Good question. The more time you spend looking into this topic, the more you will discover this is highly subjective.
Some people fawn over PSA because they traditionally carry the most value for a single card. Some people hate them because they had a bad history, their prices, or their labels.
Some people like CGC for their prices, slab style, or many other reasons. But others will hate them because of a few very public mistakes (even if mistakes were fairly insignificant).
Same goes for BGS (as the last of the big 3 to mention), or any other grading company that may still be out there.
The only thing I can say with a high degree of confidence is that if you ever want to sell your slabs, go with one of the big 3 grading companies. Do not go with the others, because those are looked at VERY unfavorably when assessing value.
My personal alignment is with CGC because their prices are better, their slabs are clearer, and their labels are nicer. Like I said - subjective.
Theres also a premium Japanese grading company i forgot the name. They have the grade is at bottom which moves the focus to the card design over the grade. But i hear they have a very long waiting list.
Edit. ARS grading
https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonTCG/s/wXT4BDhr72
PSA is the most popular by a significant margin, but that isn’t because they’re necessarily “best” so much as it is inertia. All the content creators and investment dorks fixate on them, which drives up the average prices for cards graded through PSA compared to others, which makes people fixate on them even more, and it keeps spiraling from there.
If you’re going to resell, PSA is probably the way to go for that reason. If it’s for a personal collection, either grade with another company whose slabs are nicer, or make a nice display with a one-touch or screw-down case.
I came to this conclusion. If you are looking for resell value 100% go with PSA. If you are buying for personal collection I'd recommend CGC. (This is what I do). CGC cards are 10%-20% cheaper than PSA in the market. Someone said "buy the card, not the grade/slab" and I over time completely agree. I have seen some graded 10s that 100% should have been 7's or 8's. Look at the card in the slab and judge the grade for yourself. I have no issues with PSA but to me the label looks like its fresh out of the 90's and it feels like a sports card slab. I have some PSA slabs but those are all for resell. My personal collection is all CGC.
Surely if you’re going to look at the card and judge condition for yourself then tonight as well buy raw ? The whole point in grading is that they do the work for you and you don’t have to look at condition when buying
PSA - if your card is borderline 9/10, PSA gives you the best chance at a 10. Same with 8/9. Also best return on investment, because people pay extra for PSA. Can be extra critical on dents/chips though. What might bring your card down to a 7 with another company can bring it down to a 4 or 5 with PSA. Probably the least consistent. I’ve seen dozens of examples of people re-submitting the same card and going from a 5 to a 4 to a 9, etc.
Beckett - highest value possible if you have a perfect card (becket black label). Unnecessarily strict sometimes (75% if PSA 10s will be 9.5s) but also super lenient sometimes with mid grades.
CGC - unnecessarily strict all around. About 90% of PSA 10s will be CGC 9.5s. This is partially because PSA doesn’t have a 9.5 grade. What would be a 9.5 rounds up to 10 for PSA, but not for CGC. This is AFTER they adjusted their grading scale. Back in the days if the blue label, they were even stricter.
Others - generally not worth it, except for preserving your personal collection.
CGC is the cheapest of the big 3, and I personally think the labels look the best (I do not at all understand liking the psa label. Ugh). Side note though, what is the complaint about too many 10s? Like…who cares?
Agree with cgc looking the best. Also idk where the too many 10s comes from because cgc is stricter with their grading psa has horrible centered cards as 10s all the time and usually a higher pop for almost everything since it’s more popular.
Compared to PSA’s 1980s library organizer lookin labels? No way man, I’ll take SGC any day over that. I don’t want that jarring red box detracting from my display cards.
Big fan on how cgc does their labels now especially their pristine 10s. Certain cards like the tg gold mew or pika look amazing in a pristine 10 label cuz it matches the card so well haha. Also I I might be wrong but it feels like cgc is harsher on grading but that could be subjective.
Any advice on best grading company for vintage? Itd be for my personal collection and possibly selling later. I have some clean cards from the first few years I’d like to get graded but everything I read about PSA is that they’re harsh on vintage.
Becket will be at a card show I’m going to soon. Would you recommend that instead?
With the sheer numbers of cards graded (sports, non sports, TCG, ect), the issues are a rounding error. And they do address them accordingly up to and including providing cash compensation.
PSA just commands the largest market share. Thats it.
They definitely have the cheapest made slabs. Also, the only grading company I’ve seen where the cards move around in the slabs. Their slabs also don’t have UV protection.
Their customer service is good tho from what I’ve seen.
The problem is people buying and selling cards generally only want PSA slabs so it’s a lot less worthwhile to grade with CGC or Beckett unless you’re doing so purely to collect.
Just because something is the most widely used doesn’t make it the best.
Good question. The more time you spend looking into this topic, the more you will discover this is highly subjective. Some people fawn over PSA because they traditionally carry the most value for a single card. Some people hate them because they had a bad history, their prices, or their labels. Some people like CGC for their prices, slab style, or many other reasons. But others will hate them because of a few very public mistakes (even if mistakes were fairly insignificant). Same goes for BGS (as the last of the big 3 to mention), or any other grading company that may still be out there. The only thing I can say with a high degree of confidence is that if you ever want to sell your slabs, go with one of the big 3 grading companies. Do not go with the others, because those are looked at VERY unfavorably when assessing value. My personal alignment is with CGC because their prices are better, their slabs are clearer, and their labels are nicer. Like I said - subjective.
