Are Psa Graded Cards Worth More
This doesnt mean that having a card graded by PSA will always increase its value Only certain cards in certain condition will see a significant boost in value if graded by PSA. Generally, the older a card is and the better its condition, the more it makes sense to have it graded from a valuation standpoint.
How Will My Cards Be Graded
Each of these card grading companies has its own grading scores and sub-grades or qualifiers. And although their ratings are almost the same, each one would still hold different values in the marketplace.
Meaning, a GEM-MT 10 Charizard graded by PSA would sell higher than a Pristine 10 Charizard from CGC. This is because PSA is the more trusted and reputable grading company between the two.
But, In a nutshell, your Pokemon cards will be graded on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 being the lowest card grade you can receive.
Below are the things card graders would evaluate when you give your card for grading:
Who To Send Your Card To
PSA operates out of Southern California. At the risk of providing information that is not specific to you, you should use the shipping address and method that matches the official PSA submission address as listed below:
Addresses and shipping methods may be subject to change with time. International submissions may also require unique shipping methods. Use the most current, personalized information when shipping your cards to PSA.
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What Is The Psa Test
Prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, is a protein produced by normal, as well as malignant, cells of the prostate gland. The PSA test measures the level of PSA in a mans blood. For this test, a blood sample is sent to a laboratory for analysis. The results are usually reported as nanograms of PSA per milliliter of blood.
The blood level of PSA is often elevated in men with prostate cancer, and the PSA test was originally approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1986 to monitor the progression of prostate cancer in men who had already been diagnosed with the disease. In 1994, FDA approved the use of the PSA test in conjunction with a digital rectal exam to test asymptomatic men for prostate cancer. Men who report prostate symptoms often undergo PSA testing to help doctors determine the nature of the problem.
In addition to prostate cancer, a number of benign conditions can cause a mans PSA level to rise. The most frequent benign prostate conditions that cause an elevation in PSA level are prostatitis and benign prostatic hyperplasia . There is no evidence that prostatitis or BPH leads to prostate cancer, but it is possible for a man to have one or both of these conditions and to develop prostate cancer as well.
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Why Have Pokmon Cards Graded
First: Graded Cards can sell for a lot more than ungraded cards! If you want to buy a mint, First Edition Charizard on eBay, you have two choices. You can either buy an ungraded card, and trust the seller when he says the card is mint. Or you can buy a graded, sealed card and know the card is truly mint. Some buyers will take a chance on ungraded cards, while others will pay more to get exactly what they want.
A Pristine 10 Charizard sold for $311,800 USD in March 2021!
Graded cards in mint condition always sell for more than ungraded cards!
Second: The Encapsulation itself is actually very nice and it protects the card very well. There are several ways to protect your cards at home, but none are foolproof. Encapsulation is one of the better ways to protect your most valuable cards.
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Card & Autograph Dual Reholder Pricing
Out with the old, in with the new when you select our Reholder service for your Dual Service cards. Choose the service level based on the type of card holder that you wish to Reholder.
with demand.
Any declared value.
Please note: All items will be automatically reholdered UNLESS the sonic weld on the PSA case shows signs of tampering or the PSA case is fractured over the item itself. If the case is fractured over/near the item, it will be examined raw to ensure it has not sustained damage and that the original grade is still valid.
How Professional Sports Authenticator Grades Pokemon Cards
Professional Sports Authenticator sits atop the card grading ladder. They are the choice grader for most collectors of cards especially Pokemon collectors.
However, with the reignited popularity of Pokemon cards last 2020, their servicing has slowed down, and getting your cards graded will take months to be completed. They are also the most expensive grader among the 3 options.
If this is MasterChef, then PSA is Gordon Ramsay, and having a GEM-MT 10 card means cooking the most tender, juiciest, and most flavourful Kobe steak, with a side of caviar and truffle sauce.
So, how strict is PSA really? Their website is very transparent when it comes to their grading standards, but let us sum it up for you!
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Should You Get Your Pokmon Cards Graded
This is a tough question to answer. Usually it does not make sense to have a card graded unless it is very old, valuable, and in Near Mint Condition or better. Newer cards fit in here too if they are rare, desirable, or chase cards. A chase card is usually a bonus insert that might is not part of the set.
We would say if your card is very collectable card, and worth over $100 you might want to consider getting it graded. And we would usually only send cards out if you think they will receive a score of 8, 9 or a 10. If its super rare and valuable, a 7 would be a good score too! Caveat: Any Base Set Charizard, Blastoise or Venusaur is worth grading, no matter what condition they are in. A PSA 2, non-first edition Charizard sold for $850 in November 2020!
