UPS Refused To Ship My €13k grading Submission… Now What?

Grading
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I need to vent a bit and also genuinely ask what people are doing in this situation.

I’m sending 14 cards from my EU country to Germany to CGC Europe for grading. Total potential value once graded could be around €13k. Nothing crazy like a single €10k grail, just a mix where some are more valuable than others.

I went to an actual UPS location (not a random Access Point, not a franchise shop) thinking it would be straightforward. Declared the value properly, had everything packed well, they take a photo of the contents, the whole thing. I had pre paid the label and paid 150€ for extra coverage.

They refused it at the desk.

The reason?
“You can’t prove the value.”" “We don’t want to sign for it”.

That’s it.

Not “trading cards are prohibited.”
Not “collectibles aren’t allowed.”
Not “we don’t ship high-value goods.”

Just that I couldn’t prove the value at the counter and they didn’t want the risk.

What made it more frustrating is that I literally pulled up UPS’s own site and showed the manager that nowhere does it expressly exclude valuable trading cards. Yes, they have vague wording about “articles of exceptional value,” but there’s no specific mention of cards being banned.

And ~€10k isn’t “exceptional value” really.

I explained that declared value isn’t something you prove at drop-off — it’s something you substantiate if there’s a claim.

It honestly felt like they just didn’t want the responsibility.

After that, I looked into third-party insurance. I contacted Secursus, thinking that would solve the problem. They told me they can’t cover items being shipped to a grading company - only if it’s a sale.

Zzz.

So now I’m stuck in this weird middle ground:

UPS is hesitant because of the item type and value.
Third-party insurance won’t cover grading submissions.
Carrier “declared value” isn’t true insurance anyway.

It seems like there’s this quiet grey zone when it comes to sending higher-value cards to be graded. Everyone does it, but when you actually try to do everything properly and by the book, you hit resistance.

I’ve had items get stolen within the UPS network before and I’d prefer to have peace of mind. No local middlemen to me.

So what’s the real alternative?

I’ve ordered a collection tomorrow with the same box so I’m curious if they will take it - and if it was just the little-minded man at the UPS desk who decided to refuse it on his own.

I’d really like to hear what others in Europe are actually doing for insuring submissions. Has anyone found a proper insurer that will cover grading shipments?

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This is my impression as well. Just underinsure massively, give some deliberately vague wording about the contents and hope you don’t get fucked. Frankly, a terrifying prospect when dealing with pieces of cardboard pushing 5 figures in a 9, and god knows what if you hit a 10.

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Is there another postal service you could use instead? Quite possible that location has had something happen to them before, and auto deny it at that location, or a multitude of other reasons that arent just excuses. Sucks that you cant ship it, but maybe break down the submission into smaller ones with the same insurance premium broken as well just in case?

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You can’t use Securusus unless you’re a registered business.

In the US FedEx limits insurance on collectibles to $1,000.

USPS will fight you on a claim unless you can prove value(need a sale)

The best option in the US registered mail, which is slow but very secure.

Being across the pond, I know this doesn’t help.

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as soon as ups sees some 1610 address in santa ana they prolly gonna try and pull a 5 finger discount :thinking:

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Why are you declaring them as potential graded value when you are sending to grading. They are worth whatever RAW value they are (ungraded) Stick to that and you should be fine.

The grader will return them to you and insure for actual value of graded cards.

Mike

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Only had bad experience with UPS in Europe, they are highly incompetent
With DHL never any problems

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I am lucky (?) that I don’t yet have this problem as there are no grails to grade. I have a submission of 35+ cards I want to get graded at CGC Munich. Looking into the shipping is putting me off from doing this myself. Getting proper insurance seems difficult, even for a simple 35 card package. Most postage options cover up to 500 euro, with no option to tack on extra insurance.

Add on to that that the CGC website mentions WRITING “CGC CARDS” on your package. That just seems like a adding a big red flag to your package saying “valuable raw cards inside”. Unbelievable.

