So I was considering a PSA subscription but I have a question regarding import fees back to Europe.
Do you get charged any import fees? as PSA is delivering a service and you are not ‘actually’ importing goods, as you are receiving your own cards back.
Would greatly appreciate some help as im currently sending hundreds of cards a year using a middleman which is kinda expensive.
In the Netherlands they charge a fee over the value of the package, period. I don’t think they differentiate between items that are already yours and items you’ve bought. You’re out of luck unless the items are marked as something like a gift (but I don’t think PSA would do that since it’s fraudulent and you wouldn’t be able to get your money back if something happened to your package). I don’t know of any other way to prevent being charged, but you could try calling the tax and customs administration (belastingdienst) and ask them.
Wist niet dat je ook op het forum zat trouwens. Hoi 
But I know several people who don’t get any import charges.
For example Barney Ludkins always tells me he has to send several submissions to avoid getting import fees
They will charge you based on the amount written on the package. I don’t know if PSA puts the value of the cards or the value of their service on the customs label though. I do know by personal experience that 99% envelope sized packages go through Dutch customs without any additional charges, but that will not work for hundreds of cards.
However I did receive a replacement item in a large box through eBay they didn’t charge me anything, there was something like “Warranty replacement” written on the label. (I don’t remember correctly).
The most legal way is letting PSA put their service cost as the value on the label, but that may give problems with insurance of high value cards I guess…?
Might be a company exclusive thing? As a private person (from Germany) it’s a gamble whether or not you’ll have to pay import fees. I think anything under like 25-30€ goes through fine, but above and you can be the lucky winner of an import fee.
But my question is, PSA delivers a service, not a product.
So you are actually getting your own cards back, not buying a product from outside the EU.
You are buying a service, it would seem silly that you have to pay import fees for a product that is already yours
You are right. If you get ‘caught’ and have to pay a fee? Just go for an objection.
edit:
Just make sure you can prove you have always been the owner of the shipped goods. Ask the post office for the papers! its very important that you do.
Not sure if the objection form is meant for this specific scenario. The objection form is to get your money back if you’ve been incorrectly charged over the value of a package (ex. they charged you for €200,- value while your package had €20,- written on it). If you are charged for a package with a value of €200,-, it’s not an error on their part even if they are your own cards. As far as I know there are no ways to prevent the fees going the official route, but they might have something like an import/export permit for businesses. Again, the best thing would be to call up the tax and customs administration themselves and ask them.
As far as people who have never been charged, either they’ve gotten lucky, they’ve spread the risks or they’ve gone less-than-legal routes. I know people who have never been charged as well, but it’s just luck of the draw. I don’t know the specifics of Ludkins’ situation, but it could be that he’s shipping them out in multiple submissions to keep the package value below a certain threshold (less likely to be inspected) and to have a more spread out chance of not being picked out for inspection.
For the “services, not goods” argument, I don’t know if it will hold up. You are paying for their grading services, but part of that service includes putting it in the PSA slabs which is a product. Either way, as I already mentioned, Dutch customs doesn’t differentiate between the intent of the package when it is sent as a commercial package and is within their value thresholds for import charges. It’s something you should take up with customs and tax administration, because the only way I know of preventing charges is to ship it as a gift with a low value. If there is an official way of doing this, I’d like to know as well haha.
Maybe instead of calling the case “product” you can call it “packaging” lol.
I have done a little more research and there might be a problem. Very simulair situation towards grading cards would be sending an item offshore for repair. And customs can make a problem out of it apparently if you can’t prove you were the original owner of the item.
So when you are going to ship an item overseas, you need to make sure you have the papers to prove you have always been the owner of the shipped goods.
Personally this is to much trouble for me and ill let Ludkins UK handle it for me. They charge roughly 500 euros for 50 cards. Thats a fine deal imo.
Yes ludkins is a great option for European collectors. Had already a few submissions with him and I can recommend his service:)