More and more Collectors don’t want to handle submission bureaucracy, shipping and insurance anymore to get their beloved cards graded. Consequently, card grading middleman or “official agents” are very popular in Europe. Moreover, some middleman even live-stream submissions and returns on their YouTube or Twitch channel. Certainly, a great experience for collectors to watch and celebrate their card submission with others. Sounds like a carefree service. So which grading middleman are available in Europe / UK?
Answer:
In Europe and UK, PSA official agents / middleman are “Ludkins Collectables” and “GradedGem“. To clarify, collectors can send them their ungraded cards and they will handle the rest of the grading process with PSA. However, there are no official agents out there for Beckett, CGC or SGC. But there are other non-official but well established middleman services like “PokeGeoDude” out there that also offer carefree grading services for PSA, BGS and CGC.
Topics of this blog post:
- What is a card grading middleman service?
- Card grading middleman in Europe / UK
- EU / UK prices for middleman grading services
- Turnaround times for EU / UK middleman grading services
- Conclusion
What is a card grading middleman service?
During the last 5-8 years, various middleman services have been established in the U.S. to handle card submissions for grading. Same applies for Europe and the United Kingdom.
In other words, middleman handle the submission process for you. All you need to do is to send them your raw cards and wait for return. And of course, pay the services fees per submission.
This is very convenient for collectors from EU / UK countries as they don’t need to get a headache about submitting, shipping and insuring their cards when sending to the big U.S. grading companies.
Card grading middleman in Europe / UK
In Europe and UK, Ludkins Collectables and GradedGem have established a strong clientship. Most importantly, both are PSA official agents. A key aspect when it comes to creating trustworthiness. Especially for rare and high price trading cards.
Ludkins Collectables and GradedGem advertise with fast turnaround times, high standard insurance, and best value for money. In addition, they offer pre-grading services even before submitting the cards to PSA. Depending on the service (e.g. standard, express), they submit to PSA in fixed monthly or weekly slots.
Another well established middleman is PokeGeoDude providing services for PSA, Beckett and CGC. PokeGeoDude is based in Germany and since 2020 a Ludkins Collectables partner.
Compared to Ludkins Collectables and GradedGem, PokeGeoDude is not an PSA official partner but offering a wider service spectrum.
Services available:
| Middleman service for: | Ludkins Collectables | GradedGem | PokeGeoDude |
| PSA | Yes (official) | Yes (official) | Yes |
| BGS | – | – | Yes |
| CGC | – | – | Yes |
| SGC | – | – | – |
Lastly, all EU / UK middleman help you to get your cards graded at the biggest U.S. grading companies.
Submission and return live stream:
Very popular events in the community are live submission and return streams. In other words, you can watch your cards on YouTube or Twitch and get a first glance on what others think about them. Moreover, you will see what cards are currently quite popular for submission. An important factors when it comes to the overall population and your future decisions.
| Middleman | YouTube | Twitch |
| Ludkins Collectables | – | – |
| GradedGem | Yes | – |
| PokeGeoDude | Yes | Yes |
EU / UK prices for middleman grading services
Middleman services are a great and by far the cheapest option to get your cards graded. Especially, if you just send in your cards sporadically and want to make sure that everything is going smooth. Key benefit of using a middleman is the lower service price per card. Without a membership you can make use of cheaper grading fees as middleman send in big organized submissions.
Ludkins Collectables / GradedGem prices:
Update pending! Currently no price information available for Ludkins Collectables and GradedGem:
- Ludkins Collectabes: From April 1st until July 1st 2021 closed for submission due to the ongoing PSA service suspension.
- GradedGem: Currently closed for submission due to the ongoing PSA service suspension.
PokeGeoDude prices:
PokeGeoDude is offering a wide range of middleman services covering PSA, Beckett and CGC. Moreover, you can get your cards pre-graded by PokeGeoDude for 2,99€ each.
All prices include import duties, express shipping fees and grading cost:
| PSA | Middleman price (per card) |
| Standard | 23,49€ – 29,49€ |
| Express | 119,99€ |
| Express Plus | 179,99€ |
| Super Express | 329,99€ |
| BGS | Middleman price (per card) |
| Standard | 29,99€ (excl. sub-grades) 49,99€ (incl. sub-grades) |
| Express | 139,99€ (excl. sub-grades) 199,99€ (incl. sub-grades) |
| CGC | Middleman price (per card) |
| Bulk | 19,99€(excl. sub-grades) 29,99€ (incl. sub-grades) |
| Standard | 39,99€ (excl. sub-grades) 49,99€ (incl. sub-grades) |
| Express | 79,99€ (excl. sub-grades) 89,99€ (incl. sub-grades) |
Additionally, the submission and return live stream of your cards is for free. Excluded are return shipping cost as well as additional value charges.
Lastly, everything comes with a price. On average, the carefree grading service costs 52% more for PSA,76% more for Beckett, and 32% more for CGC grading tiers.
Turnaround times for EU / UK middleman grading services
In short, the expected turnaround times when using a middleman are the same as directly submitted by yourself to an U.S. grading company.
Overall, middleman offer a well organized and structured submission process.
But make sure to send in your cards timely to make sure that they are included in the next submission of the respective middleman. Otherwise you may risk to add additional waiting time.
Ludkins Collectables / GradedGem Turnaround Times:
Update pending! Currently no turnaround information available for Ludkins Collectables and GradedGem.
PokeGeoDude Turnaround Times:
PokeGeoDude is providing following turnaround information:
| PSA Service | Turnaround time |
| Standard | 14+ months |
| Express | 25 business days |
| Express Plus | 15 business days |
| Super Express | 2 business days |
| BGS Service | Turnaround time |
| Standard | 8+ months |
| Express | 1 – 2 months |
| CGC Service | Turnaround time |
| Bulk | 6 months |
| Standard | 3 months |
| Express | 4 weeks |
Conclusion
In conclusion, middleman are an easy and cheap option to get your cards graded. Especially in Europe as none of the big U.S grading companies is providing local services. Moreover, they remove bureaucracy and reduce uncertainty when sending your beloved and valuable cards overseas. Nevertheless, make sure to stick with well established middleman services that are partnering with the U.S. grading companies.
How do you submit your cards? Please let me know in the comment section below!
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