I’m sticking with a middle man for now to relieve myself of this logistical nightmare.

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I’d just go to another UPS location. Sounds like a bad customer service agent rather than a company-wide policy.

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Try DHL or some other service, or another location.

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I’ve arranged for a driver collection tomorrow - will update how that goes.

They are a few autograph cards mixed in there, which is hard to determine a raw value. The value difference between the raw and graded wouldnt probably be the issue.

You can use them as a private person but there needs to be a sale transaction.

UPS manager said I would need to use a business UPS account. I said, oh I have a business account through my wife’s logistics company - he then changed his mind and said I would have the same issue, lol.

It was very odd - to be honest, anything related to money here in Spain gives people weird reactions. It’s a country where the average salary is 1200euros monthly - so coming with a 10k ish package I imagine may cause some eyebrows to be raised. The manager was like “I wont sign this recipt” - but it was a major regional UPS hub, all very odd.

This is probably the way - I had a package/autograph card taken from cutoms at UPS Barcelona (it later appeared on ebay!) but I had labelled it as “expensive card, please take me” - as I had never had any issues with UPS up until this point. A group of collectors here also had close to 100k euro taken from a package headed to PSA that also passed through UPS Barcelona customs - items were later found at a cardshop in Barcelona. Complete clownshow. No one at UPS wanted to talk about it, I even went in person and have some great contacts with drivers - none of whome wanted to say anything in writing. Bonkers.

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Weird. Anytime I send stuff to PSA I just go to my post office, say I want to send the package Priority and insure it at like $4k. Never even been asked what I’m mailing lol.

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Why not enjoy a weekend in Munich, round trip for less than the cost of UPS extra coverage

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+1 for DHL Suggestion

With any high-value shipment they are my only choice. They are diligent in their inspection before they will ship, but it’s worth it to have peace of mind for insurance and delivery time. You get what you pay for with them :+1:

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Last time I shipped something of that value with UPS I had to drive to a shipping center and drop off in person

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I would try another location if you’re set on UPS, as fourthstar already recommended. But DHL or taking a short trip to Germany also sound like great options.

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Grading companies only compensate for the “market value” of the card if something happens before it is graded, rather than potential value, no? I wouldn’t expect shipping companies to do better unfortunately.

In reality, having high quality photos of the card at multiple angles would be enough to get a realistic “appraisal” of the card if it was lost. but I doubt any random company like UPS or Fedex would actually honor that

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Just do what us Americans do and don’t declare a value above 100 buckaroos. Less likely to get stolen. Yolo!

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US and anything lower than Denmark in Europe are low trust societies

In Japan, Korea and China, I wouldn’t even bother insuring anything under 10k, that’s how safe and reliable (and fast) their logistics are. It’s actually amazing how confidence in a country shipping logistics can boost the overall economy.

In France, my strategy is opposite : I would never declare the real value or the content inside ! That’s the best and surest way to get your package content stolen. Already happened to me. The probability of at least one person in the chain contemplating stealing your package is 100%. If it’s close to Christmas don’t even think about it.
Everytime I ship something or wait for a package I know it’s a gamble and there is this 5% chance that things go wrong. Growth of something like cardmarket is crippled by this inability to trust the postal system.

FedEx and UPS are real shit in Europe, but people seem fine with them in the US
What surprised me is the reliability of USPS, I wonder why that is.

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Every time FedEx or UPS mishandles a package, the news agencies hop on it like it’s the hottest news of the decade. It’s always a one-way ticket to immediate disciplinary action for the subject delivery person so I feel they’re discouraged from treating the packages harshly.

For USPS, there is the USPIS, the USPS’ own little law enforcement which upholds the integrity of the service and one of the things they do is catch employees who steal from mail in transit. Being caught by them imposes a stricter punishment than if you were a FedEx or UPS employee.

Of course, mail theft still happens and so does loss of mail for a variety of reasons but it really has not ever happened to me before and I do generally trust them to get my package delivered properly.

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