Packaging cards for shipment

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Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

Any horror stories about people not having much common sense when they package cards for shipment?

The whole idea behind this thread is to make people aware that they should use a little common sense when shipping cards via USPS, UPS, FedEx (or what ever service)

Here's a couple true stories:

• I purchased a few N162s from a seller in Australia. The cards were shipped in a 50 count plastic box (used for Topps cards). The kicker is that there was NO other material in the plastic box, just the cards. I about crapped my pants when I opened the package and saw this. I could only imagine the corners of the cards becoming more and more round as the package was put through the system.
  
  
• I purchased a PSA graded card recently (from someone on this board) and the person put the encapsulated card into a thin bubble mailer with NO other protection. No stiffners, NOTHING. I received the card and the case was cracked in two places. I mean, cmonnow, do people really think that a plastic card holder can withstand the abuse of the US postal system? I was pretty disappointed. I told the seller about it and all I got was an email stating, "oh no". Rather than make a big deal of it I decided to just accept it. Maybe someday I'll find someone placing a PSA order that will include this card for re-encapsulation. I stopped submitting to PSA a few years back.
  

Does anybody else have any packaging horror stories? I think a little common sense on the part of a person shipping cards would be prudent.

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Posted By: Bob Beyerle

I once put an ad in the old VCBC looking for Lobert cards. Someone sent me a Turkey Red in a 6x9 manila envelope,, AND NOTHING ELSE! I mean the card barely fit into the envelope, he probably creased it just getting it in there! Needless to say, the trip from NY to CALIF. via USPS didn't help matters either. A small note simply stated "if interested please send $350, if not return card". Even though I loved the card it was beat to hell at that point. I returned it (with multiple cardboard surrounds) and said thanks but can't use it at that price/condition. The sad thing is it looked like it was probably a pretty nice card before it's 3 day postal journey....

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Posted By: andy becker

i have never had a problem with the stuff i sell. for graded cards, i use a paper towel (wrapped around card and taped) and a bubble mailer. never had a single complaint. did have a couple feedbacks that praised me for my home-made slab holder
for raw cards, put in penny sleeve....then toploader....then surround by four other toploaders....then put in a taped "team bag".
again, never an issue.
now watch, i probably just jinxed myself....

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Posted By: Anonymous

Generally I post raw cards in a top loader, then 3mm foamcore board on either side (taped together), then place it into a bubble envelope. Some of my feedback has noted "well packed" which is pretty good I guess

The ones I hate are when you buy multiple cards and some sellers cram so many of them into a single top loader in order to save themselves a few cents. I've had cards which I could hardly get out of the top loader, so it amazes me how they got in there !

I've also received cards dropped into the envelope inside a folded up in a piece of A4 photocopy paper (as in three folds like a letter). Obviously some people think that the mail is sorted carefully by hand, and laid perfectly flat...

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Posted By: Anonymous

Yeah well just a couple months ago after being up way too long i taped a card to ship out to cardboard and the cardboard already had another card inside of it. So whoever ended up with it ended up with the card they won and a NM Berk Ross HOFer too. Either that or i threw it away on accident, so hopefully someones got it lol.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Bob- I had the same exact experience as you many years ago with a Turkey Red- but it was a Mathewson!! Collector just slid it into a manilla envelope and when it arrived it was cracked in half. I remember getting on the phone and screaming at him for being so stupid.

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Posted By: Dave Hornish

The "threefold" method works well for low valued cards that are already hurt; it's been an OBC staple for years!

With anything of value or breakable, like a slab, and especially if I am paying five or six bucks for shipping, i would expect layering of bubble wrap or something similar and a stiffener, all taped together but something that can be sliced open by the recipient. Sometimes I get cards in packaging so tightly taped I worry about damage during unpacking.

When I ship, I usually try to enclose the item in a nest of shock absorbent material on all sides, top and bottom,at least if the item warrants it. I used to auction off old records on eBay and I built the price of extra packaging into the shipping cost and used this method. I shipped stuff all over the world and never had a problem but it took money and effort. If I buy a valuable card I don't mind paying a few extra bucks to have it arrive unscathed. I do mind paying four bucks and having a loose card in an envelope show up (happens a lot).

Dave

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Posted By: Joe D.

1) I put the card into a self-seal bubble-wrap bag. (perfect size for graded cards).

2) I then take the bubble-wrapped card- and put it into another self-seal bubble-wrap bag.
Yep. double bubble.

3) I then place the card between two pieces of cardboard stiffener and tape shut.

4) I then take the cardboard stiffenered, double bubble wrapped card and place it in a bubble-wrapped shipping envelope.

5) oh, and then I always ship with insurance.


I've done this for $10 cards or high priced cards. Doesn't matter.

Mostly because I don't want threads like this started about me

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Posted By: Tony Andrea

I package mine in about 3" inches thick of cardboard and bubble wrap. You could run a tank over mine and it wouldnt matter. Better safe than sorry. Anyone thats ever bought from me on the board knows what Im talking about.

Tony Andrea

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Posted By: Tom Boblitt

Who use corrugated cardboard but put it inside of a bubble envelope and the cardboard is cut such that it doesn't really hold up.....that is if the envelope is moved the wrong way, the cardboard folds easier than if it was cut the other way. Don't know if this makes sense or not but I've had 2-3 cards mangled due to that one.

