A storage box has no identity. White 800ct boxes look identical from six feet away, so when one comes back from a show with a trade in it, nothing on the outside says which one it was. A number on the end of the box is the cheap part of that fix — the numbering is a prefix and a start number you type into the builder, and the Serial Seals™ arrive already counting up.
What a Serial Seal™ on a box is for
Identity, first and mostly. Box SHOW-0014 is box SHOW-0014, it says so on the end, and you can read it across a table. No other box in your order carries that number.
Placement follows from that. A storage box is two pieces — a tray and a lid that telescopes over it on friction alone — so a seal set across the lid line sits on both pieces at once. The number ends up where you look when you go to open the box.
It is not a lock. The lid comes off. Everything below is about making the number worth something, because the number is the product.
The box family, and why one Serial Seal™ covers all of it
Published exteriors for the common BCW family:
| Box | Exterior (W x H x D) | Interior |
|---|---|---|
| 100ct | 3-3/8" x 3" x 4-1/8" | 2-1/2" x 2-3/4" x 3-3/4" |
| 400ct | 7-7/8" x 3" x 4-1/8" | 7" x 2-3/4" x 3-3/4" |
| 800ct | 15" x 3" x 4-1/8" | 14-1/8" x 2-3/4" x 3-3/4" |
| 3200ct monster | approx 15-5/8" x 13-1/4" x 4" | 14" x 12-3/4" x 3-3/4" |
Read the first three rows again. The 100ct, 400ct and 800ct share an identical 3" height and 4-1/8" depth — only the length changes. One seal spec covers the whole shelf because you are working on the same 3"-tall band every time.
Other counts exist. Those four are the ones whose exteriors we could confirm, so if you are holding a 330ct, measure the height yourself before you work out coverage. Only the percentages change.
Where the Serial Seal™ goes
Use a SINGLE, not a FOLD, and run it vertically.
A fold wraps an edge. The lid line is not an edge, it is a step — the lid wall stands proud of the base wall by the thickness of the corrugated — so there is nothing to wrap around. (Where you do wrap an edge, landing per face is (1.77 - T) / 2 for an edge of thickness T. Boxes never use it; the full set is in where to put a seal on every card format.)
Placement: on a side face, running up and down, centred on the lid's lower edge. That puts a little under half the 1.77" on the lid and a little under half on the base, since bridging the step eats some of it. Press that bridge down hard. In our own handling it is the seal spanning a step that lifts a corner first, and the fix is your thumb, not a second seal.
Against the 3" exterior height of a 100ct, 400ct or 800ct, 1.77" is 59% of the box height — a large, obvious mark, which on a shelf of identical white boxes is exactly what you want. On a 4"-tall monster box it is 44%. Across the face, the 0.75" width covers 18% of the 4-1/8" short end on any of the three, against 5% of an 800ct's 15" long face. Use the short end. It is the face that points out at you on a shelf, and the one you read when you count.
One Serial Seal™, or one on each end
A telescoping lid sealed on one side lifts freely from the other. If all you want is the number, one is enough. If you want the number sitting across the lid line at both ends, use two.
Two seals means two numbers, because no two seals in your order carry the same number, whichever numbering you picked in the builder. Log both against that box or your count drifts.
Step by step
- Pick your numbering in the builder — a prefix and a starting number if you want the shelf to read in order, or an unordered run if you would rather the numbers not imply a count. Use one prefix per purpose: SHOW for the table boxes, INV for the shelf.
- Decide what one number means before you stick anything down. One per box end is the simplest scheme; two ends means two numbers per box.
- Wipe the face with a dry cloth. Kraft corrugated carries dust and box-plant wax, and a half-adhered seal will lift on its own.
- Find the lid line on the end face and mark its centre lightly in pencil. Stay off anywhere a shipping label or carrier barcode would land if the box might ship later.
- Lay the seal on vertically, centred on that line, roughly half onto the lid and half onto the base. Burnish from the middle outward and work the step down last.
- Repeat on the opposite end with the next seal.
- Photograph the box with the number legible, in the same frame as the contents if the contents matter. The dated photo carries the weight later.
- Write the numbers into your inventory sheet against the contents, the date and where the box is going. The sheet is the record. The seal points into it.
What this does and does not do
A number on a box says nothing about the cards inside it. It does not show the box went unopened, it does not confirm the contents match your list, and it authenticates nothing.
