How to ship Pokémon cards, sealed product and whole collections

A single card in a sleeve and a toploader can go by USPS First-Class Mail as a letter, but USPS charges a $0.49 nonmachinable surcharge on a rigid letter on top of the $0.82 one-ounce stamp. A letter has no tracking, and USPS Tracking cannot be added to one. Anything that needs tracking or insurance, or a rigid piece over a quarter inch thick, goes as a package, where USPS Ground Advantage includes $100 of insurance and starts at $8.40 at a Post Office.

Every USPS price and fee in this guide was read on USPS's own pages on October 15, 2026; the other figures come from TCGplayer's seller blog and UPS's terms, read the same day. USPS package prices on that day were its temporary holiday prices, in force from October 4, 2026 to January 17, 2027, so the package figures below are higher than they are the rest of the year. The rest of this guide covers which USPS shape a card mailer falls into, how a single is packed, what TCGplayer asks of its sellers, packing sealed product, sending a whole collection, and what a claim needs.

Letter, flat or parcel

USPS prices mail by its shape: letter, flat or parcel, with a surcharge on a letter its machines cannot sort.

• Letter. At most 11-1/2 by 6-1/8 inches, a quarter inch thick and 3.5 ounces. The one-ounce price was $0.82 from July 12, 2026, and each additional ounce $0.29.
• Nonmachinable letter. USPS's mail manual lists what makes a letter nonmachinable: among others, one that "is too rigid" to bend around its sorting belts, or one whose contents make its thickness uneven. USPS's letters page names rigid envelopes among those that cost $0.49 more. Such a letter is still a letter and still mailable; it pays the $0.49 surcharge on top of postage.
• Flat and parcel. A piece over a quarter inch thick is no longer a letter but a flat (a large envelope), up to three quarters of an inch thick. A flat must be flexible, and a rigid flat is charged as a parcel, at Ground Advantage prices.

USPS's own letters page also says not to put "hard plastic card cases" loose in unpadded paper envelopes, and for rigid items or things that should not bend it recommends a padded envelope or small box, sent as a package.

First-Class letters carry no tracking. USPS states that tracking is not available for First-Class Mail items, and its mail manual excludes letters and flats from USPS Tracking. A letter gets a mailing record only through an extra service such as Certified Mail, $5.55 on October 15, 2026, or Registered Mail.

Packing a single card

TCGplayer's seller blog describes the usual order for a single: the card in a sleeve, then a toploader or similar holder, then a bubble mailer or a secure envelope. The sleeves guide gives the sizes of each kind of sleeve, and the toploader guide explains why a Pokémon card in a penny sleeve takes a 35pt holder.

For a box of cards going to a grading company, CGC's packing instructions are more detailed: hold the cards between two pieces of cardboard larger than the cards, band them, wrap the bundle in bubble wrap or foam, and pack it in a sturdy cardboard box, not too tightly, with the outside of the box completely sealed with packing tape. CGC's page does not mention a box inside a box.

What TCGplayer asks of its sellers

TCGplayer's help center returned an error to the research for this guide, so the figures here come from TCGplayer's seller blog, where TCGplayer states its own thresholds.

• In June 2025 the blog said its shipping guidelines require tracking on any order over $49.99 and signature confirmation on any order over $250.
• An August 17, 2026 post repeated that orders over $49.99 need tracking through an approved shipping partner to be covered, and added coverage for untracked orders of $49.99 and under from US sellers with at least 1,000 lifetime orders.
• A 2021 packing article described plain white envelopes as untracked and taking about 7 to 9 business days, and the August 2026 post said TCGplayer was working on tracking for them.

eBay has its own shipping rules and its own options for sending cards. This guide does not quote them; eBay's seller pages give its terms.

Sealed product

A booster box or an Elite Trainer Box is thicker than three quarters of an inch, so it goes as a parcel. USPS's packaging guidance is plain:

• use strong packaging, with enough room for cushioning so the contents cannot shift;
• close and secure every seam with 2-inch-wide packing tape, not string or twine;
• take care with a reused box, which can be weaker, and cover old labels and barcodes.

