At what value would you send out a submission as registered mail vs priority?
 

Trying to get a read on what people generally do. I'm sending off about 20 cards to SGC. As they sit ungraded I can't imagine I spent more that maybe 2k on them. Being kind of paranoid, I tend to prefer going with Registered at a certain value. This would probably be the lowest value I've considered sending Registered. What do you guys do? Trust in Priority with signature confirmation and added insurance?

To me, it's always more about keeping your items safe over dollar value. Registered always wins. Slower, but ultimately always less hassle should any problems arise. No worry about internal USPS mail theft.

I sent a registered package last week value $6700. To me , Id rather wait a little extra time and not worry. And if getting insurance on the package, will save $$ over other shipping tiers. Usually a significant sum.

I wonder statistically just how much safer it is. I would bet it's only a very tiny percentage of regular/priority packages that ever have problems beyond a few days' delay.

A friend of mine sold some cards for $25,000 and sent them insured by registered mail, however the package was lost at a USPS facility. Even though it was insured and he had proof of a bank transfer from his customer his claim was denied twice. Finally on the third attempt he got confirmation that they will be sending a check in the mail. Waiting to see if it actually arrives. Registered mail is not as secure as people believe.

I would buy insurance from Collect Insure and then ship following their rules.

I would go to a show where SGC physically has a booth and hand it to them in person.

Registered or overnight. Insured and double insured via Collectibles policy


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Ouch!
 

Are they sending him the check via Registered Mail? lol

PS I've stopped using Registered as it takes too long. Never lost anything via priority! Knock on wood! :)

This seems like the absolute safest option.

(to me, at least)

I also agree with going to shows, so they drive them back themselves. I think writing sgc or psa on a label is COMICAL. Its like asking for your package to be stolen. At least getting sent back by SGC eliminates half the risk.

People that run auction houses or businesses STOP putting the business name in your address. Get a P.O Box. It's not 1999, thieves look for easy Pickens.

PSA and SGC, should be ashamed that they aren't using some kind of rotating address system to deter thieves. It's incomprehensible.

I'm always hesitant to ship high dollar items with insurance for the actual value. I feel like putting something like $3,000 insurance on a package is akin to putting a target on it. If someone is going to steal anything, might as well be something valuable.

I haven't had any issue shipping with the standard tracking that comes with nominal $100 insurance. Though I hold my breath every time.

For anything up to $10,000, I would just put it in a FedEx box with a dog bone. It's always worked for me. Who would want to steal a dog bone?

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If you use USPS.com you can suppress postage from the label.

I think I've used registered mail twice in my life. Both times were for sales on eBay, of about $25k each. This was before the AG program, and I wanted to have a rock solid level of confidence and insurance.

I did fly to a card show once to personally submit for grading a couple of 1962 Jell-O Complete boxes that cost me ~$50k in total.

But I've also used regular priority mail for submissions that had $50k+ of raw cards in them.

Luckily, I've never had an issue.

And since I never get tired of showing them off, here are those Jello Boxes.

I don't buy insurance from the carrier - I have also heard that shippers will sell you a lot more insurance than they will honor. Plus, even if not printed on the label, it is in their system and might draw some attention. With external insurance like Collect Insure you don't buy any insurance from the carrier, you just ship it at the level required for the amount of coverage you need (signature required, express, etc).

Newman Explains It
 

Always USPS overnight for me. The less time in their hands, the better. Never had a problem. Registered is absurd, IMO.

The holidays may not be typical, but I am on day 15 of waiting for a registered mail from the West.

I don't use registered because it takes forever to deliver the package. Instead, I use overnight because it just gets there much faster. I've had priority take a week to get delivered, and priority packages have gotten lost in the mail also (although very rare). Here are my usual thresholds:

less than $500: First Class
$500 - $20K: Priority
over $20K: Overnight (or registered, I guess)