Starting to collect PSA graded cards - Any tips?

General
1

Canadian collector here looking to start collecting PSA cards - base set 1st edition PSA 10 specifically.

Not new to collecting, but new to cards so I am looking for card specific tips.

Does anyone have a list of sellers that are easy to work with / have good prices / have this kind of product. There are a couple big guys on ebay that have multiples, and I am wondering what kind of discount you guys have been able to score with these guys when buying multiple cards at once.

International specific

  1. I have noticed several ebay sellers say they will not understate the customs forms, or even worse… the dreaded Ebay Global Shipping program. Has anyone been nailed on these fees, and have you found any sellers who are willing to work with you?
  2. How do you guys balance ordering larger orders to save on fees vs shipping in single cards. A lot of the shipping quotes are $15+ dollars, and it doesn’t make much sense on a $30-$40 card.

I am sure I will have more questions, but any advice is appreciated either here or in DM.

2

A single graded card shipped with tracking is about 13.00.
Just add the shipping to bid amount and see if it stays at or under your acceptable price.

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That is what I would want to avoid. If I am paying shipping costs on every card, there is no added value.

I guess there isn’t much to do to avoid this aside from trying to find sellers with multiple items that I need.

4

A small priority can ship from 1-6 PSA cards from USA to Canada for under 30.00.

5

Awesome another Canadian collector welcome. I would suggest buying as many from one person as possible, or if your close to the boarder get an p.o. box in the USA. Other than that makes deals off eBay. :blush: welcome.

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I’ve got family in the states so I’ve been shipping a whole bunch of cards there. I’ve got a nice stack waiting there for the next time I visit.

When shipping to my home address I look for Canadian sellers or try to combine shipping. If you’re looking for a complete PSA 10 1st ed base set, shipping is probably an insignificant percentage of the total cost though.

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Doing combined shipping is the way to go. I get a lot of international customers because I don’t do gsp and I combine shipping on everything. Usually they pay the same or a couple dollars more on the initial shipping cost for one card.

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One tip that I feel more people need to adhere to in general is just pay attention to the total cost to your door. I can’t count the amount of times I have heard people fretting because a card costs $500 and shipping is another $100 on top of it. Ask yourself… is $600 a good deal? The $600 is all that matters, whether it is $600 and free shipping or $1 and $599 shipping don’t stress over it. Dollar values don’t matter here, just chose random numbers. I know I have seen @garyis2000 give the same advice a few times on the forum and it really is great all around advice.

I have seen people on here and firsthand in other areas of life pass up on deals because the shipping was “too high” while in many cases the overall cost to the door would have been a good deal. It really does go the other way as well. I am a subscriber to amazon prime and I rarely end up getting the “free” 2 day shipping as most times it is quite expensive. Countless times there are sellers with an item at $20 with $3 shipping whereas the prime cost is $25.