Most people ask what a seal costs. The more useful question is what it costs per package that leaves your desk, because that is the figure you can hold against an order value and decide with.
Below is the ladder for both sizes, then the same ladder mapped onto four cadences: a weekend Whatnot seller, a breaker running three streams a week, a shop sealing the counter case, and a vendor doing six shows a year. Every figure reconciles to the cent.
The Standard ladder
The Standard seal is 1.77 x 0.75 in (44.96 x 19.05 mm), in Shattered Prism or Aurora foil. It ships in packs of 12 at $6.00, and the smallest order is 60.
| Seals | Per seal | Order total |
|---|---|---|
| 60 (the minimum) | 50c | $30.00 |
| 120 | 45c | $54.00 |
| 600 | 40c | $240.00 |
| 1,200 | 36c | $432.00 |
| 2,400 | 33c | $792.00 |
| 3,000 | 33c | $990.00 |
| 4,200 | 30c | $1,260.00 |
The 30c rate carries to the self-serve ceiling of 10,008 seals, which comes to $3,002.40. Larger runs are quoted rather than posted.
The Large ladder
Large is 2.5 x 1 in (63.5 x 25.4 mm), packs of 12 at $9.00, with its own 60 minimum. The discounts are percentages off the 75c rate.
| Seals | Per seal | Order total |
|---|---|---|
| 60 (the minimum) | 75c | $45.00 |
| 120 (10% off) | 67.5c | $81.00 |
| 600 (20% off) | 60c | $360.00 |
| 1,200 (30% off) | 52.5c | $630.00 |
| 3,000 (30% off) | 52.5c | $1,575.00 |
| 4,200 (40% off) | 45c | $1,890.00 |
The two sizes are priced separately and the quantities do not pool. 600 Standard plus 600 Large is $240.00 + $360.00 = $600.00. It does not become a 1,200-piece order.
Per shipment is rate times seals per package
Decide how many seals a package gets before you look at any price. One is the holder. Two is the holder plus the mailer flap. Three shows up on bundles, where two inner bags and the outer package each get one.
| Rate | 1 per package | 2 per package | 3 per package |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50c (at 60) | 50c | $1.00 | $1.50 |
| 45c (at 120) | 45c | 90c | $1.35 |
| 40c (at 600) | 40c | 80c | $1.20 |
| 36c (at 1,200) | 36c | 72c | $1.08 |
| 33c (at 2,400) | 33c | 66c | 99c |
| 30c (at 4,200) | 30c | 60c | 90c |
The weekend Whatnot seller
Streams Saturday, packs Sunday, ships Monday. Twelve packages a weekend, forty-eight weekends a year, one Standard seal on each one-touch. That is 576 seals a year.
- First order: 60 seals, $30.00. Five weekends of cover, and the honest way to see your artwork on foil before spending real money.
- Steady state: 600 seals, $240.00. That is 40c a shipment, a year of cover with 24 spare, or $20.00 a month for the habit.
- If the mailer gets one too: 1,152 a year, so order 1,200 at $432.00. That is 72c a package.
On a $35 card, 40c is a bit over 1% of the sale. On a $6 common it is not worth doing. How this cadence runs: Whatnot sellers.
The weekly breaker
Three streams a week, 22 shippers out of each, so 66 packages a week and 3,432 a year. Break shipments usually take two seals: one across the team bag or stack, one on the outer mailer. Call it 6,864 a year.
- One order: 4,200 seals, $1,260.00. Covers 2,100 packages, roughly 32 weeks, at 60c a package.
- A full year: two of those, 8,400 seals, $2,520.00, with room for the ones you land crooked.
- One seal per package instead: 4,200 covers 4,200 packages, a year and change, at 30c each.
Bundling cards into one bag rather than sealing each is what moves most breakers from three seals a shipment to two — how to seal a break stack covers how one seal lands across a stack. Full cadence: breakers.
The card shop
Forty singles a week go into the counter case in fresh holders with a Standard seal each: 2,080 a year. Another fifteen orders a week ship with a seal on the mailer: 780. Total 2,860.
- 3,000 Standard: $990.00 at 33c. Twelve and a half months of cover, one purchase order, 33c a card.
- 2,400 instead: $792.00, still 33c. Ten months. Same rate, less cash out, one more reorder in the year.
Slabs in the case usually take a Large banner. Twelve slabs a week is 624 a year, and 624 Large at 60c is $374.40. Together that is $990.00 + $374.40 = $1,364.40 for a year of counter stock. Shop-side detail: card shops.
The show vendor
Six shows a year. 160 holders per show sealed before the case goes on the table is 960 Standard: $384.00 at 40c, or 40c a card in the case.
