RipCompass
Price the route your cards will take
Write down the number of cards, their values, whether they are raw or graded, how long you expect to hold them, and whether the final destination is a buyer or your home. Those details can change the bill more than a headline storage rate.
For a card you already own, a useful budget is: inbound postage and insurance + intake charges + ongoing storage/security + withdrawal charges + outbound postage and insurance + any destination charges. For a sale, use the applicable selling and payout charges instead of assuming physical withdrawal. The examples below use published rates checked September 23, 2026; they are calculations, not checkout quotes.
PSA example: a flat fee makes card count important
PSA publishes a $1.99 withdrawal fee per card, with an additional $4.99 per card for withdrawal before 90 days, subject to exceptions. Its published US return shipping price is $5.99 for up to 50 items.
One card withdrawn after the early period therefore costs $7.98 in withdrawal and US shipping: $1.99 + $5.99. Ten cards in one qualifying shipment cost $25.89: (10 × $1.99) + $5.99. Withdrawing those ten cards during the early period would add $49.90, bringing that illustration to $75.79. These totals exclude inbound shipping, taxes and any exception-specific treatment.
Percentage fees make value important
Fanatics Collect publishes a 3% retrieval fee within the first 90 days and 1% after that, plus shipping and insurance. At a $1,000 fee valuation, that is $30 versus $10 before delivery costs. The difference is $20; it is not a quote for the final shipment.
Alt also distinguishes how a card entered the vault. Externally submitted cards have a 3% outtake fee within 90 days and 1% afterward; the later fee has a $100-per-card cap. Cards purchased on Alt have different early-period treatment. Check the valuation basis and acquisition route rather than applying one percentage to every card in the account.
Low-value cards can be expensive to process
A small intake fee can consume a large share of a low-value card’s price. COMC’s published Standard processing rate is $0.65 per raw card with a $65 batch minimum. A qualifying 100-card raw submission reaches that minimum; a smaller batch can still face the minimum charge. Its published Standard intake window is 16 weeks, which is processing rather than delivery time.
COMC also publishes monthly storage charges for qualifying listings and enhanced-security fees for higher asking prices. These depend on listing status and value. Before sending bulk singles, calculate the batch minimum, likely holding period and expected net proceeds, rather than multiplying a sale price by the number of cards.
Selling fees and withdrawal fees solve different problems
Do not add every published fee together as though every customer pays every charge. A card sold within a marketplace may never leave its vault. Conversely, a card sent home may not incur a sale commission. Ask which charges apply to your actual route.
Watch for a second fee when moving sale proceeds out of an account. For example, a hypothetical $100 sale with a 5% sale charge leaves $95. A subsequent 10% cash-out charge on that balance leaves $85.50, not $85. These percentages match COMC’s published fixed-price sale and cash-out model, but processing, storage and any other applicable charges remain separate.
Get a destination-specific quote before committing
For international delivery, record the retrieval charge, carrier service, insurance, declared value and which destination charges are included in the checkout. US, UK and EU delivery should not be treated as one price or one timetable.
Save the quote and the fee schedule date. Recheck early-withdrawal rules when you request shipping, especially if cards entered the vault on different dates. A combined parcel may save postage while leaving every per-card withdrawal charge intact.
About this guide
Educational explanations and illustrative calculations from RipCompass team. Fee examples apply the linked published rates; they are not individual checkout quotes. Operator-specific terms are linked in our reviews.
Published September 23, 2026. Suggest a correction.
Put the details side by side
Explore the card vault comparison or use the vaulted-card shipping checklist.