It’s no secret that Pokémon cards have continued gain popularity and value since their release in 1999. Along with this popularity has come a tremendous amount of value for both old and new Pokémon cards alike. And that value increase is led heavily with Pokémon card grading.
Anyone who has a Pokémon card collection has likely ran across graded cards before. What you might not know is all of the reasons to consider (and not consider) sending them off for grading.
This article will cover everything you should consider before grading your Pokémon cards. So rather than getting into a lengthy summary of what we will cover, we will jump right in!
What is Pokémon Card Grading?
Pokémon card grading refers to a process in which you send a raw card (like the Mew in the picture on the left) to a grading company to designate a “grade” for the card. When it gets returned, it will look like something like the Mew in the picture on the right side.
What Are The Main Reasons To Get My Pokémon Cards Graded?
I’ll go into more detail below, but the reasons that most people decide to get their Pokémon cards graded are as follows.
- To increase the value
- To preserve the card
- To make the card more marketable
- To authenticate it
- Because they like the way it looks
Some of these are pretty self-explanatory, but others deserve an explanation. Let’s dive deeper into some of these below based on our original question.
Should I Get My Pokémon Cards Graded?
The answer to this question depends entirely on your goals. If you just like the way it looks, then there’s minimal reason not to. If your goal is one of the other reasons, then it requires a lot more thought and explanation.
Let’s jump in.
Grading for Value
Let’s be real. The #1 reason why people get their Pokémon cards graded is for value. And I’m willing to bet that your main reason is the same. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
With that being said, grading your Pokémon cards is NOT a guaranteed way to increase the value of them. It does cost money to get your cards graded and people will typically only pay more if the grade is high enough.
If you are new to grading and want to get a rough idea of the grade your cards might get, check out my other article here.
My recommendation before sending your cards in is to search your card name and number through pricecharting.com. I’ve found this to be a great resource as it pulls sold eBay data directly into the site and puts it into an incredibly user friendly graph.
If we take a look at the graph above, we can see how much an average Base Set Charizard #4 sells for. At a grade 8 (as of the time this article was written), its average sold price was $483. A grade 9 sold on average for $1025 and a grade 10 sold on average for $9,684. It’s a pretty massive difference in this case.
And what about the other grades? The prices continue to fall as the grade falls.
So if you’re interested in grading for value? Follow the above process and check the condition and PriceCharting to determine if grading your cards could increase the value of your cards.
Grading for Authentication
Grading your cards can be a great way to also authenticate them at the same time. By getting a card graded, it will automatically authenticate it for potential buyers.
With fake Pokémon cards running rampant, grading is a great way to keep your buyers at ease with their purchase. Obviously, both authenticating and grading a card will still come with a cost, but it may be worth it depending on what you have.
My recommendation here is to grade the card regardless once it crosses a $300-500 threshold. 1st Edition Shadowless Holos, high priced Charizards, Gold Star, and other 1st Editions are typically worth grading, even if the card isn’t in the best condition.
Grading for Protection
There are a few good ways to protect your Pokémon cards, which I actually cover in more detail in another article here. You have sleeves with top loaders, card savers, and of course, binders.
All of the above are great ways to keep your Pokémon cards protected. However, another one of those options is grading.
Grading your Pokémon cards is the best way to preserve their condition over a long period of time.
Every other method has some protection, but allows the card to be removed and touched or played with again. Grading is the only method that puts the card in a permanent case that is unremovable and safe from play and other elements.
One bonus is that every grading companies cases stack nicely (with their own companies cases) so that they can be stored effectively. So if you’re interested in protecting your cards, grading is a fantastic way to go!
Grading for Marketability
Let’s say you are thinking about grading your cards for marketability. I.e. you believe that by grading them, they will get more attention and therefore sell faster.
I would tell you that may be true in some sense, it would probably not make financial sense in most cases. Let’s say you have a regular base set Wartortle, you get it graded, and it comes back a 7. That $2 card has now become worth $12, but the grading cost you at least $15. So will it sell quicker? Probably so. But will it have been worth your time and efforts? Probably not.
Even if we take a higher level card, I would still point to the value ultimately being the bigger driver. Higher prices mean more interest, which means more dollars, which means it will market itself better.
So should you grade cards for marketability? I would point to grading again for value which is driven by the cards inherit marketability. Higher grades = higher prices = more interest and faster sales.
The Look
Some people like the look of cards in a binder. And I agree that a sweet set of Pokémon cards lined up in a binder is pretty dang cool.
You know what’s also sweet though? Having a card you really like being nicely displayed in a case particularly made for that card. It’s like putting a nice frame around a painting. It just makes the card pop.
So if you have a card you like and want to preserve it or just like the look of graded cards? Do it. Collecting and trading the cards should be fun. If for no other reason, do it because you will like it and will appreciate it. I think everyone can agree we are all here for that.
Companies to Grade Your Pokémon Cards With
There are a lot of companies who CAN grade your Pokémon cards. That being said, there are really only 3 in the U.S. that are worth grading with for value and resell ability.