The USPS package prices on October 15, 2026, all holiday prices at a Post Office:

The holiday change added $1.00 to every retail Priority Mail flat rate product except the Large Flat Rate Box, which rose $2.10. A Ground Advantage or Priority Mail price depends on weight and distance; the "from" figures are USPS's lowest Post Office prices.

A whole collection

A collection is weight and value at once. BCW states that its 800-count storage box holds up to 700 standard 20pt trading cards or 1,140 gaming cards and measures 15 by 3 by 4-1/8 inches, and that its 3,200-count box holds 3,200 standard cards or 4,800 gaming cards. Ground Advantage takes packages up to 70 pounds.

Extra insurance is priced by declared value. On October 15, 2026, USPS charged $2.80 for up to $50 of declared value, $3.50 up to $100, $4.50 up to $200, $4.55 up to $300, $6.05 up to $400, $7.55 up to $500 and $9.05 up to $600, then $1.50 more for each $100 or part of $100 above $600. USPS sells this insurance up to a maximum coverage of $5,000. An item insured for more than $500 is delivered against a signature without a separate purchase, and Signature Confirmation on its own was $5.15 at a Post Office or $4.15 paid online.

Above that, USPS Registered Mail insures up to $50,000. Its fee is added to postage and rises with the declared value, from $21.50 for up to $100 to $40.50 for $4,000 to $5,000, then $3.10 more for each $1,000 above $5,000.

UPS sets its own ceilings. Its 2025 terms set a maximum declared value of $50,000 per package (up to $70,000 for some domestic Next Day Air packages on a scheduled pickup), lower it to $1,000 for a labelled package left at a third-party retailer or access point, and to $1,000 for one handed to a driver or a Customer Center unless the shipper gets a signed high-value shipment summary, and refuse packages worth more than $500 through a UPS drop box. The 2026 edition could not be read for this guide, and no UPS terms read mention collectibles or trading cards.

FedEx publishes its own declared-value limits in its service guide; this guide could not confirm the US figures and does not quote them.

When something goes wrong

USPS takes a claim for a lost insured item (its chart names Priority Mail with its included insurance) or a lost Registered item from 15 days after mailing, and every domestic claim, lost or damaged, no later than 60 days after the mailing date. It pays the actual value at the time of mailing, nothing for sentimental value, and asks for proof of that value: a sales receipt, a paid invoice or bill of sale, a statement of value from a reputable dealer, or a printout of an online transaction naming the buyer, the seller and the price paid. The sender must also keep evidence that the insured service was bought until the claim is settled.

A card's page on this site shows its TCGplayer market price and price history, which is a record of the market, not a receipt; the claim rules above ask for what was paid.

Where to look on eBay

The buttons below open eBay searches for shipping supplies, in eBay's own order, with no price filter: the site keeps no prices for them.

What changes and what stays

Dated figures: every price, fee and insurance band here is as read on October 15, 2026, and the USPS package prices are holiday prices that end on January 17, 2027. USPS announced that change on August 25, 2026, ahead of its October 4 start. TCGplayer's thresholds are as its blog stated them in 2025 and August 2026, and the UPS figures come from its 2025 terms. The site keeps a record of each figure with its source and the day it was read, so the guide can be checked against them later.

Lasting facts: a rigid letter pays the nonmachinable surcharge, a piece over a quarter inch thick is not a letter, letters carry no tracking, and a USPS claim needs proof of actual value. Those change only if USPS changes its mail standards.

Bottom line

A sleeved card in a toploader can go as a First-Class letter for $0.82, plus the $0.49 nonmachinable surcharge on a rigid letter, untracked. With tracking and $100 of insurance, Ground Advantage started at $8.40 on October 15, 2026, a holiday price. TCGplayer's blog puts tracking on orders over $49.99 and a signature over $250. Sealed product goes in a strong box with cushioning and 2-inch tape. A valuable collection runs into carrier limits: $5,000 of USPS insurance coverage, $50,000 by Registered Mail, and $50,000 per package in UPS's 2025 terms, and a USPS claim needs proof of what was paid.