How to Post Trading Cards Safely in Australia

MV Guides · Selling & postage

A card that arrives bent is a refund, a bad review and an unhappy buyer. Packing it properly takes two minutes and a few cents of supplies. Here's how Australian sellers do it.

Raw cards

1. Penny sleeve first (a thin plastic sleeve).
2. Into a toploader (a rigid plastic holder). For a thicker card, use a thicker toploader.
3. Close the top with a little painter's tape, or put the toploader in a team bag, so the card can't slide out. Never tape the card itself.
4. Tape the toploader to a piece of cardboard slightly bigger than it, so it can't bend.
5. Post it in a bubble mailer, not a plain envelope, unless it's a cheap card sent as an untracked letter.

Graded cards (slabs)

Wrap the slab in bubble wrap and post it in a small, sturdy box, with no room to rattle. Slabs can crack if they're only in a mailer.

Tracked or untracked?

Tracking gives you proof the card was delivered, which protects you if a buyer says it never arrived. For anything worth more than pocket change, use tracked postage. On MVCollect, sellers can only offer cheaper untracked postage for cards under $50, buyers see it clearly before they bid, and a buyer can always switch to tracked postage before paying.

Insurance for valuable cards

Australia Post's Extra Cover lets you insure a parcel for its value. For cards worth more than $500, many sellers use a courier such as Pack & Send with signature on delivery and cover for the item's value.

Take a photo before you seal it

A quick photo or video of the card going into its packaging is your best evidence if anything goes wrong in transit. On MV you can attach it when you mark an order shipped, and it's required for untracked orders, Funko Pops and sealed product.