How to ship cards you sold in a DM

The short version

1. Get the address in one message. Once payment is in, send the buyer the template below.
2. Match it to the payment. Ship to the address that goes with the payment, and keep the DM and the receipt together.
3. Pick envelope or package by what the card is worth and how thick the envelope gets.
4. Print the label. Paste every buyer's address at once and print labels, #10 envelopes or Avery 5160 sheets with your return address.
5. Send tracking in the same DM, with the ship date.

1. Get a clean address

Most wrong labels start with an address typed across three messages. Send this once the money is in:

Thanks! To ship your card, reply with your address, one line each:
Full name
Street address
Apt or unit (if you have one)
City, State ZIP

Copy just their reply. A phone number or an email that comes along with it is skipped when you paste.

2. Match the address to the payment

Before you print, check the name and address against the payment. If you were paid through PayPal goods and services, its seller protection generally expects you to ship to the address on the transaction, so ship there or ask the buyer to fix it first. Check PayPal's own Seller Protection page for the current rules. Whatever app you use, screenshot the DM and the payment together; that is your record if something goes wrong.

3. Envelope or package?

A stamped plain white envelope (PWE) is the cheapest way to send one or two cards, but it has no USPS tracking. A tracked package costs more and gives you scans and proof of delivery.

• Envelope: one card in a penny sleeve and a toploader in a #10 envelope weighs about half an ounce. Letters top out at 3.5 oz and 1/4 inch thick. A toploader can make it rigid, which adds USPS's $0.49 nonmachinable surcharge (how many stamps).
• Package: for a card you couldn't refund without pain, a slab, or a stack that won't lie flat, ship tracked. Buy the postage label wherever you already do (USPS.com, Pirate Ship or similar) and stick our address label on the envelope or slip.

Not sure? The free PWE or tracked picker and the weight calculator do the math.

4. Print every label at once

Collect addresses as the sales come in, then on shipping day open the Paste tab and paste them all in one go. A count shows how many it found, any it can't read are shown with the reason, and you print 4x6 labels, #10 envelopes or Avery 5160 sheets with your return address. Paste Address works on every plan, and each address counts as one label: Free covers 15 a month with no account.

Selling sports cards? The sports card shipping labels page has the same steps with a copy button for the DM message. Group sales on Facebook or Discord: shipping labels for group sales.

5. Send tracking back in the DM

Reply in the thread you sold in: the tracking number, the carrier and the day it shipped. For a PWE, say the day it went in the mail. Keeping the sale, the address and the proof of shipping in one thread saves a long back-and-forth if the buyer asks later.

Questions

Do I need an order file to print labels for DM sales?

No. Paste the buyers' addresses into the Paste tab. It works on every plan, and each pasted address counts as one label: 15 a month on Free, 500 on Base, unlimited on Premium.

Can I put tracking on a stamped envelope?

Not from USPS on a regular stamped letter. If the buyer wants tracking, or the card is worth more than you'd refund without a fight, ship a tracked package instead.

Where do I send the tracking number?

In the same DM thread you sold in, with the ship date, so the sale, the address and the proof of shipping sit in one place.

Selling on TCGplayer too?

Drop TCGplayer's Export Shipping file on TCG Speed Shipper and the same labels come out for your marketplace orders, sorted with packing slips. More: the TCGplayer shipping guide.

TCG Speed Shipper is independent and not affiliated with Instagram, X, Facebook, PayPal or TCGplayer. Platform and payment rules change; check their own pages before you ship.