To post Pokemon cards safely, put each card in a soft sleeve and then a rigid holder, such as a toploader or a semi-rigid card saver, and sandwich the cards between two pieces of stiff cardboard so they cannot bend. Pack that into a padded envelope or a small box with enough padding that nothing can move, and seal it properly. Graded slabs go in a box, each one wrapped on its own.
Then choose the postage by what the cards are worth. Ordinary 1st and 2nd Class post is not tracked. Royal Mail Tracked 24 and Tracked 48 follow the parcel to the door, and Special Delivery Guaranteed adds a signature, a next day guarantee and more compensation cover as standard than the others, so it is the service for valuable cards. Whichever you use, keep the receipt until the cards have arrived.
What you need to post Pokemon cards
- Penny sleeves, the thin soft plastic sleeves that keep the surface of a card clean and free of scratches.
- Toploaders, rigid plastic holders a sleeved card slides into, or semi-rigid holders, often called card savers, which flex slightly and are what graders such as CGC ask for.
- Two pieces of stiff cardboard a little larger than the cards.
- A padded envelope for a few cards, or a small sturdy box for a stack of cards or any slabs.
- Bubble wrap or other padding, and proper parcel tape. eBay's packing advice is to use clear or brown packing tape, and to avoid masking tape, Sellotape-style sticky tape, string and twine.
How to pack raw Pokemon cards
CGC's instructions for shipping cards to its London office are a good model for any parcel of cards, because a grading company needs every card to arrive in the condition it left. Each card goes in a sleeve and then a semi-rigid holder. The stack goes between two pieces of cardboard larger than the cards, held with rubber bands that are not so tight they damage the cards. The bundle then goes into a sturdy box with bubble wrap or other packing material around it, and the box is sealed all the way round with packing tape.
For one or two cards, a padded envelope does the same job on a smaller scale. Sleeve each card, put it in a holder, place the holders between two pieces of cardboard and make sure the bundle cannot slide around inside the envelope. The padding protects against knocks and scuffs, but it will not stop an envelope bending, so the cardboard is what keeps the card flat.
Never send a card loose in an envelope, and never put tape on the card or its sleeve. If the cards are going to a grader, follow that grader's own packing rules to the letter. A grader has to take each card out of its holder without harming it, and PSA's FAQ warns that a parcel that is poorly packed, or packed so the item is hard to get out, may be refused. Where each grader takes UK submissions, and what it charges, differs between PSA and CGC.
How to pack graded slabs
A slab protects the card inside it, but the case itself can crack or scratch, and a scratched case is the first thing the next buyer sees. Wrap each slab in bubble wrap on its own, then pack the slabs snugly into a box with padding on every side, so they cannot move or knock against each other.
eBay's advice on packing sold items holds for any parcel of cards. Choose a box only slightly larger than what goes in it, surround the contents with padding so nothing can move, tape the opening and reinforce the seams and edges, and label it clearly with a return address.
Which Royal Mail service to use for Pokemon cards
The Post Office sets out Royal Mail's UK services side by side, and for cards they fall into three groups.
- 1st and 2nd Class are the cheapest, and they are not tracked. Signed For adds a signature when the item is delivered, so you know who received it, but it does not track the parcel on its way.
- Tracked 24 and Tracked 48 are tracked all the way to the address, with a signature as an option. Tracked 24 is the faster of the two.
- Special Delivery Guaranteed, by 1pm or by 9am, is fully tracked, signed for and photographed on delivery, with guaranteed next day delivery.
Compensation is the part people skip. Each service covers loss or damage only up to a set amount, and Special Delivery includes much more cover than the others, with higher levels available for an extra fee. Check that the cover matches what the cards are worth before you hand the parcel over. Keep the receipt, because its reference number is how you track the parcel and any claim will ask for it, and keep a record of what the cards are worth, such as recent sold prices.
When a card sells through our eBay store, the service we post it with rises with its price. Sales up to £250 normally go by Royal Mail Tracked 48, sales from £250 to £500 by Tracked 24, and sales from £500 by Special Delivery or an equivalent insured service. The buyer pays that postage, and it never comes out of the consignor's payout.
Posting cards you have sold on eBay yourself
If you sell as a private seller in the UK, eBay's Simple Delivery gives you a prepaid label with tracking once an item sells, and eBay covers eligible items against loss or damage in transit with no cover limit, as long as you use that label, post within your handling time and pack the item properly. Eligible items are those with a Buy It Now or starting price of £750 or less, and Simple Delivery can send them with Royal Mail, Evri, InPost or DHL. For trading cards priced £20 or under it is optional, and above that it is the only way a private seller can post them.
Buy your own postage instead and you lose that cover. And eBay's packing advice is plain that sellers are responsible for making sure the item arrives safely.
Posting your cards to us
When you consign with us, these are the steps, in this order.
- Fill in the consignment form before you post anything, so we know your parcel is coming and can match it to you when it arrives. The confirmation email gives you your customer code and our address.
- Put a note inside the parcel with your full name, your email address and your customer code, so the parcel can be matched to you as soon as it is opened.
- Post it with Royal Mail. Our PO Box only accepts parcels delivered by Royal Mail, so a parcel sent with Evri, DPD, Yodel, UPS or another courier may be refused. Use a tracked and insured service, and for higher value consignments we recommend Special Delivery.
- Wait for our email saying your parcel has arrived. Until we confirm it, the parcel is your responsibility. Once it is with us, your cards are insured at our premises against events such as fire and theft.
That insurance does not cover damage that happened before the cards reached us, or damage caused by poor packing. Both exclusions are written into our terms and conditions.
If you are posting from outside the UK, use a postal service that hands the parcel to Royal Mail once it reaches the UK rather than a private courier, and allow for any customs duty or import VAT, which our terms make yours. Our shipping policy has the address for parcels sent from abroad.
Once your cards are with us, we photograph and list them, either in one of our auctions or at a fixed price, and which of the two suits a card depends on how many collectors want it and how clear its price is.
Before you seal the parcel
Take a minute over three things. Photograph the front and back of every card, so you have a record of its condition. Write a list of what is inside and keep a copy. And check the address and postcode against the confirmation email or the recipient's details.
If the parcel is going to a grader, add the cost of tracked postage both ways to your sums, because grading only pays when the graded price beats the raw price by more than the fees and the postage.
Posting Pokemon cards safely, in short
Stop each card bending, stop anything moving inside the parcel, and pay for tracking and cover that match what the cards are worth. On a valuable card, the extra cost of Special Delivery is small beside the value of the card. If your cards are cheap enough that a shop, eBay or a Facebook group would suit them better, that is worth knowing before you pay for postage, and if you would like us to sell them for you, tell Lake Card Store what you have before you post anything and we will come back with the route that suits each card.