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 PSA grading worth it?

Regardless if you're talking counterfeits or reprints, PSA card grading services can be an excellent tool to verify a card's authenticity. That's not to say that PSA is correct 100% of the time and fakes don't occasionally slip through their hands.

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. This comes shortly after the June announcement that the Value service level of $30/card has returned.

Does PSA cost 100 per card?

PSA grading costs range anywhere from $22 per card all the way up to $10,000 per card, depending on the value of the card, the age of the card, how many cards you're submitting at one time, how fast you want the turnaround to be, and other factors. Below is a complete rundown of the PSA grading cost levels.

Why are PSA 10 cards so expensive?

10-Point Grading Process

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.

Do Not Grade Pokemon Cards

Is PSA 9 bad?

A Mint 9, as defined by PSA, is a card that is in “superb condition” and has only one minor flaw. This flaw can be a range of things, but most commonly PSA will grade a card a Mint 9 if there is simply a “minor printing imperfection”.

Will PSA grade a fake card?

Basically, PSA has no intention of grading a fake card, as the key element of the grading process is the authentication of raw/ungraded cards. A PSA grade is proof that a card is legitimate.

What is the rarest PSA card?

Pikachu Illustrator

The Illustrator card, given out to 39 winners of the 1997 and 1998 Pokémon illustration contests, is extremely rare. Only 23 have been certified by the PSA, and only one has been given a PSA rating of 10.

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 ...

Can I trust PSA with my cards?

PSA and BGS are the most reputable sports card grading authenticators, and the price summoned from these two leading grading services is proof of that. Both companies are reputable, trustworthy, and highly recommended to grade your treasured sports cards.

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.

Who is PSA card competitor?

psacard.com's top 5 competitors in December 2022 are: vintagecardprices.com, comc.com, collectors.com, sports.ha.com, and more. According to Similarweb data of monthly visits, psacard.com's top competitor in January 2023 is vintagecardprices.com with 195.1K visits.

Is PSA grade 10 good?

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 a Beckett 9.5 a PSA 10?

A True BGS 9.5 (9.5s and 10s on subgrades) would easily get a 10 when graded by PSA.

What is the number 1 card grading company?

Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA)

In the current state of the hobby, PSA is undoubtedly number one on the list of the top trading card grading companies.

What is the cheapest grading company?

Of the major grading companies, BGS currently offers the cheapest card grading service, which is $18 to grade a single card at the “Base” level. This is $2 less than CSG's “Economy” level, $5 less than PSA's “Value” service, and $4 less than SGC.

What is the hardest card grading company?

PSA is known for their tough grading standards and their registry which allows collectors to register their PSA graded baseball cards along with the grade. This is both a way to "keep score" and a way to market your cards.

How many PSA 10 Charizards are there?

As such, they're incredibly rare and valuable. Combine that scarcity with our main man Charizard, and only 6 PSA 10's in existence, it's no wonder this is one of the most expensive Charizard's one could ever wish to acquire.

Is PSA 5 bad cards?

Excellent 5 – This level of card likely has corner wear and rounding, chipping on the edges and perhaps the original gloss will be showing wear. Potentially a few light scratches visible when inspected closely.

What cards will PSA not grade?

The “No Grade” term is used when an item cannot be graded by PSA for a variety of reasons. For example, PSA will not grade items that bear evidence of trimming (N1), restoration (N2), recoloration (N3), questionable authenticity (N4), altered stock (N5) or cleaning (N7).

Why did PSA stop grading cards?

Before the decision to stop accepting submissions was enacted, PSA was handling a massive backlog of cards. Turner said that the company did not even have the capacity to open the packages submitted and process them accordingly.

Is PSA card grading closing?

Back on March 30, PSA Authentication and Grading Services, a company long considered the gold standard in the sports card collectibles grading field, shut down several of its services.

Can people fake PSA?

It also looks good when you obtain quite a number of these slabs. For others, PSA or BGS graded cards are much easier to flip to make a quick profit. The thing with graded cards, though, is that they can be faked by those with questionable intentions.