I also love the people that take like 10 tobacco cards, put them all back to back and put them in some type of glad baggie and then feel the need to put about 30 rounds of packing tape on them. So....opening them is a REAL joy....

I also like the N cards LOOSE floating around inside a bubble envelope. I think some people think that since its a flat piece, it'll be okay....

Also....nothing against our friends in the UK but they put a couple of n cards between a couple pieces of mattboard, EXACTLY THE SAME SIZE as the cards and then scotch tape around the 4 sides......a challenge to say the least....

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Posted By: Steve f

What's the big deal, As long as you ensure the clerk stamps DO NOT BEND on both sides of the mailer you're golden. Oh, make certain the ink is red.

*Barry, Which episode?

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Posted By: barrysloate

Newman wants his transfer to Hawaii, and Jerry offers to take over his mail route

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Posted By: leon

When I bought my group of (8) E94 overprints I got them all in one penny sleeve, one on top of the other, loose...Since they weren't in great condition it didn't matter much but I think at least one penny sleeve each would have been a little better....

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Posted By: Adam J. Baxter

I usually put the card in a top loader, tape it closed, tape it to piece of cardboard and then tape on another piece of cardboard. Then I pack it in a padded bubble mailer. I tend to go nuts with the tape, but I've never received an email from anyone about a damaged card yet.

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Posted By: Bill K

No horror stories, but I have received a few cards in penny sleeves sitting loosely in a security envelope. I send out all cards (graded or ungraded) sandwiched between cardboard and in a bubble envelope. Have yet to get a complaint.

Bill

My personal collection - http://s47.photobucket.com/albums/f176/fkm_bky/

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Posted By: Ed McCollum

I once bid on and won a card on eBay that "would be shipped in a plastic holder". When it arrived, it was a t206 floating around in a ziplock bag in a #10 envelope. No padding, cardboard, anything. Good thing I only buy beaters....

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

On more than one occasion I have received raw cards, floating around freely in a plain white #10 envelope.

When I pack up cards, raw or graded, I sandwich the card between two pieces of corrugated cardboard and rubber band them together. I try not to use tape, as tape near cards scares me, and is a pain in the neck to unwrap. I damaged a card once, trying to pry it loose from all the tape the seller used, so from that point on I try and use rubber bands wherever possible.

Then I wrap the cardboard sandwich in bubble wrap, and rubber band THAT together.

Then I put the whole package in a bubble mailer, seal it up, and tape the top edge of the envelope. Easy to unwrap, yet very protective.


If the package is a high-dollar package, instead of putting the bubble-wrapped cardboard sandwich in a jiffy mailer, I put it in a corrugated box, lined with bubble wrap, craft paper, and sometimes packing peanuts. Then I tape the whole thing shut.


For oversized items like cabinet cards or R303s, I generally put them in a semi-rigid holder and then sandwich it inbetween multiple pieces of cardboard, then stuff the whole shebang into a UPS letter envelope.

-Al

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Posted By: S Gross

My biggest pet-peeve in shipping is TAPE.

I have received packages that had enough tape wrapped around them it could have kept the Titanic afloat !!!

Then you pull and tug, and hope you're not bending the card. Or you give up and pull out the razor blade, and hope you don't cut something, like the card or your wrists.

I once dis-entombed a card from such a taped package. I thought I was free and clear of all stickiness. I pulled the card out of the sleeve, and it caught on a small, unseen piece of tape, and pulled of a nice chunk of the back -- man was I a unhappy camper.

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Posted By: barrysloate

I too have gotten packages that are simply too well packed, and I'm afraid that when I use my razor knife to cut the tape I will damage something inside that I haven't located yet. With these you can't even find the seam on the box. Some packages are way overpacked. There needs to be a happy medium- you want them secure, but easy to open.

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Posted By: Gene Palmer

All the good packaging methods have pretty much been listed above, but one thing I like to do is when taping a card inside a top loader or when taping top loaders together is to bend the end of the tape back against itself to create a tab. Works with any type of tape you use and it sure makes it easier to get the tape off. I generally use masking tape because it comes off clean but still has the strength to hold. Of course none of this applies to packages that are taped enough to keep the Titanic afloat lol. Just loved that line.

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Posted By: Joann

I personally like the way Trae packages cards - with sets of his T206 back reprints sometimes! Thanks Trae - what a nice surprise. The PSA 2 Griffith portrait will hit the RPU thread as soon as me, my scanner and an internet connection are all in the same room at the same time!

Joann

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Posted By: Anonymous

i think there's a balance between 'outstanding packaging' and 'overpackaging'. i've gotten cards (raw/graded) that are so 'overpackaged'. e.g., 1x i got a psa card shipped in a huge priority mail box- bigger than the $8.10 flat rate box. it had about 20 pounds of packing peanuts, was placed in 3 different sized envelopes (each of which were taped galore), had about 3 different layers of bubble wrap, cardboard, etc. it took far too long to 'find' the card under all that. i've also had my share of plain white envelopes, overtaped toploaders, etc.

personally i pack raw cards in a pennysleeve, toploader, teambag and either cover them w/cardboard or the shipping invoice...and of course padded envelopes. so far, no damaged cards. graded cards are placed in teambags and usually surrounded by bubble wrap and/or cardboard. again, no damaged cards.

what really irks me about shipping are those who gouge and ship slowly.