I’m just starting out and was planning on waiting till July for PSA to open their doors.
I understand that PSA are so established that in Pokemon terms they still command a premium because of it - secondly, that BGS / CGC / PCA all seem to grade harsher than PSA. So you get a less desirable slab at a lower grade…
BUT
The PSA slab is bigger, more annoying to store, massive turn around times, they’re not open until July, shipping costs to the UK are expensive… I also think the Slab is ugly as.
Ultimately, if its my own private collection to keep, then what looks prettier is important, I’m currently reading the 66 page threads on some of the competitors, but would anyone recommend abandoning PSA from the start of their pokemon adventure?
General consensus is that PSA is the fastest way to maximise your profits,and to many people, it always will be. Personally, I see that as a short sighted view that gives PSA waaaay too much credit.
It’s true that some of the other grading companies do seem to grade more harshly, but that should be a strike against PSA, since the likes of CGC and BGS are far more consistent with their standards (moreso the higher grades with BGS), and are generally more reliable.
If you’re looking to grade for your personal collection though, forget what anyone says; just choose the slabs YOU like best.
I own slabs from a bunch of different companies, and prefer CGC overall for their crystal clear cases and clear, unabbreviated labels. Don’t be afraid to mix and match, or try different companies out yourself though.
Whoever you decide to go with, as another UK collector, I’d recommend middlemen to reduce your costs for submitting to the US based companies:
For PCA, you can easily just submit to them directly. They seem to be struggling with demand at the moment, and their communication has apparently been shocking the last several weeks, so that might be something to bear in mind if you’re thinking of submitting to them anytime soon.
If the card is pristine, no better option than BGS. Beckett 10s and the rare Black Label quad 10s outperform PSA 10s generally. The Pokemon community has been using PSA for 95% of cards up until CGC came along. Now that split is happening. CGC doesn’t have the market capital that PSA does. A lot of long term collectors are reluctant to send to CGC for a variety of reasons. The good thing is CGC is growing because new collectors are coming in that didn’t start grading with PSA.
My personal opinion, CGC has provided a lot better quality of service. I think the label is ugly, but besides that the overall experience has been great. I usually only send to BGS if I think the card has a shot at a 10, which with BGS is no easy feat. PSA will continue being the preferred option for at least the next 5 years. CGC could catch up if they continue offering good deals. The profit margin for the vast majority of cards will fall in CGC’s favor.
Arguably, the biggest factor in grading for collectors is turnaround time. I’ll likely go where I get fastest service for the most reasonable $$$. Right now its CGC.
My first really hard choice was WHICH Pokemon website to join! Now, for the 2nd really hard choice you guys have really given me a lot of information. I was aware of Ludkins Collectables but not the other middlemen, so thanks @quibble,
I think a big part is developing my own skill at recognising grade worthy cards.
I’m currently preparing for my first submission and I am leaning towards CGC for turnaround time / price / the label isn’t hidious. I do love the BSG slab though…
I guess the hardest thing is having the confidence to move away from the PSA dominance in the market and you guys have boosted my confidence to do so!
I relate to this. PSA was really the only game in town for many, many years and people’s entire perception of graded cards was born from and perpetuated by the PSA standard. To this day, if you want to sell a graded card by another service people will include PSA somewhere in their title or description just to make sure they get hits from people searching “PSA 8” (etc) for their cards.
But I think this will diminish as CGC proves they can be consistent with their grades. Once they are no longer perceived as “off brand” then I think the super premium pricing associated with PSA will fade somewhat. People trust PSA and feel like they know what they’re getting when they buy one — the same will hopefully be true with CGC in time. And when it is, I think people will wonder why they should pay more for the same grade of the same card.
I buy graded cards a lot, but break all of my cards out of my holders (an egregious sin). So to me it makes no difference who graded it as long as I can trust the grade. CGC is becoming increasingly attractive in this respect.
Based on what you’ve said your priorities are I would recommend CGC. The service is good in my opinion, and the cases are extremely clear and emphasize the colors of your cards well. I have a few CGC slabs in my primarily PSA collection and while I do intent to cross grade those in the future, I am impressed with the eye-appeal. In person the label really takes a back seat to the card.
I also have a good amount of BGS cases as my MTG collection is 100% BGS. The slabs are decent, but are very thick and unwieldy so if you think PSA cases are annoying to store steer clear. I also think the BGS label is very unattractive if you get lower than a mint grade and get stuck with the white paper label. Also, their service rn is just as poor as it is at PSA. turnaround times are even more opaque it seems and prices are just as high.
PSA doesn’t need any help from this post - if you want the most stable financial performance and the highest liquidity go with PSA. basically if you are in it for the long haul, it’s worth the wait.
@pentagon, the idea that BGS grades harsher than PSA simply isn’t true. BGS 8s are wayyyy worse than PSA 8s, on average. And BGS 9s are wayyyyy worse than PSA 9s, on average. BGS 9.5s can be anywhere from PSA 7 to 10. Overall, I’d say PSA is a harsher grader, though it’s obviously much tougher to get a BGS 10 than a PSA 10 due to the different grading scales.
Re: CGC vs. PSA grading standards – my experience is that CGC 9s are roughly equal to PSA 9s in terms of card quality. CGC 9.5s are basically always going to be at least PSA 9, and will sometimes be 10s, of course. Once you get under the 9 grade, however, PSA is harsher. CGC is less harsh on dents, so some CGC 8s will have indents/severe surface damage. PSA 8s will rarely, if ever, have that.
Personally, I collect PSA 10s and CGC 9.5s. And I find that the card quality is indistinguishable, although my sample size is relatively small (<50 gem mint cards from each company). Regardless, PSA 10s and CGC 9.5s are basically always going to be clean, beautiful cards. BGS 9.5s, on the other hand, can be very sketchy.
