How to Ship Graded Cards

The failure mode for a graded card in the post is specific and predictable: the case takes a corner impact while it has room to move, and it cracks. Every step below exists to stop the slab moving.

1. Sleeve the slab, which prevents surface scuffing even if everything else goes right.
2. Sandwich it between two pieces of rigid cardboard cut larger than the slab, so the corners are not the first thing anything touches.
3. Tape the sandwich closed around the edges, never across the slab face.
4. Wrap the sandwich in bubble wrap, paying attention to the corners.
5. Put it in a box with no room to move, filling voids so the package can be shaken without anything shifting.
6. Ship tracked and insured, with a signature on delivery where offered.

Do not stack slabs directly against each other and band them. Use a slotted slab box so each case is separated, then treat the box as the inner package: wrap it, void-fill the outer carton, and ship that. The slots do the immobilizing work that bubble wrap does badly between flat rigid objects.

• A padded envelope with no rigid protection. The most common way slabs arrive cracked.
• Tape across the case face, which marks it when removed.
• A box with void space. Movement is the whole problem.
• No insurance, which turns a damaged shipment into a total loss.
• No photographs before sealing, which turns a dispute into your word against theirs.

If you are shipping raw cards to a grader rather than slabs to a buyer, the requirements are different — see how to ship cards to PSA.