So my question is, are there any circumstances where grading at BGS is more worth than PSA?
as of now, I let my cards grade through Ludkins in the UK and I’m very happy with their service. It surely is cheaper than grading myself at BGS.
But one time I pulled myself a german 1st Edition Base set Blastoise from a pack and it was perfect, centering, no holo lines or any damaged corners. I kinda expected it to get a PSA 10, what it did once it came back. But what if I’ve send the card to BGS and would have received a BGS10? That should increase the value significally of the card, but there is always the risk of getting only a BGS 9,5.
Personally I also prefer BGS cases, but we all know that they are pretty niche compared to PSA. Kinda of a hard call to make, does someone have experience with it? would you only send in very high value cards to BGS?
BGS 10 > PSA 10 > BGS 9.5 > PSA 9 > BGS 9
Grade with whichever company puts you higher up the ladder and you will be better off value wise. It sounds like this is a value question and that is the simple answer for that. BGS will generally only grab the BGS 9.5 > PSA 9 premium for cards with a well fleshed out market like shinings, gold stars, 1st edition base, shadowless etc. Won’t do too well otherwise but BGS 10 will always grab a premium albeit likely with a slow turnover. For highest liquidity PSA is the way to go.
That said, it is hard enough to know whether a card is PSA 10/PSA 9 or BGS 10/BGS 9.5 so when you start trying to decide if a card is PSA 10/BGS 9.5/PSA 9 you are really splitting hairs and will likely guess wrong a fair bit of the time.
If as you said though you prefer BGS cases and are grading cards you intend to keep then just grade with BGS. Easy answer there. Be happy with what the cards are. If you look at a PSA 10 and constantly wonder “what if it was a BGS 10” you will just drive yourself crazy and never enjoy yourself as much as you should.
Good luck getting a BGS 10 with any english cards;)
I’d say don’t waste your time and money.
Now at some point you can gather up a dozen of your best and send them in for a crossover whereas if you don’t get a BGS 10 then leave it be inside the PSA case.
Can someone give me actual data that says BGS 10 does better than PSA 10 value wise outside of Charizard cards?
Charizards are the only cards we care about in BGS 10 
The hell am I gonna do a BGS 10 base set machop?
Very few have existed let alone sold. I have seen certain cards here and there that have done so though eBay sold listings don’t contain many examples currently. Virtually every BGS 10 would cross to PSA 10 and as we know from Gary’s attempts not many PSA 10 cross to BGS 10.
The next best data point that I can give is that I would offer 1.2x PSA 10 market value on any BGS 10 shining, gold star, or base set holo.
I’ve only sold two and both for a high premium. I can tell you this though. I will personally pay double market for any BGS 10 English holo today and may pay 3 or 4 times if they’re something I want for my collection.
Really? Does anybody else agree with this 1.2 valuation? Maybe I’m figuring this all wrong?
I didn’t say that is what they are “worth”. I just said what I’d offer. Just put a floor value under some of the cards. It was more to demonstrate a point to cullers than a real offer since I know many of those cards aren’t out there but yeah I’d roughly pay that in a heartbeat no questions asked for most of those cards if not more.
I’d also offer $5,000 on your BGS 10 first edition charizard but we know that also doesn’t mean it is only worth that.
I didn’t know you could do this! I might try this with a few cards. Thanks
Bgs 10’s currently only carry a premium on the popular/vintage charizards. You can browse completed listings and check numerous modern cards that sell for the PSA 10 price, if not slightly less.
If there were a premium I would cross some of my spares, but it is currently an exception within an exception.
My store grades with BGS often, we get just got 2 BGS 10s and a BGS Black Label on mega charizards from evolutions.
I’d say that grading with BGS is worth it for newer cards where the print quality has improved. When you have cards like Rainbow Rare Zard with a higher 10 pop than 9 pop with PSA and (relatively) nobody grading Pokemon with BGS… it could prove lucrative to give BGS a try.
My offer is pretty attractive then. I’ll pay double PSA 10 market for any english BGS 10 holos…at least on anything I want;)
I understand the notion that BGS is a harder to obtain grade. My point is in that the market demand will determine their worth. It’s good to know that you and Gary will offer premiums on the cards they want, so maybe if I get a few high quality cards I’ll check with you two to see if it’s worth me sending into BGS. (I doubt I’ll do this anyway). I’d still like to see actual results before making the claim that BGS outperforms PSA outside of cards Gary and you want.
Just so there’s no confusion, I’m only comparing PSA gem mint with BGS pristine.
Hmmm. I sent out my 1st Edition Charizard (German) through a store I go to regularly. I remember him saying he was going to send it to BGS, pretty sure he said he sent it to BGS twice after that (I go weekly). Today I go in and he said he actually sent it to PSA. Maybe it’s a blessing is disguise?
Do German BGS 9.5-10 cards still have that same jump over PSA 10s? Or is this only for English cards?
If it’s black label, probably.
Foreign (not japanese) cards and boxes are becoming less desirable. It’s a niche that hasn’t really grown.
The BGS 10 vs PSA 10 debate is so different in Pokemon than in sports, its almost mind-boggling to me
Very fascinating seeing the difference between two mediums
In sports its virtually not a debate, BGS 10 is worth 1.5 times to 3 times more than a PSA 10 … a black label is worth 10x -20x to a PSA 10 … it’s not even a question that arises
Will be interesting to see how much marketshare BGS gets moving forward
I would pay a premium for BGS 10s over PSA 10s for cards I collect. Like legendary collection holos/reverse holos.
Absolutely! I actually have a stack of PSA 10 Jagr rookies I need to send to beckett.
IMO the biggest differential is experience. Beckett simply does not have the experience with Pokemon.