Check out our Pokemon Price Guide to check current values on cards.
Check the Completed Sales section on eBay and find the prices that cards have actually sold for, not what they are listed at. First-Edition, Base Set Holographic Pokémon Cards sell at great prices. As do chase cards from many of the sets.
How To Package Your Card
PSA recommends storing each card in a flexible card pouch and then placing the card in a tougher, semi-rigid plastic sleeve . It explicitly states that you should not use screw-down or snap cases, as doing so can delay the time it takes for you to receive a grade.
Stack your cards on top of each other. Place a piece of cardboard at the bottom of the pile. The cardboard barrier should be slightly larger than the size of your cards.
The card at the top of the stack should correspond with the first item on your card submission form. If your cards are not in proper order, PSA reserves the right of shipping your items back to you without a refund for the cost of shipping.
Place another cardboard barrier on top of your stack. At this point, your stack should be encapsulated by cardboard barriers on top and bottom.
Keep the cards in place by wrapping rubber bands around the stack. Use the Goldy Locks methodnot too tight, not too loose.
Place your stack of cards in bubble wrap, packing popcorn, or other materials that prevent movement within a cardboard box. Remember to include two paper copies of your submission form. Seal the box, apply the shipping label, and also apply the Submission ID label that PSA will provide you.
Drop the package off at your shipper of choice , and wait anxiously for your cards to be graded.
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No 5 1999 Pokmon Super Secret Battle No 1 Trainer Card Psa 10
The card was designed by Hideki Kazam displaying the outline of Mewtwo on the left filled in with a holographic shine. On the right is a Pokéball with the words Pocket Monsters Trading Card Game surrounding it and Super Secret Battle printed below. The card reads The Pokémon Card Game Official Tournaments champion is recognized here, and this honor is praised. By presenting this card, you may gain preferential entry into the Secret Super Battle. According to Heritage Auctions there were seven regional tournaments in which the winners received this card along with the location to compete in a secret tournament. Hence the name: Super Secret Battle. There are only seven examples graded through PSA with six of the cards in PSA Gem-Mint 10 condition. Only a select few players ever earned this card which helped it reach its $90,000 APR.
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How To Get Pokemon Cards Graded
The condition rating of a Pokemon trading card is of utmost importance when determining its value.
Other than long-time collectors, the majority of Pokemon fans wouldnt know how to go about getting a card graded. A Pokemon cards quality is determined by a professional examining almost every aspect of it, including the corners, edges, front, back, reflectiveness , and centering.
Having a card rated for quality and encased by a grading company will not only give it added protection, but also increase its value. Heres how to get a Pokemon card graded.
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Is The Card Market A Bubble Ready To Pop
Everyone Marketplace spoke with gave us mostly the same assessment: prices for some cards will probably decrease eventually, but theyre not going to tank so badly that the entire market will crash.
The degree of the decline and when will depend on the type of card, according to Eugene Smith. The vintage cards released back in the 90s are no longer being printed and are basically part of history now, meaning many of them will likely continue to have value.
But because grading companies like PSA are still going through a backlog of cards, Smith thinks there will be an increase in supply.
Then post-holidays, theres going to be far less consumer spending happening. Its pretty much a perfect scenario for a decrease a correction, Smith said of the Pokémon vintage card market.
Garcia agrees that prices will eventually level off, although he doesnt think theyll dip that drastically.
Pokémon is one of those things thats never gone out of style, he said.
Since Pokémon first launched on the GameBoy in 1996, the franchise has spawned the trading card game, a wildly popular anime series that continues to run new episodes, dozens of console games and Pokémon Go, which was The Summer Event of 2016 and helped add $7.5 billion in market value to Nintendo within 48 hours.
Many collectors, like Caitlin Sidhu, Kalvin Foley and Jason A., became Pokémon fans when they were kids, proving its longevity.
Current Psa Grading Wait Time
PSA tends to take ages at the best of times. While they recently released the following statement on their website: PSA is experiencing a high volume of submissions, and as a result, submission processing times have been impacted. PSA is currently experiencing extensive delays, from the time of delivery to the time of order processing entry.
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How To Submit To Psa
So, there are actually a few options here.
