can’t, or can just replace cardboard altogether.
We will cover particular situations that may require bubble wrap that I will call out below.
Once you have a penny sleeve and one of these items, you are ready to put it into it’s final container before shipping!
PWE (Plain White Envelope), Bubble Mailer, or a Box
No matter what and how much you are actually shipping, a PWE (plain white envelope), a bubble mailer, or a cardboard box will have you covered.
Let’s do a quick run-down of when to use each of these.
- PWE (Plain White Envelope) – This is the cheapest way to ship single cards. There isn’t much protection with this method but it requires very little cost and materials.
- Bubble Mailer – Offers slightly more protection and allows for quite a few more cards to be shipped. A 4×8 bubble mailer with some additional bubble wrap will hold a large quantity of cards and can fit a graded card as well. The 6×10 bubble mailer will give even more additional space if needed.
- Cardboard Box – Comes in a large number of sizes and can safely transport hundreds of cards, graded cards, binders, and any other variation of this. Is the most versatile but will be the most expensive of the three because of its size.
Now that we’ve covered a quick overview of the items, lets get into some particular examples of when to use each of these items.
Pokémon Card Shipping: How To Best Do It
Now we’ve gotten most of the basic materials out of the way. Let’s give specific examples of when to use each of these and a good way to go about packaging the items up!
Let’s get to it!
Shipping a Cheap Pokémon Card
If you’re shipping a card that doesn’t cost a lot of money, you don’t need to spend a ton of money on shipping materials. Going cheap can also help you maximize your profit and make it easy to get the card packaged up and on the road quickly!
Cheap is relative, so a good rule of thumb is any card up to $20 could go this route. I also say $20 because that’s the amount of insurance coverage you get from a plain white envelope with a stamp.
If we look at the items above again, shipping a cheap card as cheaply as possible will require:
- A penny sleeve
- A top loader or cardboard*
- An envelope
*You will have to make sure the cardboard isn’t too thick when shipping in an envelope. It should be less than 1/4 inch thick total.
If you have cardboard that is lying around that isn’t too thick, then all the better! Simply put the card in a penny sleeve, lightly tape the sleeve to the cardboard, and put it into the envelope! Then slap on a stamp and drop it off with USPS!
If your cardboard is thin enough, then putting it on both sides would be best. One side can suffice but is not recommended.
If you don’t have cardboard lying around, then a top loader is a great next choice. Depending on how many you buy, they should be around and less than .25c per case.
Shipping an Expensive Pokémon Card
A Plain White Envelope is a great shipping method for cheap cards. When you start getting into more expensive cards though, a PWE just won’t cut it.
The first reason is that insurance won’t cover anything over $20. If you want to take that risk, then you can go for it. Most would out to have coverage just in case something happens.
The second is that the protection given by an envelope with a top loader and cardboard is good, but not great. It should get you by most of the time, but when you’re shipping a card worth say $100+, a few extra cents of bubble wrap and otherwise should give you some extra comfort.
Let’s break this down into two sections then.
Shipping a Pokémon Card in Good Condition
Let’s take this 1st Edition Rockets Zapdos as an example. This card goes for around $100 and is in pretty good (but not excellent) condition.
To ship this card out, I would recommend starting it just like I have above. In a penny sleeve inside a top loader. From there, I would simply wrap it in bubble wrap and place it into a bubble mailer to ship out.
Depending on the size of the bubble mailer you have, you may need to use more bubble wrap, or just tape it on the inside to make sure it doesn’t shift around too much in transit.
With this packaging method, it would take a pretty intentional slam with a weight to do any damage to this card. So the usual amount of tossing and dropping that it will take during transit shouldn’t be a problem at all.
The layers of packaging I just explained are below.
Hopefully obviously, the card will be covered completely with bubble wrap and the mailer when complete. You should also tape the top and bottom of the bubble wrap to make sure it can’t fall out. Once you do this then you will be good to ship!
Shipping an Expensive Pokémon Card in Excellent Condition
For a VERY nice Pokémon card or for one that is in very good condition, I would recommend shipping it the below manner. You definitely could still use the above method with a top loader. As mentioned above though, a top loader has the potential to scratch and hurt cards a little more since it is tougher to get cards in and out of them.
If you find that your top loaders are too tight, I would look into both your penny sleeves and top loaders that you are purchasing. If you need a recommendation, my most used are Ultra Pro for both. They offer great protection while fitting cards well without being too small or tight.
All that being said though, there is a reason that grading companies want you to send in cards via the below method, rather than in a top loader.
Let’s look at the card below.
This is a Shining Charizard from the Neo Destiny set. In really nice condition, this card in its ungraded form can go for upwards of $1000.
Because it’s in very good condition, I want to make sure that my handling and the receivers handling of the card is as easy as possible. Most people would want to grade this card, so every little scratch, nick, or otherwise, could hurt the grade of the card overall.
So our process is similar to the top loader process above. Because a Card Saver is less rigid though, we want to use a firm cardboard or other flat material to put the Card Saver in. While that may be enough, one extra wrap of bubble wrap certainly wouldn’t hurt.
Once I have all of this packaged up like it is below, you are good to ship! Hopefully obviously again, once the entire card is covered by each layer shown below.
Shipping a Lot of Pokémon Cards
Let’s say that you sold a small or medium sized stack of cards. to give a reference let’s say that they stack up to be about an inch or two high, maybe a little more.