Say the obvious out loud: a seal can be peeled off a box and a different seal stuck down in its place, and corrugated does not care which one it is holding. What you have that a hand-written shelf label does not is a number that is yours alone — you set the numbering, we printed it, and no two seals in the order repeat. The value is that number plus your record: a dated photo of the box with the number readable, and the serial written against the contents.
If your layout carries VOID IF DAMAGED, read it as a notice about the condition the box was handed over in, not as a mechanism. The FAQ describes the stock in the same plain terms.
When a box comes back and the count is off, the number settles nothing on its own. It lets you say which box, on which date, against which photo, instead of "one of the boxes."
How many do you need
This is an easy count: the boxes are sitting on the shelf and you can walk along them. Three numbers, added.
The shelf. Boxes numbered once that stay put — one end each, so one seal each.
The travellers. Show boxes, multiplied by the ends you decided to seal: one if you only want the number, two if you want it readable from both ends.
Spares. The number people forget. Open a sealed box at a table and that seal is finished — it does not go back on. Add one per box per end you expect to open this season, or add a dozen and stop thinking about it.
60 Serial Seal™ minimum · From $30.00 · As low as $0.30 each in bulk.
Say 40 shelf boxes at one end, plus 25 show boxes at both ends: 40 + 50 = 90, and a dozen spares makes 102. Seals come in twelves with a 60-seal minimum, so 102 rounds up to 108 — $54.00 at the 50-cent list rate. One more pack takes you to 120 and the 45-cent rung, $54.00 for the lot — twelve extra seals for nothing. The 60-seal minimum is $30.00 if you would rather try the placement before committing the shelf.
A bigger room moves the rate. 200 shelf boxes plus 40 travellers at both ends is 280, and 300 seals is $135.00, 45c each; 600 is $240.00, 40c each — and it keeps stepping down, 36c at 1,200, 33c at 2,400, 30c at 4,200 — the floor, which holds for everything above it. The rate applies at checkout on its own, no code, and one rate covers the whole order — a split order is rated as two. No setup, die, or design fees, and a commercial license and copyright are included. Set the run in the builder.
Common mistakes
Expecting a seal to hold the lid on. It does not. A telescoping lid lifts from whichever end is free, and a lid held by friction is still held by friction. Seal both ends if you want the number readable from both ends.
Sealing a box someone is expected to keep and reuse. Corrugated is a fiber-tearing surface: the outer liner comes away with the adhesive and the box is cosmetically finished. Fine for a box you own, not for one you are handing to a buyer who wants to store cards in it.
Putting the seal where the shipping label goes. On an 800ct shipped as-is, the big flat face is where a label lands. A seal under a label is invisible, and a seal on a label kills the scan. Keep to the ends.
Assuming two seals on one box share a number. They do not. No two seals in one order carry the same number, whichever numbering you picked. Log both.
Sticking one to anything inside the box. Seal the box. Never put adhesive on a card, and think hard before putting one on a slab or on sealed wax. For numbers on the individual items, seal the holder — see top loaders and graded slabs.
Questions people ask
What size Serial Seal™ fits a BCW 800ct box?
The same 0.75" x 1.77" seal fits every box in the family, because the 100ct, 400ct and 800ct all share a 3" exterior height. Only the length changes, and length does not affect the seal.
Can I reuse a storage box after taking the Serial Seal™ off?
Not cleanly. Corrugated tears its outer liner when the adhesive comes away, so the box will carry a scarred patch. Number the boxes you intend to keep sealed and leave the reusable ones alone.
Should I number every box or only the ones that leave the house?
Start with the ones that leave the house, since those are the boxes you have to tell apart later, and add the shelf when you want the row to read in order. A scheme you skip on a busy Saturday is worse than a smaller one you keep.
What you are ordering is a run of printed 0.75" x 1.77" seals, each carrying a number no other seal in the order carries. The minimum order is 60, at $30.00. At 600 the rate is 40c each — $240.00 — and it steps down to 30c by 4,200, where it holds for every larger run; runs past 10,008 seals we quote rather than post a price, so ask us. Pick a gallery design at the builder, or put your own logo on them at add a logo.
Serial Seal is an independent printer. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by PSA, Beckett, CGC, SGC, Ultra Pro, BCW, eBay, Whatnot, TCGplayer or any card manufacturer. Brand names are used only to describe the products they make. Nothing here is legal advice.