What is best way to ship a graded card? Shipped a card and slab was cracked when received by seller.

[ejravn]

I recently shipped a graded PSA 8 card to a seller. I had it in a snug bubble mailer. Then put that inside of another bubble mailer. Then had a fragile sticker on both sides. Felt like it was secure, but it had a vertical crack on the front and back when the buyer received it. Didn't see any visible damage to the package.

Also, is it possible some scammers would intentionally crack slabs so they could get a refund. If so, how could i protect myself from this going forward. The buyer i dealt with had 100% good feedback so that was probably not the case in my situation.

[jonathanbrightlight]

I wouldn't ship anything like that without at least sandwiching it in cardboard.  I know it might be too much additional expense to put that in a box (though if it's a valuable card it would be well worth it), but cardboard at least provides some rigidity.

[tarotfindsandmore]

I second the sandwich approach.  The easiest way that I've found is to cut a couple of pieces of corrugated cardboard from the box flaps of a regular old shipping box, like the ones that you might get from Amazon.  Cut them so they're the same dimensions as the card, or an eighth to a quarter inch larger all around, then use a small piece of tape to secure each side.  It's very similar to the way you would pack a print, a comic, or a record...just on a tiny scale.  Once the card/cardboard sandwich is nice and secure, wrap it all in a piece of bubble wrap and pop it in either a bubble mailer or a cardboard photo mailer (if it's not too thick).

[1786davycrockett]

@ejravn 

Bubble mailers (even doubled up) are NO protection against the bangs and slams and crunches and falls experienced by most USPS packages.

If the card has any significant value, sandwich the protected card between a sturdy cardboard sandwich, and consider using a heavier and thicker photo mailer.

A little extra $$$ spent on security equals fewer buyer complaints.

[bdmh-enterprises]

The bubbles in a mailer are the absolute cheapest bubbles available. Probably had a solid box land on it. BTW fragile stickers are basically meaningless, I don't think you can even pay for special handling anymore.

Personally I would wrap it in 3 layers of quality bubbles and maybe even sandwich that in cardboard then into a mailer. I would also use a box for anything over like $100, for customer perception if nothing else.

Only reason I can see to purposefully crack the slab would be if they planned to try for a regrade anyways and wanted to fish for a partial refund.

I believe PSA will reslab for a smaller fee than grading if the card is unaffected by the crack.

[worldcoinauctions]

On a valuable card I will wrap it in bubble wrap then put that in a bubble mailer, so about an inch of bubble wrap all around it. If it was more than $100 I'd consider a small flat rate box.

[simba6]

Envelopes padded or not,  offer little protection.  A box is always far better.

[tools*]

I would ship it in a box.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

I ship mostly in stay flat mailers like

https://www.ebay.com/itm/256469175117?itmmeta=01JPX4AWQC4AC60ZM3E7SFGWS0&hash=item3bb6c10b4d:g:yJ8AA...

[inhawaii]

You shipped a card in a bubble mailer?

Never ship a ridgid item in a non-ridged package.

[buyselljack2016]

For less than 50 cents more the $12 card could have gone in a box or hollow center layers of cardboard.

[ejravn]

Thanks! I will include a cardboard sandwich in my shipping process going forward. Thanks for taking time to respond.

[ejravn]

Thanks! Will plan including cardboard going forward.

[ejravn]

Yep. Will use sturdy boxes going forward. Lesson learned. Thanks!

[ejravn]

Thanks! I'll use boxes for sure going forward. Lesson learned.