For starters, a common misconception is that a membership is required to submit cards to PSA, this is simply not true. Having a membership allows you access to additional service levels, bulk options and the monthly specials. Bulk service levels are where you submit many cards, currently a minimum of twenty and pay a low price in exchange for a very long wait. For context, my earliest one of these still at PSA is from June and I have no expectation of receiving it back any time soon. The bulk service level is still a great thing to utilize, as it does let you submit cards at a lower cost. As for the monthly specials, most of the time they are not going to benefit you at all. This is because they are based on a quarterly rotating system and they often dont involve Pokemon, meaning that they would not be of use. They always benefit someone out there, which is great for grading, but that someone is not always you.
Without a membership, you still have access to all the faster and more expensive of course, service levels. This means you can submit your cards, monitor their progress and have full control over the entire experience without paying the yearly membership fee. If you are not going to take advantage of some of the lower service levels, there is no reason to pay the membership and doing this is a fine option.
Prepare To Be Disappointed With Your Grades
It is really difficult to get cards graded 9s or 10s. Especially on older cards. Cards need to be centered perfectly. The have to be cut perfectly. They cant have dings to the corners, or white edges, or surface scratches. There can be no roughness on the face or edges. Look closely at the holofoil artwork for Any Scratches. Turn the card over, and look for any whiteness around the blue edges.
Many older cards you might think are perfect seem to come back as 7s or 8s. 10s basically have to be protected from the get-go taken directly from a booster pack and highly protected immediately. Most people werent doing that 20 years ago. Ive sent in about 30 cards myself and maybe got two to three cards rated 10. And these were all cards that went right from boosters to binders .
You should understand that 7s and 8s and 9s are still really good scores though! Those are Near Mint or better! Whether its comic books, coins or Pokemon Cards the higher the score, the better the selling price.
For reference here are actual average sales prices on 1st Edition Base Set Charizards on eBay March 2021
PSA 10 $311,800 Mar 2021BGS 9 $64,000 Feb 2021PSA 8 $25,000 Mar 2021PSA 7 $15,000 Mar 2021BGS 6 $14,500 Feb 2021PSA 5 $9,000 Mar 2021PSA 2 $4,000 Mar2021
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Beckett Pokemon Card Grading Scale
Beckett has a more in-depth process, giving subgrades for the four key factors mentioned above. Their range runs from a Poor 1 to a Pristine 10.
Interestingly, they also have an elite level above that called a Black Label Pristine 10 for cards that score 10 for all the subgrades. As you can imagine, these cards are highly sought-after and valuable.
See here for more info on grading your Pokemon cards with Beckett.
Why Go For Psa
Without a doubt, PSA is the biggest name when it comes to grading and authentication services. Collectors have flocked to this company to have their respective cards graded. One good reason for this trend is because a PSA-graded card, more often than not, sells higher than its BGS counterpart.
Lets take a look at one of the hottest cards in the marketDallas Mavericks star Luka Doncics 2018 Prizm base rookie card. A PSA 10 of this card was last sold on eBay for $1,350. Meanwhile, a BGS 9.5, which is widely considered as its direct competitor, only goes for $900 recently. Thats a $450-difference PSA fans enjoy over those who opted for BGS. Its also a trend thats prevalent in other sports card markets.
BGS vs PSA? The numbers dont lie.
Dave Guido
Of course, getting a pristine 10 is the best-case scenario when choosing BGS. A Doncic Prizm rookie card with that kind of grade was recently sold on eBay for $8,950. The thing is, its pretty hard to get that grade from BGS while its a little easier with PSA. The same goes for buying a graded 10 card as well, with PSA coming out on top of BGS.
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Criteria Psa Uses To Grade Your Card
Your card is considered perfect until flaws come into play. Flaws that could decrease the grade of your card include:
- the card being miscut
- a defect in the way that your card is printed
- a card being stained
- a card having damaged edges or corners
- a card having blemishes, also known as marks
- a card image being out of focus
How Beckett Grading Services Grades Pokemon Cards
Beckett Grading Services was established as a card collecting pricing guide. However, in 2001, they started their grading services. Although they are best-known for MTG card grading, most Pokemon card collectors still consider a BGS 10 as the gold standard in card collecting.
On their website, BGS claims to offer a simple grading scale. Like mentioned, they use a 1 to 10-point grading scale, with descending increments of one-half point.
| 10 |
| 8.5 |
The reason that this card received an 8.5 is that even though the Surface grade was an 8 , the 9.5 grades on Centering and Corners were strong enough to bring it up a full point to reach the 8.5 level.
Most Pokemon card collectors would say that BGS is the most accessible and affordable choice for them which is true. However, this grading system shows us that the company still keeps its integrity in meticulously grading your cards.
In fact, they gave us a sneak peek and a walk-through of their process, which you can read here.
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