PSA
PSA is regarded as the gold standard for Pokémon Card grading. Their slabs resell for good money across all sellers and they are a highly reputable company.
If you’re looking to get your cards graded, PSA is never a bad choice.
BGS / Beckett
BGS, aka Beckett, is right in line with PSA as far as reputation and card values. There are a few main differences worth noting though.
BGS is regarded as a tougher grader and will not be as “lenient” as PSA with the centering of cards. With that though, their BGS 9.5 sells for almost as much as a PSA 10 in a lot of cases.
BGS has sub-grades, which you can see in the picture above. People also typically agree that the sub-grades and label is nicer looking than PSA. Part of that also means that they have half-grades vs PSA who only grades on a 1-10 scale.
BGS has a highly regarded “Black Label” slab which is used on cards that have a perfect 10 rating for all categories. These cards are few and far between and will sell for a significant premium over a PSA 10.
CGC
CGC is not a new company, but their reputation in Pokémon cards has grown substantially in recent years. Where they used to be far less valued than the other two, I’ve seen CGC equal and even surpass some PSA and BGS labels in value.
That being said, CGC had a big merger with CSG in 2023 that changed a lot of things. It changed their grading scales, their slabs, and a few other details which you can read about in more detail in the link above.
It’s still yet to be seen what those changes will do but it’s definitely made a splash and changed their standing in the market. Back to the original points though.
They tend to be far faster on returns than the other two companies and some people prefer the look of their slabs over the other two as well (old and new). They have gathered quite a following and are definitely worth looking into as a card grader for your collection.
Additional Pokémon Card Grading Considerations
Below are some other factors worth considering when asking if you should get your cards graded. Some of it was eluded to above, but is worth covering in more detail.
Cost of Grading
As you might have guessed, grading cards is not free. You can typically expect to pay a minimum of $15 per card to get them graded. With most companies though, that is the cheapest if you also send at least 25 cards. If you don’t have that many to grade and you want to do it yourself, you might be looking at $25 per card.
One other way to keep cost low is to get the cards graded through your LCS (local card shop). A lot of the time, they get discounted rates on grading but have to send in a certain amount to keep that benefit. They will also send them in for you to make it easier.
Effort of Grading
If you have never done it before, sending in cards for grading can be somewhat time consuming. You need packaging for the cards, boxes to send them in, and you need to spend the time on the grading companies website to enter in the cards you are sending particularly.
Luckily none of that is too difficult, but it can certainly take time, effort, and additional cost.
I’ll use my same suggestion as the above and you can see if it is applicable to you. Check your LCS (local card store) and see if they do grading submissions. You can send it through them at a reasonable cost and they will take care of all of the shipping, submitting, and otherwise.
Time to Get Grading Back
This may or may not be a big deal to you, but it’s certainly worth knowing. In paying for the lowest cost grading return, it will typically take between 30-120 days to get your Pokémon cards back from the grading company.
PSA’s expected return time posted to their website is 65 days. In my experience, it has taken more than that in both cases. CGC is closer to 30 and BGS is between them both, assuming lowest cost grading option.
You can pay more to get them returned faster, but that pricing scales quickly and won’t always make sense for you and your cards.
Good Rules of Thumb for Pokémon Card Grading
If you take nothing else away from this article, take away these three points as I believe they will apply effectively to most people.
Vintage Vs. New
Pokémon cards were actually played with when they originally came out. Very few people actually held onto them and almost no-one expected them to jump in price the way they have. And while grading was a thing, it wasn’t nearly as popular at that point in time.
Nowadays, it seems that nearly everyone is ripping packs and immediately putting them in a sleeve or binder. So the majority of newer cards are being held rather than played with, which means any wear on newer cards will drastically reduce the value as everyone expects them to be pristine.
My guidance here is this. If you are grading vintage cards (think anything made before 2005), then a 7 or higher grade is typically worth it. If you are grading cards after that point and most certainly the more recent sets, they are only worth grading if they will get a 9 or 10. Anything less than that and the card will be more valuable to sell raw.
And if you are curious if Pokémon cards might be a good investment? I’ve got you covered here.
Only Grade if it Will Grade Well
You probably got this from the last section, but it’s worth restating. Only consider getting cards graded that will grade well. While there is a random market for PSA 1’s, the majority of buyers will pay more for higher grades. Anything less than a 7 is typically not worth the time and money. That being said, it brings us to our next point.
Only Grade if the Card is Worth It
The only exception to the last point is if the card itself is rare and highly sought after. Fake cards are coming into the market at an alarming rate, so grading to validate that your super rare card is real can definitely be worth it.
Summary
There you have it. All of the main thoughts and considerations when getting your cards graded.
Want to see some of the most expensive Dragonite cards on the market? Look no further.
Curious about some expensive cards that actually look really cheap? Got you covered there too.
Not sure what’s in all of the Pokémon products your buying? I cover them all here.
If I missed anything or if you have any comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected]!
Thanks for reading!