I’m sure this question has been asked dozens of times on this forum but I couldn’t find anything. Additionally, Google search’s return information about PSA prostate cancer testing. Both depressing and frustrating.
What does PSA insurance cover?
I’ll divide the PSA process into 3 parts.
Shipping raw cards to PSA
PSA has custody and is grading
PSA shipping graded cards to customers
I assume it atleast covers parts 2 and 3. I am trying to find out if I need to pay for additional insurance for cards as they are being shipped to PSA(Part 1).
Part 2 and 3: PSA insures the cards for tge declared value you have stated on the submission form. That being said, in case a card gets lost or destroyed they are obviously not gonna pay you $1000 for a $10 card even if you stated $1000 on the submission form. But if your declared value is more or less accurate that‘s what you‘d be reimbursed.
On return shipping PSA marks the grading fees as declared value but I think they use an additional insurance separately.
Part 1: is entirely up to you. Your package is insured for the decalred value on the package (not the submission form). Certain services have insurance caps however, for example USPS I believe has a cap. Couriers like Fedex have no cap and what you declare the package for is what it is insured for. But the higher the declared value of the package the more expensive the shipping fees. You could of course undervalue the declaration of the package and make a shipping insurance with a third party. Not sure if that is cheaper though.
Just to add to this point and make it more explicit, according to their terms of service, PSA will reimburse the “fair market value” of the item unless your declared value is less than the “fair market value”. If that’s the case, they will only reimburse up to the declared value.
In my experiences they are reasonable around this though and make exceptions.
I declared a PSA 9 gold star charizard that I sent in for review at $200. This was because it was creased and in my mind in it’s state it was worth around $200 generously. We ended up agreeing on something like $1k value and since it came back a PSA 5 after review we also negotiated the value for that.
Another example was further back a few old school ex’s I graded. I think I used to declare about $10-$15 or so for those as that was roughly what raw nm/m copies would be. I had a few pack fresh that I cracked from boxes that came back PSA 10 but with bad corner creases. They ended up paying me more like $50 a pop for those as even though raw I only valued them at $10-$15, once in the PSA 10 state they were worth more.
I haven’t experienced it yet, and I’d hope nobody including myself ever would, but I would be fairly certain for between part #2 and #3 they would insure at fair market value even if it’s above the declared value. E.g. Say I am submitting a bunch of raw, mint pack fresh base unlimited zards. Nobody in their right mind is going to assume they are getting 10’s and pay the crazy fee for $1,000+ declared cards when they are likely coming back 8/9’s, but if you get a random 10, and then somehow that is lost before transit back to you I am sure they would pay out the full market value. I think @ozenigma went through a situation where a PSA submission was graded and then lost before shipment, but I am unsure of if/how that ever resolved.
Good to know they are more flexible in practice. I’m guessing if you cracked a psa 9 1st ed charizard and submitted it in a bulk order valued at $1, they’d be less forgiving if it was damaged though haha
I’d like to extend a big thanks to you four. I was able to create a package, and take it to the USPS office to send it via registered mail. I was able to send it out before the weekend and my hair will no longer be turning gray from this PSA submission.
Just adding my two cents, PSA will not reimburse you a dollar more than your declared value, regardless of how at fault they are for losing / destroying your cards.
I’ve had long discussions with customer service and management about this and they are adamant about this.
It doesn’t matter if the card values have gone up since they’ve been at PSA. It doesn’t matter if they were lost / damaged after receiving their grades.
Declared value is king, ensure that value is correct.
This makes sense from the side of PSA as they probably have insurance coverage on their end as well. So PSA will insure cards for the declared value with their third party insurance.
That really sucks to hear man. Sorry about that. Literally the worst case scenario.
As I said though in my own anecdotal evidence they have indeed gone above the declared value. One was a very specific circumstance where it was a creased PSA 9 gold star charizard. I declared it at $200 and they tried doing me dirty and saying “well we will send the check for $200 today”. LOL. I said nah dude, that is a $1k card as graded but $200 as it should be graded (ended up going to PSA 5). They paid me $800 via reducing my ~800 currently submitted cards by $1 per card grading fee.
I also had another anecdote where my cards were declared at $20 and were gem mint pack pulled old school ex’s. I had a few that came back 10’s with creases. They paid me $40 per card on them as that was the rough PSA 10 value. I said to them on the phone that I would refuse anything less than $40 per card, and it was only 2-3 cards so they possibly did a small concession to keep me happy due to my volume and the very low value we were dealing with. (Only a $60 difference between declared value and the market value they paid me).
So yeah just wanted to share that. It sucks, but is a reality that if it was a submission from someone larger it almost certainly would have likely been taken care of more reasonably. The takeaway message you left couldn’t be stressed enough though. I always submit values knowing that it is very possible that I will not be getting any of those cards back, but only a check for the total declared value. I always make sure that is enough to cover the worst case scenario to the extent of what I paid for them though I know it would never be sufficient to cover the heartbreak.
I think there are always going to cases where some people feel they are completely screwed and others where they feel PSA did a great job with compensation.
It’s really hard for me to make comment because I’m still, in fact, dealing with the fallout of that situation that happened in July and the “compensation” they offered me. In the past, PSA has been fairly generous with me when they cased three cards creating three huge indents. So much so that the cards still actually arrived in the holder part near where the label sits. I nearly vomited at how negligent the encapsulator was. PSA dealt with that specific scenario promptly and went beyond my expectations for compensation.
Fast forward to today where two ridiculous errors made by a PSA employee has left me (and four of my submitters) without their cards. $2,340USD (declared value among 11 cards) worth of cards apparently just vanished. PSA played such hardball with this, it’s probably the only time I’ve ever felt strong-armed in my life. That being said, they acted in accordance with their own policy, and for that I feel like I can’t complain.
In short, don’t expect anything over declared. Because you may just get shafted, especially if you under declare (which I didn’t, but there’s a tonne more to this story of mine).