I know that there has been discussions in the past about whether or not to insure your collection, or if buying a home safe without insurance or using a third-party vault is the best way to go. However, assuming that insuring a collection is the best course of action, do you have any suggestions as to how to get an appraisal? Specifically, I am looking for a company or person that can perform an appraisal on high-end foreign language sealed product and graded cards that have little to no sales data in the past 3+ years. I live in the United States.
Its tough. Talk to the intended insurance company to see what kind of appraiser theyd accept an appraisal from. A local cardshop owner may be able to suffice or maybe youd need someone with a specific certification. Reaching out to a local museum to see how they get their pieces appraised may also be helpful. Perhaps it isnt technically insurable as a specific item but more a as general collection insurance.
Good luck! I hope theres an eventual update of your solution.
I use https://collectinsure.com/ but honestly I just figured some insurance was better than none, and I only insure a modest amount (up to $10k in collectibles) – so I’m not even sure if this is the best route for my humble collection.
Despite my shitposting in another thread about it, I do in fact audit my collection periodically, have a spreadsheet with all my graded and bindered cards, recent photos of the collection, etc. Verrrry interested in the topic though since I’m obviously winging it.
Thanks Zork, I’ll look into it! It definitely seems a little scary to trust a website/far away company to handle insurance vs a local insurance place that I can go see in person. Overall, that may be the solution though.
I would talk with any insurance company you are looking at first and make sure of the reporting requirements (proof of owning what you’re saying), and requirements for any appraisers doing appraisals. With PSA inventory is easy as you can just log the certs into their app and track it that way. Any higher value cards also come with a PSA appraisal value automatically, so most companies will accept that at face value. For sealed items it’s a lot trickier, as you’ll need to know what types of reporting the insurance company specifically wants, and what type of appraiser/appraisal that they require. I’ve been doing appraisals for PWCC for two and a half years now, but some insurance companies won’t use mine or one from most card shops because we’re not a part of the the different appraiser’s association.
There’s lots of different things to consider, and make sure you get EVERYTHING in writing.
I’m really interested in what people have to say about collectinsure.com. I’ve been talking to a rep from their company for the last month or two and probably asking them way too many questions.
Their rep told me they only require documented proof for cards/collectibles for any single items that exceed a value of $25k. They don’t require an overall collection appraisal because “collectors’ collections are changing all the time and that would be unrealistic.” They also don’t require a catalog of your collection unless it’s a complete set.
I’m skeptical as hell because it sounds too good to be true, which is why I haven’t pulled the trigger. If anyone has any experience using them and trying to file a claim, I’d love to hear it.
I think I asked them pretty much every question under the sun so if anyone has a specific question, I can tell you what their reps told me.
The following are excluded from our coverage: Government seizure or destruction of property; war and nuclear hazards; gradual deterioration such as fading, creasing or denting; nesting, infestation or discharge or release of waste products or secretions by insects, rodents or other animals; dampness or dryness of atmosphere; changes in or extremes of temperature other than fire; fraudulent, dishonest or criminal acts; voluntary parting with covered property; loss or damage while being worked on by you or others working on your behalf; and mysterious disappearance. This is not a complete list of exclusions and exclusions can vary by policy.
I would be curious what their TCG policy-specific exclusions are.
Basically from what I’ve gathered, as long as your collection’s location is part of “scheduled premises” then it covers most natural disaster things (including fire), theft, robbery, loss in mail being shipped to or from you (only get full coverage if it’s registered mail or signature required, for other shipping types, they have different sub-limits), and other damage by pets/kids/etc. They asked me how I store my things, whether things are in safes, whether it’s stored above ground, and a bunch of other stuff to be able to calculate their quote.
Matter of fact, here’s the full general coverage form I got from them. I feel like they need to compensate me at this point
I do use it for part of my collection, but I don’t feel comfortable recommending it because I’ve never had to actually file a claim so I can’t comment on their process for payouts. One big perk is the shipping insurance for express mail is included and has high limits so I mainly use it for peace of mind. If I ever have to file a shipping or other claim I will share my experience.
There are a lot of really mixed reviews of that company. Just search “collectinsure reddit” on Google and read through some of the results. Hard to figure out when a claim is not paid out or underpaid whether it is a fair judgment but I do see the sentiment reiterated that it’s hard to get a payout should something happen. It looks like they often drop customers if a claim goes through too which is interesting
It also seems a bit pricey. I checked a couple companies and it would cost me 1-2k yearly to insure my collection
If anyone decides to go this route I’d really suggest reading over in high detail exactly what is covered and how best to document and obtain a valuation your collection, especially for individual high dollar items
Very timely post, I’ve also been talking to a rep at collectinsure recently. Glad to hear that ZandG has liked them! I consigned some stuff with them lately so I guess I indirectly had their coverage as well
