Why is PSA 10 so expensive?

PSA grading is expensive because they use a 10-point grading process to grade and value cards. Not every grading company has such an extensive grading process. Since PSA does, it makes its services a bit more expensive.

Are PSA 10 worth buying?

PSA 10s are worth about 3.5x as much as PSA 9. So if you're getting your cards graded, that means you score big with a 10. If you're buying, it means you'll be shelling out the big bucks to a Gem Mint 10.

Why is it so hard to get a PSA 10?

It's hard to get a PSA 10 rating for your card. To get that rating, your card would have to be perfect in almost every regard when it comes to grading standards. This means that it would have to have perfect corners, centering, surface, and all other aspects also need to be perfected.

How expensive is a PSA 10?

PSA Card Authentication & Grading Pricing

For PSA's Value services, their most basic tier, it cost $20/card, though there is a minimum submission of 10 cards, with a cap of $499 declared value.

How much value does a PSA 10 add to a card?

Compared to raw cards, the PSA 10 sells for about 7x more. That's a big difference! Comparatively, the BGS 9.5 only sells for about 3.5x as much. PSA 9s are worth 2x as much as the raw card.

Are PSA 10s Overpriced? A Deep Dive Into The BGS/PSA Price Difference

Is it worth getting cards graded by PSA?

And while many card grading authenticators and grading systems exist, PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) is the most reputable name in the business. PSA has verified more than 40 million sports cards cumulatively worth over $1 billion to earn this level of trust with collectors.

What is the oldest PSA 10 card?

Manufactured in 1910, this Ty Cobb E98 Red card has remained perfectly preserved since, and is believed to be one of the most scarce and well-conditioned pre-war cards in circulation. Only two Ty Cobb E98 PSA Gem Mint 10's are known to exist in the world.

How many PSA 10 exist?

The 1961 Topps Baseball set has a gem rate of just 0.3%, making PSA 10s rare despite the large population (just 1,024 total PSA 10s). The most popular and highest graded card in the set is the #300 Mickey Mantle, which received just 2 gems out of 8,321 cards submitted.

Can a PSA 10 have any flaws?

A PSA Gem Mint 10 card is a virtually perfect card. Attributes include four perfectly sharp corners, sharp focus and full original gloss. A PSA Gem Mint 10 card must be free of staining of any kind, but an allowance may be made for a slight printing imperfection, if it doesn't impair the overall appeal of the card.

Is it better to buy PSA 9 or 10?

The Price Differences In Graded Pokémon Cards

Using the PSA Price Guide, a PSA 10 of this card is valued at around $375,000. In comparison, a PSA 9 drops down to around $20,000. That is a huge drop in value for just one number, and depending on the collector, a 9 could be just as good as a 10.

Is a BGS 9.5 equal to a PSA 10?

PSA 10 sells for more than double a “true gem” BGS 9.5. A “true gem” 9.5 sells for more than 50% more, but largely the same when containing both a 9 and 10 sub-grade (effectively cancelling out) BGS 9.5 sell for about a quarter-to-third more than PSA 9.

What does a PSA Grade 10 look like?

According to PSA, a PSA 10 card will have, “four perfectly sharp corners, sharp focus, and full original gloss”. This means that the card is virtually flawless with little to no imperfections.

What is the rarest Pokémon PSA 10?

The most expensive Pokémon card is the Pikachu Illustrator which sold for $5.275 million in July 2021. It's the true Holy Grail of Pokémon card collecting and only one PSA 10 is known to exist.

Will PSA get cheaper?

PSA prices have decreased in 2022, with the latest update being a $18/card special for July to celebrate the National Convention.

What is the most expensive PSA 10?

As of August 2022, the most expensive Pokémon card is a Professional Sports Authenticator grade 10 Pikachu Illustrator card that social media personality and boxer Logan Paul purchased for $5.275 million, according to Guinness World Records. A PSA grade of 10 means the card was in perfect condition.

How many PSA 10 Charizards are there?

Now we begin to understand just how rare the Charizard is, especially in a PSA 10! In fact, only 18 of them exist, and I doubt that number will ever change.

Is a BGS 10 worth more than a PSA 10?

PSA 10 vs BGS 10

So these three well known cards on average increase 1239% when graded BGS 10 vs PSA 10. While this value increase is of course extremely attractive, it is also indicative of the extreme scarcity of the BGS 10 grade.

Can you get a PSA 10 with whitening?

When cards are graded, every edge and corner is looked over multiple times. One of the first things a grader is going to look for is whitening. Only the slightest amount of whitening can pass for a 10 at PSA.

Does PSA 9.5 exist?

How the Scale Works. PSA will add a half-point grade within each of the 1-10 numbers with the exception of a 9.5 grade.

What is the rarest PSA?

2005 Umbreon Gold Star Holo

The highest PSA grade one of these has ever received is a 9.5, making it extremely rare to find one in top condition.

What is the most graded PSA card of all time?

1989 Topps Traded PSA 9 leads the way as the most graded sports card of all time.

Why is PSA so expensive?

PSA, BGS and other popular grading services have increased their prices because… Well because they can – It's like anything else, if demand for it goes up, so does the value. The higher prices also mean lower and more manageable submission numbers, but higher value, which is better for the grading services.

Is Beckett or PSA better?

Beckett Grading Services has a lot more bells and whistles than PSA: they offer color-coded tags for the cards based on their grade (gold is a 9.5 or 10, for example), they award subscores so you can see exactly how your cards faired in their four subcategories, and they have a “Black Label” offering for the rare ...

Has PSA ever graded fake cards?

According to PSA, their preferred method of determining the authenticity of their graded cards is to hold the label in front of a bright light. Once this is done, the label's text should be deciphered by the naked eye. If not, there's a chance the PSA slab is a fake.