Rookie Question

[Cmvorce]

I’ve never submitted high dollar cards for grading but I am preparing to now. (High dollar for me - 52 Mays, 54 Aaron, 55 Clemente, etc). Packaging these up makes me extremely nervous. Can someone tell me or post pics of how you secure, package, and ship your most valuable cards for submission to PSA and SGC? Thanks in advance.

[joshuanip]

Pay for the insurance. Buy a lot of bubble tape. Make sure the cards don’t wiggle and is snug. And use a small to medium size box labeled delicate all over it.

[Casey2296]

All graders require cards to be in penny sleeves and card saver 1 or 2 holders. I'll put them in a poly bag designed to hold graded cards for extra protection. Stack them in groups of 4, sandwich each group between cardboard, tape all 4 sides of the sandwich snug enough to keep the cards from slipping but not too tight to squeeze the cards. Take the sandwiches and rubber band them together, slip that group into a bubble mailer. Put the bubble mailer into a usps priority hard box and fill any space with paper so nothing moves. Insurance is optional, usps doesn't pay if you have a claim unless you want a fight. I've heard they don't pay on cards but I'm not sure. Get the tracking number, go to the nearest church and light a candle that everything goes well.

Same feeling as putting your underage kid on a plane by themselves to go see a relative across the country. Your faith will be tested until you get them back.

[hcv123]

Place cards in card savers (don't use top loaders). Secure the card savers between 2 pieces of medium to heavy weight cardboard. Wrap cardboard judiciously with bubble wrap. Place in a box in a manner that the wrapped cards cannot shift. Send registered mail insured for full value (up to 50K).

Get in touch if you want to sell when you get them back!

[Directly]

I know a collector who submitted six LeBron RC for grading valued in the $35,000 dollar range. He felt FedEx overnight was the way to go. USPS insurance is iffy they will pay a claim, even then it may take months to settle your claim! I would considerer USPS registered Insured Mail. Its always wise to have a private insurance policy on your cards for extra protection--good luck on your submission!

[hcv123]

Originally Posted by Directly

I know a collector who submitted six LeBron RC for grading valued in the $35,000 dollar range. He felt FedEx overnight was the way to go. USPS insurance is iffy they will pay a claim, even then it may take months to settle your claim! I would considerer USPS registered Insured Mail. Its always wise to have a private insurance policy on your cards for extra protection--good luck on your submission!

DO NOT USE FEDEX !! 1 - they will gladly take your $$ and insure for whatever you want - HOWEVER - in their fine print is a limitation of liability of $1k max for "collectibles". 2 - they have had issues with employees opening boxes and removing contents - it happened recently to a customer of mine who sent me some valuable cards.

Private insurance also a good idea.

[Directly]

Originally Posted by hcv123

DO NOT USE FEDEX !! 1 - they will gladly take your $$ and insure for whatever you want - HOWEVER - in their fine print is a limitation of liability of $1k max for "collectibles". 2 - they have had issues with employees opening boxes and removing contents - it happened recently to a customer of mine who sent me some valuable cards.

Private insurance also a good idea.

I recently had a card missing in transit sent USPS Priority insured, The box arrived empty (card missing), the box was compromised, ripped open. Fortunately I had a private insurance policy covered the loss. Appears both shippers may have issues!

[Cmvorce]

Thanks for all the input, everyone. Very helpful. I’m having a panic attack just thinking about it though.

[68Hawk]

Originally Posted by Cmvorce

Thanks for all the input, everyone. Very helpful. I’m having a panic attack just thinking about it though.

I'd wait for the National or other card show you can get to this year, fly out and have a little fun looking around, leave the cards with the TPG in person.
Too high value from the sound of what you're getting graded to trust a mail service.

[YazFenway08]

All of that input was great. I have received cards from a couple of the veterans that responded and they know what they are talking about...the packing and shipping was top flight.

Chris , you are ahead of the game in terms of your concerns....after decades of using penny sleeves and top loaders I break out in a cold sweat inserting and extracting cards from Card Savers. I know they are best for limiting movement, but damn...