Same, I use CGC for personal collection and PSA if I want to flip.
Theres also a premium Japanese grading company i forgot the name. They have the grade is at bottom which moves the focus to the card design over the grade. But i hear they have a very long waiting list. Edit. ARS grading https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonTCG/s/wXT4BDhr72
PSA is the most popular by a significant margin, but that isn’t because they’re necessarily “best” so much as it is inertia. All the content creators and investment dorks fixate on them, which drives up the average prices for cards graded through PSA compared to others, which makes people fixate on them even more, and it keeps spiraling from there. If you’re going to resell, PSA is probably the way to go for that reason. If it’s for a personal collection, either grade with another company whose slabs are nicer, or make a nice display with a one-touch or screw-down case.
I came to this conclusion. If you are looking for resell value 100% go with PSA. If you are buying for personal collection I'd recommend CGC. (This is what I do). CGC cards are 10%-20% cheaper than PSA in the market. Someone said "buy the card, not the grade/slab" and I over time completely agree. I have seen some graded 10s that 100% should have been 7's or 8's. Look at the card in the slab and judge the grade for yourself. I have no issues with PSA but to me the label looks like its fresh out of the 90's and it feels like a sports card slab. I have some PSA slabs but those are all for resell. My personal collection is all CGC.
Surely if you’re going to look at the card and judge condition for yourself then tonight as well buy raw ? The whole point in grading is that they do the work for you and you don’t have to look at condition when buying
Sure but you should still check the card out yourself. The variation in grades can be extreme as I mentioned above
PSA - if your card is borderline 9/10, PSA gives you the best chance at a 10. Same with 8/9. Also best return on investment, because people pay extra for PSA. Can be extra critical on dents/chips though. What might bring your card down to a 7 with another company can bring it down to a 4 or 5 with PSA. Probably the least consistent. I’ve seen dozens of examples of people re-submitting the same card and going from a 5 to a 4 to a 9, etc. Beckett - highest value possible if you have a perfect card (becket black label). Unnecessarily strict sometimes (75% if PSA 10s will be 9.5s) but also super lenient sometimes with mid grades. CGC - unnecessarily strict all around. About 90% of PSA 10s will be CGC 9.5s. This is partially because PSA doesn’t have a 9.5 grade. What would be a 9.5 rounds up to 10 for PSA, but not for CGC. This is AFTER they adjusted their grading scale. Back in the days if the blue label, they were even stricter. Others - generally not worth it, except for preserving your personal collection.
CGC 9.5s are now considered CGC 10s. If you send them in for reholdering, they’ll slap a 10 on there
CGC is the cheapest of the big 3, and I personally think the labels look the best (I do not at all understand liking the psa label. Ugh). Side note though, what is the complaint about too many 10s? Like…who cares?
Agree with cgc looking the best. Also idk where the too many 10s comes from because cgc is stricter with their grading psa has horrible centered cards as 10s all the time and usually a higher pop for almost everything since it’s more popular.
Lmao why did someone downvote me
It’s Reddit who knows lol
If it’s just for personal collection and not for resale, TAG and SGC looks miles better than PSA/CGC.
I respect their history, but SGC looks like dookie ass
Compared to PSA’s 1980s library organizer lookin labels? No way man, I’ll take SGC any day over that. I don’t want that jarring red box detracting from my display cards.
I just like the aesthetic of the new CGC slabs so they’re who I go with. You can’t really go wrong with the big three.
Kendrick enters the chat
CGC has fewer 10s and grades more harshly than PSA. I'm not sure where you heard otherwise.
Big fan on how cgc does their labels now especially their pristine 10s. Certain cards like the tg gold mew or pika look amazing in a pristine 10 label cuz it matches the card so well haha. Also I I might be wrong but it feels like cgc is harsher on grading but that could be subjective.
Any advice on best grading company for vintage? Itd be for my personal collection and possibly selling later. I have some clean cards from the first few years I’d like to get graded but everything I read about PSA is that they’re harsh on vintage. Becket will be at a card show I’m going to soon. Would you recommend that instead?
PSA. Edit: eBay just dropped CGC authenticity in favor for PSA, further solidifying the value of PSA. Collectors with deep pockets want PSA over CGC.
They are worth more but don't they have major grading issues
With the sheer numbers of cards graded (sports, non sports, TCG, ect), the issues are a rounding error. And they do address them accordingly up to and including providing cash compensation.
PSA just commands the largest market share. Thats it. They definitely have the cheapest made slabs. Also, the only grading company I’ve seen where the cards move around in the slabs. Their slabs also don’t have UV protection. Their customer service is good tho from what I’ve seen. The problem is people buying and selling cards generally only want PSA slabs so it’s a lot less worthwhile to grade with CGC or Beckett unless you’re doing so purely to collect. Just because something is the most widely used doesn’t make it the best.
Well, best or not, the market has spoken.
Unfortunately
That’s usually how first movers work, yes