You may find that putting each one into a top loader is not only tedious, but potentially excessive depending on the value of the cards. That being said, we still want to make sure the cards are protected appropriately.
Let’s look at two scenarios below.
Shipping a Lot of Holographic Pokémon Cards
In this first example, we’re going to use holographic cards that are all worth over $5+ per card. There are a TON of holographic cards in the market. A lot of the newer ones are really only worth .25c or so also. So the $5 value or so is a good gauge on if you should go this route or the one below.
For example, if you’ve got a lot of vintage cards or newer cards that have a bit more value, I would typically recommend going through individually packaging each one into a top loader. There are some top loaders that can hold multiple cards that could work as well, but please do not force anything in that doesn’t fit. So when you’re done, it should look like the below.
There is a few reasons that I recommend this packaging method here. The main reason is we want to avoid any potential scratching, rubbing, bending, and warping with these cards. And if you’ve got a stack of $5+ cards you’re selling, the amount you are making should be worth a little bit of extra packaging cost.
Once you’ve done this, I would simply wrap the stack with bubble wrap or cardboard. Since your cards are protected with the top loader, either layer of extra protection will work.
If you find that your stack is too large to get into your bubble mailer, simply separate the stack into two piles. Then you should be able to fit both of those in a 6×8 bubble mailer.
If they still don’t fit? You may need to move to a box.
Once you’ve done those steps though, you are good to ship!
Shipping a Lot of Inexpensive Pokémon Cards
Now let’s say you have a big stack of Pokémon cards, but individually they are not very expensive. It’s not worth individually packaging every single one into a top loader, but they should still be protected.
In this situation, I would recommend using penny sleeves and top loaders as an outside protective casing! Once again, you can use cardboard as well. Since top loaders are made for cards though, the fit and smoothness of the top loaders make for great packaging.
Depending on the penny sleeves you have, you can actually fit 2-3 cards per sleeve so that they still stay protected. If you can only use 1 per case, that works as well.
Once you have your stack, simply use two top loaders around the outside and wrap them up with bubble wrap!
Shipping a Large Quantity of Pokémon Cards
If you have a VERY large quantity of Pokémon cards that you are selling, then stacking them nicely and putting them into a box is the final move. Making sure they stack well and won’t fall over each-other is the main goal there.
If you have Pokémon card boxes or cases, those will usually work best. Then use as big or small of a box as you need and you can send them out from there!
Shipping a Binder of Pokémon Cards
Fortunately, shipping a binder of cards is fairly easy. Binders are one of the best ways to protect your Pokémon cards, so if you are sending an entire shipment with one, you won’t need much packaging at all.
The only things you need are some bubble wrap and an appropriately sized box. The USPS Flat Rate Box actually fits Pokémon card binders incredibly well. So simply bubble wrap the binder to fill in the additional space, then wrap up the box and put on the label.
From there, you are good to ship it out!
Shipping a Graded Pokémon Card
Graded Pokémon cards are similar, but slightly different in the way you should ship them. Even though the cards are in a hard case, making sure that the case does not get scratched or damaged is the primary goal.
Unfortunately, cracked or damaged slabs are worth far less than the grade they were given. Let’s make sure then that they are protected appropriately.
What I actually like to do first is put the slab in an envelope. The envelope serves to protect the slab from getting scratched or rubbed on. Once it’s inside, I tape the sides down so the slab is securely inside.
After that, it’s pretty similar to the above methods. Use bubble wrap or cardboard to fully cover the slab within the envelope and tape it securely.
Then simply put it into your bubble mailer and ship it out! I find that the 4×8 are a pretty tight squeeze and that the 6×10 give plenty of extra room to wrap it up further. The below are examples of the layers that are used.
Important Pokémon Card Shipping Notes
We covered a lot above. That being said, I want to leave a few very important notes that can save you a lot of potential trouble and heartbreak.
Always Get the Tracking Receipt
This is especially true if you make any direct-to-customer deals. Apps like eBay and Mercari have their own tracking which makes this less important.
That being said, getting a receipt will help you verify that you did send the package and that it now lies in the hands of the carrier. If you don’t have this and have an issue or the receiver says they never got the product, then you have no proof of sending. This means you are the one facing the biggest potential loss.
So long story short? Always get the tracking receipt.
Always Tape the Seams of All Packages
This one comes from personal experience. It doesn’t matter how you ship your cards. A box, a bubble mailer, a plain white envelope, or otherwise.
You should make sure every single seam is taped over. There is sticky substance to help a few of these that should be enough. A lot of the time it’s not worth trusting it though.
In several instances, my packages have mysteriously “opened up” during transit. What ends up getting delivered then is nothing more than the empty package.
Ever since I started taping the seams, this hasn’t happened since. So I highly recommend doing so for all packages.
Summary
Hopefully this article has provided a few useful methods to ship out Pokémon cards! If there are any items or situations I missed, please let me know in the comments section below!
If you would like some ideas on how to go about selling Pokémon cards, check out my article on the best ways to sell Pokémon cards! I’m also always buying so feel free to send me an email at [email protected] with what you have!
Thanks for reading!
Wondering if you should grade your cards? I’ve got you covered here!
Looking to sell your collection? Send me an email at [email protected] and check out my other article!
Wondering if Pokémon cards are a good investment? Look no further!
