How to safely ship Pokémon cards for grading (or restoration)

Sending a valuable card in the mail is nerve-wracking, and rightly so: most in-transit damage is caused by weak packing, not the courier. The good news is that protecting a card properly takes five minutes and a few cents of materials. Here's how we recommend doing it.

Start with the card itself

Every card should travel inside two layers of protection:

1. A penny sleeve, a soft plastic sleeve that stops surface scratches.
2. A toploader or semi-rigid holder, a hard shell that stops bending.

Slide the sleeved card into the toploader with the opening facing up. If you want extra security, add a small piece of tape across the top of the toploader, never across the card.

Stop it from bending

A toploader alone can still flex inside a thin envelope. The fix is simple: sandwich the toploader between two pieces of rigid cardboard and tape the bundle together. This is the single most important step for avoiding bent-corner disasters.

For multiple cards, stack them with cardboard between each layer so nothing can shift.

Choose the right outer package

• A rigid or padded (bubble) mailer is the minimum.
• For high-value cards or several cards, use a small box.
• Fill empty space so nothing rattles around.

Always add tracking

Tracking protects both of us. You can see the parcel's journey, and if anything goes wrong there's a record. For higher-value shipments, consider adding insurance.

When you order with us, you'll add your tracking number right on your order page, so we can both follow the parcel to our door.

Shipping graded slabs

If you're sending a graded slab for us to crack, wrap the whole case in bubble wrap, the plastic shell cracks more easily than you'd think, and a cracked case can scuff the card inside.

Quick checklist

• Sleeve + toploader on every card
• Cardboard sandwich to prevent bending
• Rigid or padded outer mailer
• Tracking number added
• Slabs wrapped in bubble wrap

Pack it like this and your cards will reach us exactly as they left you, ready to restore or prepare for grading.