I have only sent cards to SGC in recent years. There were a total of four; one reholder and three 2011 Topps Mike Trout rookies.
I opened the cards in 2011 and soft sleeved/top loaded them right away. It's not like I saw Trout as a future star of epic proportions. All the rookie cards get this treatment when I open packs.
Anyway, I kept them in the soft sleeve/top loader all the way up to the point when I sent them to SGC. Here's the method I used to pack them:
- New Ultra-Pro soft sleeve
- Sleeve into a new Ultra-Pro 3x4 top loader
- Top loader into a graded card sleeve (opening of the top loader flush against bottom of the graded card sleeve, so it cannot inadvertently slide out)
- Fill rest of the graded card sleeve with empty top loaders (a total of 10 top loaders will fit nicely)
- Seal the graded card sleeve and encase in bubble wrap
- Put the bubble wrapped package inside a small box, labeled "RAW CARDS INSIDE" (make sure contents cannot move during shipment)
- Pack this box inside a larger box, well-protected with packing peanuts to prevent the contents from moving during shipment
Again, this is what I did for a few cards a little over a year ago. No guarantees this will work in any particular circumstance. From what I understand, grading companies prefer items be shipped in CardSavers.
However, the cards came back 9, 9.5, and 9.5 - which is slightly higher than I would have graded them. I'm a harsh grader, though. Point being, they made it to SGC in the same condition as I sent them.