I’m diving into sending my first major shipment directly overseas, without any middleman. My plan is to place the box inside a sturdy carton and cushion it with bubble wrap. Will this be sufficient, or is there a risk of the cards getting damaged if stored this way?
Any advice or things I should consider?
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This is exactly how I do things personally and I find it to be enough. This, inside another box and then fill that space with some sort of padding. You’ll be fine 
I guess, make sure to tape this cardsaver box down so theres no chance of things rumbling around and somehow coming open - I doubt it’ll happen but may as well be safe.
GL on your submission!
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I’d try to insert a piece of paper or something between the 2 rows so that card order doesn’t get mixed up. Like a card from the left row slides into the right row
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This. You don’t want your cards getting out of order in transit.
@thurco thanks for the reassurance. Taping it down is great advice!
@eeveeteam I think I have some carton left I can use. Thanks for the idea.
@kpod Why is the cards getting out of order, a problem? Do the cards need to be in the exact order you put them in? That’s news to me.
Yes your cards need to be received in the same order as you entered them in the PSA submission form. So if you wanted them reviewed and graded in a certain order (that does not match your current submission form) you may want to create a new submission and use that one instead.
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Ooh, that’s good to know. That is going to be some extra effort 
I put them in the other way (i.e. lengthways/perpendicular to what you’ve shown) to keep them in order.
If there’s any space left just put some bubble wrap (making sure that it fill all of the space, not just the bottom).
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Quick followup question. Will I have to pay import tax when PSA is sending my graded cards back to me, or are they marking it as a returning shipment ?
Depends on your country. In Canada, they tried to charge me once. I explained to the customs agent that called me over the phone that it was goods that were being returned to me. So they released it without charge
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I’m in the UK and @haggiscollects made a great Youtube Video in details on how to submit correctly overseas(I believe it will be applicable for a lot of Europe, if not all). Even though I’ve submitted since countless times solo, I still find myself going back to Haggis’ video to reference as a double check. Especially the customs declarations. Thanks
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Are you referring to this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEgNuxMlzbQ&ab_channel=HaggisCollectibles
I used this as my guide so far.
Edit: found the section about returning costs.
With regards to return costs, I just pay the return postage to PSA. When the item lands into the UK, I will get contacted by FedEx and have to e-mail them my tracking information for when I sent the package to PSA for grading as proof of export. That is usually enough for them to release the item. I’ve never had import tax. Just a £21 disbursement fee for FedEx. This is usually by text or letter either before or after your cards arrive.
The key thing is when ordering postage TO PSA is to make sure your state your export reason as “Repair” or something similar so this can be seen in the export history that you sent the items to be evaluated and returned. I believe PSA just mark it as return from evaluation or something along those lines so no extra charges are liable.
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As someone who’s shipped from the Netherlands, in terms of return import fees; our FedEx import is pretty congested lately and will not reach out to you. They will simply deliver the item with a bill charging your credit card. In my experience it’s best to send a mail to the relevant countries’ import-mailaddress (haggis mentioned the UK one I believe) with the proofs of export as soon as PSA notifies you of the shipment. This way you at least have a chance that they clear it without charging you.
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An additional heads up: PSA will hit you with a $5 charge for every card that is out of order. You have to make sure the cards are ordered in the same way as they are on your submission form.
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CGC does this too. OP personally when I sent in a big submission I split the cards up into 4 stacks and wrapped each stack between two pieces of carton, wrote a number 1-4 on top of the stack, then put the four stacks in a bigger shipping box with addl padding. Similar to @eeveeteam 's and @thurco 's suggestion, but no possibility of them getting out of order
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Quick question about PSA submissions valuing more than $2500.
PSA States : * Value should be $2,500.00 or less, if over $2,500.00 your package may be held at US Customs for formal entry, meaning you may need US Customs Broker assistance and pay a fee."
Is this true when shipping from Europe? Did you have any problems with this, and can you recommend the easiest way to solve this issue?
The probability of that happening is very small but not zero. I’ve heard of a couple time where Americans were charged customs from a Japanese order, but it is extremely rare and also the amount they have to pay is laughably small.
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