Hi, about 2 years ago I did 3-4 psa submissions. The card values were pretty low to what they are now and it was before the new value after grade thing happened. At the time I was concerned on getting import duty, some said its rare but they can do it and you have to argue the case thats its a service on your own items being returned and not a purchased product.
I feel it may have been also not noticed because my declared values were like £5-£10.
Is there anyone now with knowledge on if you can get charge import taxes on your cards being returned now? Some cards will be declared in a range of £250-500.
Ive heard of ludkins and they advertise not having any issue with this but its hard to send 5k worth of cards to a third party for me.
Since the items are being returned to you, the declared value is irrelevant as no tax is due on them.
The most important thing you need to keep in mind is that upon return, customs will ask for evidence that you have exported them.
PSA always includes the original Royal Mail or Parcelforce tracking number in their export form, so the only thing you need to do is keep the post office receipt which shows the date it was sent out and the tracking number, and once your submission is returned, fedex will contact you asking for proof of export.
I’ve had dozens of submissions returned and never paid tax on them. Actually, fedex UK proactively asks you for proof of export as soon as the order is shipped from the US, so they can expedite the clearance with customs.
@fireftw87, unfortunately I have no experience with Becket. Regardless of the company though, the return form needs to clearly state that these are returned goods and include the tracking number.
Your best bet is to contact Becket themselves and ask how they declare returned submissions for customs clearance when sending internationally.
Regarding a special customs declaration before sending the cards, I have never done anything like that. I keep the post office receipt with the tracking number, and that’s it.
For what its worth, if you’re not going through a company like Ludkins who are based in the UK anyway (with them you will only be posting the cards to a UK address, not overseas), the customs procedure code you’ll need is 23 00 00 00:
A PSA slab doesn’t count as altering the item as essentially a PSA slab is nothing more than fancy packaging.
So I have had a response from Beckett, hopefully this will help any others going forward with their international submissions/customs fees queries.
Firstly they sent me a example copy of a letter they attach to any international submissions on their return for the attention of Customs. See below:
Secondly, I have uploaded to the following link their PDF guide for International submissions which is basically a process guide from start to finish. I think this will be useful for anyone thinking of submitting to Beckett from overseas:
‘The goods must be re-imported in an unaltered state, apart from any work that may have been required to maintain the goods in working order. Any work done must not have upgraded the goods to a higher specification or increased their value.’
It seems to me like UK customs could make a good argument that the value has been increased by the grading. Could be a bit of a messy argument however. Hopefully we have a trade deal soon anyway…
This was exactly what I was worried about when I started submitting, but I think that applies for raw materials that are processed into end products, in which case the price will always be increased by whatever action is taken.
Graded cards sometimes comeback at a higher price point and sometimes at a lower one, depending on grade. I don’t think customs has time to research each card to see which ones increased or decreased in value as a result.
To be honest, collectibles have culturally been a weird category for tax purposes in most countries, and concessions are usually made as value is not as easy to ascertain.
All grading does is get a professional opinion on the condition of a card. People don’t pay extra because a card has been graded, they pay extra because it’s had its condition professionally-evaluated. The card itself hasn’t changed in any way, it just now essentially packaged in a way which also shows a letter of recommendation alongside it.
As @kaldoverde said above, grading doesn’t necessarily increase the value of a card either.
I have to pay import taxes/VAT every time I get a PSA submission returned. (Netherlands)
They charge 21% over the PSA grading fee.
So if I use the bulk option of $9 a card, I have to pay 21% over each $9 graded card and 21% over the shipping.
The value of the cards don’t matter, it’s about the “work” (grading) I need to pay for.
However each country has it own rules/laws
I think there are 100 ways you can interpret the rules and how it’s written, you can get into a philosophical discussion about if the card is the same or not. I wouldn’t say the answer is obvious one way or the other, you can make a fair case for both, but ultimately it’s down to the governments decision to impose it or not. In my opinion the most likely scenario is it is just an area that is fortunately overlooked, as @kaldoverde says collectibles are a very complex thing to define and manage and tax laws really need to be well defined and managed. It probably is such a tiny amount of money overall it’s not worth their time to look into it for review, luckily for us.
@rainbowgym, looks like customs may be a bit confused over there because of PSA’s bill does not represent the value of the goods returned to you and rather a service that was provided and paid for in the US, so looks like lack of knowledge on custom’s part more than anything else.
Try to find out at your post office if they have a form called ‘proof of temporary export’. I think all countries have it, but it is not so commonly known. If they have it, fill one out when you send your next submission. Then, once goods arrive back in the Netherlands, customs will know these are goods that were sent abroad and should not be charging any VAT.
Been a couple years, but wondering how your experience went subbing to BGS from Europe? About to do the same and its really hard to get in touch with BGS customer service to get any information haha… cheers
If you’re in the EU, you should not have to pay VAT on any service provided in the USA (and vice versa). Only imported goods are subject to tax. Worst case is that the gentleman in Holland would have to pay VAT on the cost of return shipping/insurance, but not the service of grading.
It was very easy in the end. The only thing was the wait time but that is the same as PSA. It took about 15 months from arrival at BGS to be returned to me.
Actually the “authenticity” argument, and not the “condition” one, is pretty much foolproof. That word appearing in PSA’s name makes it an easy argument for customs to accept.
