Hello, Are there any honest middleman in Europe? I saw in USA,UK,Australia PSA middlemen with the same or slightly higher prices than PSA are back. But in Europe I see middlemen charge 50€ (52,63$) for value and over 80€ (84,21$) for Economy per card and this is disgusting.
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I’ve heard good things about www.hirograding.com. They are based in Belgium and charge 40€/65€ per card for value/economy. If you send in enough cards, they go down to 37.5€ per card for value. I think these prices are pretty fair. I send cards directly to PSA (also from Belgium), and with shipping and insurance, that’s about how much it costs me per card.
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kind of related and unrelated … When you ship to PSA and get them back , how do you declare the package when technically importing it from the US, since in Europe we have to pay 24% customs… is it the price of the PSA service or price of the card or nothing?
That’s why people using Middleman, they have business ID and tax are deductible.
Anyway theoretically you do not pay because is a return, but I’ve heard so many people have had different experiences.
I always write something along the lines of “Trading cards printed on cardboard for assessment. Will be returned to the owner after assessment.”, and mark the items as personal effects. That has served me well so far. Last time (May of this year), I didn’t even have to pay any import fees. Also, in case you do have to pay import fees, they’re calculated based on the service that you paid for, not the value of the card, as far as I understand.
I don’t know how tax works in USA but it is possible that PSA risk to pay tax for your parcel?
I believe so, because PSA specifically ask that you indicate “Bill Sender” on your shipping/customs forms for any costs related to importing your package into the US, meaning that you also have to pay those costs instead of them.
PSA is not paying any of your import tax if that’s what you’re asking?
Would you save money by using a USA middle man instead of a Europe middle man? So you send to USA address, they submit your cards as if they were their own, then they ship the graded cards back to you?
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I think the major benefits of using a middleman located in Europe would be avoiding to ship overseas directly and not having to deal with import fees.
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I sub regularly from the UK.
I’d honestly advise doing it yourself. Grading with PSA from Europe seems to have this weird aura around it that puts people off for whatever reason. It really is very simple - you just need to make sure that when you send the parcel out to PSA its marked as Repair/Return and when PSA return the package via FedEx they will do the same. FedEx will then get in touch with you to ask for proof of the export (you just give them the tracking number you sent it out under) and then they clear it for around £21 as a disbursement fee. You dont get taxed anything other than that.
I dont mind helping out forum members by subbing when I send something off every 4-6 weeks (if that is of any help to you) but I really do advise trying it yourself. Once you do it the first time you will see how easy it is.
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I agree with you, I also send my own orders from Spain and It is not much of a deal. As you say is important to define correctly the package content there shouldnt be any issues, but the thing is you have to pay the taxes according to the declared value
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I’ve never really known how to mark the items as, so I’ve always just put Personal Effects, but maybe Repair/Return is indeed the better option. I’ll give that a try next time. Thanks!
Many thanks for the clarifications on the process
For example, you declare 1000€, even if you mark as repair/return you will pay at least 200€ of tax?
pokegeodude.com is my way to go if I am sending anything to PSA 
Also submitted my 1999 Tropical Wind und Unikarp through them and it went perfect, highly reliable!
Hi guys, I’m one of the people behind HiroGrading. We offer our services to all of Europe, but currently only have addresses you can ship to in the Netherlands & Belgium.
When cards get shipped back from the US to the EU, if documents are included that it are your own goods that are being returned, no import charges will be due. I believe that as a company this is a bit easier to obtain than as an individual. It also depends on which shipping carrier you’ll use, some are more used to this special scenario than others.
Additionally to that, better/more afforable insurance.
If anything would go wrong with a package, you’re also taken more seriously as a company then as an individual.
No. You dont pay tax on the declared value.
You only pay a 21euro (roughly) fee for FedEx to clear the package.
You do not pay VAT, duty etc on the value of the cards you are sending if they are marked repair/return which is how it should be sent.
Both of your posts are kinda misleading.
It’s not any easier or more difficult to get the correct documentation based on if you sub as an individual or as a company. It’s the same customs forms with the same options in both scenarios.
Mark it as Repair/Return either as an individual or a company and you SHOULD get no problems with import charges on the return.
I also wouldn’t say anyone would be taken more or less seriously for a lost package just because of the “entity” they sent it as.
Bottom line - if people use a Middle Man they are putting money in someone elses pocket for the convenience.
But I would urge people that are wanting to grade, just do it yourself and keep everything in your own control. The customs forms can be filled out by a 6 year old, PSA/CGC etc packing and submitting instructions are very clear, if you are worried you can get insurance for really cheap (roughly 1% of your package value), you can ship for cheap if you use a courier price comparison site such as ParcelHero, Parcel2Go etc.
If people want to sub themselves, they shouldn’t be misled.
By all means if you cant be arsed filling out forms and dealing with it all, use a Middle Man.
But if you want to do it yourself and keep it in your control, dont be put off. Its a simple process.
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