Box lids, row dividers and the boxes that ride in the van take Large. Eight a show is 48 a year, under the minimum, so the order is 60 Large at $45.00. That is the one place the arithmetic is no longer linear: below 60 pieces you still pay for 60. Number the boxes the way you number the cards and the Sunday-night count gets shorter — how to serialize storage boxes and show inventory walks through it. Show cadence: card shows.
Always price the tier above before you order
The discount applies to the whole order, not only to the pieces past the threshold, so ordering a few more seals can cost less. Exact cases:
- 108 Standard is $54.00. So is 120. Identical money, twelve more seals.
- 588 Standard is $264.60. 600 is $240.00. Twelve more seals, $24.60 less.
- 1,152 Standard is $460.80. 1,200 is $432.00. Forty-eight more, $28.80 less.
- 2,388 Standard is $859.68. 2,400 is $792.00. Twelve more, $67.68 less.
- 588 Large is $396.90. 600 is $360.00. Twelve more seals, $36.90 less.
If your count lands within a few packs of a threshold, take the threshold.
How many do I need
Packages per week, times seals per package, times weeks of cover. Use a normal month rather than your best one, add about 5% for misfeeds, round up to the next pack of 12, then price the tier above.
Weeks of cover is the part people get wrong. Six months is a sane default — long enough to reach a real rate, short enough that a rebrand does not strand a drawer of foil.
What you get at those rates
Individually numbered and holographic, printed with your own artwork or logo, in the layout that suits the format: portrait or landscape flat, folded, slab banner, toploader banner, or Duo, two numbered halves on one label you cut apart. Numbering is your prefix plus a sequential run from a start number you set, random codes, a batch code plus a number, or none. Within one order, no two seals share a number.
You can add a QR pointing at a page you choose or at the seal record, which is a page showing the design, the number and the date it was logged. It says nothing about the card. What the exercise does is help document what was shipped, and a consistent numbered mark helps deter swaps and return fraud. There are no setup, die or artwork fees at any quantity, so the ladder above is the whole print price.
What a seal will not do
- It can be peeled off and a replacement stuck down. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling something.
- It says nothing about the card. The number identifies the label, not the contents.
- It has no standing with any marketplace or grading company, and it does not decide a return. A marketplace runs its own process. What you hand over is your photo, your number and your log.
- It goes on plastic, never on the card. A die-cut foil label belongs on the plastic of a holder, case, bag or box. Never on a card, never on factory-sealed wax, and never on a holder headed to a grading company.
Still deciding what gets one: where to put a seal on every card format.
Grading stickers are a separate line
Custom Grading Stickers for top loaders and slabs have their own ladder: packs of 12 at $6.00, so 50c each, stepping down to 40c at 600 and above, where 600 stickers is $240.00. Five layouts, ten holographic backgrounds, your own displayed grade. The two ladders do not pool. Custom collector display sticker. Not affiliated with or certified by any third-party grading company.
Frequently asked questions
What is the smallest order I can place?
Sixty pieces, in packs of 12. For Standard that is $30.00 at 50c each; for Large it is $45.00 at 75c each. The 60 seal minimum applies to each size on its own, so a first order of 60 Standard plus 60 Large is $75.00. Starting here is deliberate: sixty pieces runs your artwork through two weeks of real shipments before you commit to a rate.
Do the two sizes share a bulk tier?
No. Standard and Large are priced separately and never pool. Six hundred Standard is $240.00 at 40c, 600 Large is $360.00 at 60c, and buying both in one checkout is $600.00 rather than a 1,200-piece rate. Near a threshold on one size, topping up that size beats splitting the difference across both.
How many seals should I budget per shipment?
One if you seal only the holder, two if you also mark the outer mailer, three for bundles where two inner bags and the package each get one. Multiply by your order rate: at 600 Standard that is 40c, 80c or $1.20 a package.
Does the rate keep dropping above 4,200?
No. Thirty cents on Standard and 45c on Large is where the posted ladder ends, and it carries to the self-serve ceiling of 10,008 pieces, which is $3,002.40 on Standard. Bigger runs are quoted, so send the quantity and the layout and we will price it.
Pick your quantity on the builder and the rate applies at checkout with no code to enter: Standard or Large. Ordering questions live in the FAQ, your past runs in my seals, and any number you printed can be looked up here. If you are unsure of your cadence, order 60, ship them, and count what is left.
Serial Seal is an independent printer. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by PSA, Beckett, CGC, SGC, eBay, Whatnot, TikTok or any card manufacturer or publisher. Brand names are used only to describe the products they make. Nothing here is legal advice.