Suggestions on shipping approximately 400 cards
abcoltsfan
Posts: 802 ✭✭✭
I am considering consigning my Desert Shield PSA set to PWCC and was wondering if anyone would offer any suggestions as to how you would ship the cards. I currently have them in two of those 3 row cardboard boxes that holds around 150 psa cards.
I am particularly interested in what type of box would you ship these in both size and type? Also would you leave the cards in the 3 row boxes or ship them in the shipping boxes alone? Lastly what shipping service would you use.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have never come close to shipping something of this size and dollar amount, so looking for any help I can.
Thanks
Aaron
Working on the following sets
1980's and 1990's Topps Baseball BBCE FASC - Cello or Wax Boxes
1952 Bowman US Presidents PSA 7 & up
Pro Football Hall of Fame Indianapolis Colts PSA Registry Set
June 9th Cubs full ticket or stubs - 1981 to 2020
Andre Dawson Topps Basic registry PSA 10's
Mark Grace Topps Basic registry PSA 10's
Comments
You can insure with USPS Registered Mail up to $50K. Its not nearly as expensive as it would seem. Takes a longer time to ship, since its stays under lock and key, but its the best option for highend stuff.
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I would use FedEx for a set like that. I know that the USPS is using more temps as they are buying out the older workers. There was a recent story about some temp USPS workers dumping mail in the woods (Newman!). The system is as only as good as the people. I have had many problems (misdirected mail, lost packages, etc) for about two years since they retired the regular postman.
Do you have any of the PSA shipping boxes. You can fit 19 in each box. You would need about 21 boxes. Wrap each box in bubble wrap and then pack in a box with paper or peanuts. It would be a big box, so you could always split it into two boxes. Recently was part of a group sub that had 318 cards shipped back from PSA. The box weighed about 37 pounds to give you an idea of weight.
This doesn't really apply to your situation since the cards have some real value and you probably want something slightly more secure. But if you need to ship 400 cards (maybe a topps update set), you can fit a 400 ct box in a padded flat rate envelope for $6. That's the cheapest way I have found. You just need to secure the cards in the box so they don't move.
If raw, this would be good, but the OP has 400 slabbed cards. It's gonna take a pretty big box to fit them all.
Thanks for the suggestions. Any thoughts on UPS? I have never used it, but saw on there website that they have a service where they will pack and ship for you all you have to do is bring items to the store. Has anyone used the service? Is it expensive?
Working on the following sets
1980's and 1990's Topps Baseball BBCE FASC - Cello or Wax Boxes
1952 Bowman US Presidents PSA 7 & up
Pro Football Hall of Fame Indianapolis Colts PSA Registry Set
June 9th Cubs full ticket or stubs - 1981 to 2020
Andre Dawson Topps Basic registry PSA 10's
Mark Grace Topps Basic registry PSA 10's
How much are they worth? Would it be easier to drive or fly to Oregon to drop them off? Or may be more cost effective? I sold a psa 10 mj rookie in july for nearly 30k. Instead of taking a chance with the mail, i just bought a swa ticket from dc to vegas...dropped the card off to the buyer...hit the poker table for a few hrs...and flew back home the same day...all for less than the cost to fedex or usps the card....with greater piece of mind...and i got airline rewards and won $75 bucks at caesars. Just a thought. If they are all psa 10s...man..no way i would put that in the mail
Great thoughts but not really an option for me. Carrying all of it through the airport and other locations would make me much more nervous than sending by mail!
Working on the following sets
1980's and 1990's Topps Baseball BBCE FASC - Cello or Wax Boxes
1952 Bowman US Presidents PSA 7 & up
Pro Football Hall of Fame Indianapolis Colts PSA Registry Set
June 9th Cubs full ticket or stubs - 1981 to 2020
Andre Dawson Topps Basic registry PSA 10's
Mark Grace Topps Basic registry PSA 10's
I would pull all of the key/money cards and ship them separately. And then split the remainder of cards into two shipments and pack them together in PSA boxes. Give Brent the headsup what to expect.
Dont skimp on the packing or insurance, and dont expect it to be cheap. Good luck with your consignment
In terms of shipping. An option to keep shipping costs down is to ship using USPS Priority Regional Rate Boxes. These come in different sizes and one of the larger ones would probably fit a good portion of your 400 cards. You can then use another flat rate box to ship the remainder of your cards. The Regional Rate Boxes are available for free from the USPS.com website. You would have to check to see if you could add sufficient amounts of insurance to this shipping option as I don't know the value of your set and the maximum amount of insurance allowed on a Priority package. I would definitely reinforce the box with more cardboard and/or leave a cushion with bubble wrap/peanuts as the cardboard used on the regional rate boxes tend to be flimsier than the stock USPS uses on their regular flat rate boxes. Good luck with whatever you decide.
How did you document the buyer receiving the card? In case he ever denied receiving it.
No documentation required for a direct bank to bank wire transfer. I am not doing paypal for a 5 figure card.
Back to the OP. I don't own 400 graded cards. With that said, can't you just put 400 psa graded cards into two standard two row graded cardboard boxes like columbia sports sells and put them inside a carry on and walk them on the plane? Or make a weekend vacation and take a 2nd person like a wife or friend who can carry-on one box and you the other? Lets assume these are all psa 10s. Per smr a common psa 10 is $25. So assume 400 x 25 = $10,000 worth of cards. Knowing that, I would take a planned weekend vacation and just make a detour along the way to drop them off. Is this less secure than sending them on a 2-3 week adventure via usps registered mail in muliple boxes? There are police everywhere in an airport and who is going to stalk you to rip them off?
In the end, there is a balance you have to assess. Cost vs time vs effort vs security. Various options tip the balance to 1 or 2 of those areas. What are your priorities? Answer that question to yourself and then lean towards options that tip the balance favoring your priorities and accept risk elsewhere. There is always going to be risk present. You just have to mitigate it per your priorities and accept what remains.
I am not trying to stuff the car or plane options down your throat. Rather, just something to consider. These aren't likely $1 cards. Do you live within 1000 miles? If so, I would drive them to pwcc on a 3 day holiday weekend. Or if you live on the east coast, does pwcc attend the national? Wait until next year, coordinate with pwcc prior, attend the national, and drop them off with pwcc there.
Also, it might be good to call pwcc and ask for their opinion. May be they can offer potential solutions since they have great experience in this area?
In the end, please give us all a debrief on how it went so we may all learn from your experience. I hope to one day have your problem of having to consign 400 graded cards from a classic set!
Good luck!