How To Get Cards Graded By Psa In 2021
PSA, shorthand for Professional Sports Authenticator, is a premier brand in sports card grading. Despite the controversy over rising prices, it offers a wide array of valuable services including:
- Single card grading
- Price appraisals
- More
For our purposes, were delving into how PSA conducts its card grading process. The more familiar you are with this process and its benefits, the better equipped youll be to submit your own cards and packs to PSA for grades and appraisals.
Why Should You Get Your Cards Graded
Out of all the trading cards of our generation, there is only a handful that became collectors items that can be resold for a good amount. If you kept your NBA trading cards, Magic the Gathering Cards, or Pokemon Cards in good condition, then theres a high chance that you can sell those for a good amount.
However, not every old trading card can be sold at a good price because there are a lot of factors that come in when pricing these goodies. One of which is the condition of the card. Old cards that look like they just came out of the box sell way more than cards that look aged.
Although you can check the condition yourself, you still wont be able to sell it at a good price unless its been verified by an authority. So, if youve kept your Pokemon cards in good condition, its time to get them out of your cabinet and have them graded!
Benefits Of A Gradeheart Grading
enhance the value
Selling a graded card is generally much easier than attempting to sell an ungraded version of the same card. Buyers and sellers trust the accuracy and integrity of a GradeHeart Grading, paving the way for higher prices and a smoother transaction.
£10m Insurance
Maximize The Value
Whether you intend to keep your cards or sell them, having a GradeHeart grading will enhance the value of them.
Protection & Preservation
Condition is a critical component of trading card value. At GradeHeart, each card is sealed in our tamper-evident slab for protection.
£10m Insurance
We understand just how important your cards are. Thats exactly why youre fully protected with our £10m insurance policy.
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How Much Does It Cost To Get A Card Graded By Psa
PSA has several different packages available for you to choose from. First, they have their value package that starts at $20 per card. This price is for cards that have a declared value of $499 or less.
Next, they have the economy package. This will cost $50 per card and also requires the card to have a declared value of $499 or less. The difference between the economy and value packages is the processing speeds.
Then there is the regular package. This will cost $100 per card and the card cant have a declared value that exceeds $999. Currently, the value, economy, and regular packages are not available.
For cards that are more valuable, there are higher packages. The express costs $200 per card with the declared value needing to be $2,499 or less. The super express package is $300 per card with a declared value that must not exceed $4,999. There is also a walk-through package, which costs $600 per card with a declared value of less than $9,999.
If you have cards that are worth more than $10,000, dont worry. There are premium packages to accommodate these cards, but they are much pricier. Cards with a declared value of $10,000 to $24,999 will be Premium 1 and cost $1,000 per card graded.
Finally, cards with a declared value of $250,000 or higher will require Premium 10 which is $10,000 per card. To determine the declared value of your card, you will need to take a look at the PSAs Photograde and come up with a realistic estimate for the card.
Pokemon Card Grading Scale
There are four key factors that effect the grade of your Pokemon cards:
1. Centering
This refers to how well centered the artwork on the card is. Grading services tend to be stricter with centering on the front of the card, compared to the back. They will also work off certain centering ratios to determine the grade of the card.
2. Corners
This refers to the condition of the corners. Anything like whitening, nicks, or unsymmetrical cutting can affect the grade of a card.
3. Edges
This refers to the condition of the edges of the card. Again, whitening, nicks and edgewear can affect the grade.
4. Surface
This refers to the condition of the surface of the card. Scratches, nicks print lines and even holographic bleed can affect the grade.
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Psa Graded Pokemon Cards
Lets take a look at some examples of PSA Graded Pokemon Cards that were stocking right now, and talk you through what all the information means and how a PSA graded card looks when you get it back.
Lets take a look at the cards information online using the barcode number on the front . Our Buzzwole GX 104/111 got a grade of Gem Mint PSA 10, the best a card can get. But anyone could write that on a case and make it look like that right? Fortunately there is a way to verify absolute PSA authenticity and grades, so Im heading over to and Im putting in 41498839 which is that cards unique identifier with PSA. Heres the info it produces:-
Package & Ship To Ksa:
We request that you submit your cards to KSA first in penny sleeves then transfer to semi-rigid or top loaders for easy handling and best safety. Please avoid using screw down holders as well as tape on top loaders.
Box your bubble wrap protected cards along with manual submission form or online order confirmation print out and securely tape entire package.
Ship through Canada Post with tracking and signature required to:
KSA Certification Head Office
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Concepts To Understand Before Submitting Your Card
PSA points out frequent points of confusion for those submitting cards for grading. To help the grading process go as smoothly as possible, you may want to research two concepts in particular:
Like so many things in life, these concepts are easy enough to understand with the proper guidance. These explainers from PSA should help tremendously.
*if You Are New To The Grading Process And You Do Not Know What To Put Into The Fields Leave Them Blank We Know What To Do And Only Use This As A Guide For Checking Cards In When They Arrive
Grading Fee Calculation
Count the number of cards that you are submitting and place the amount in the first box that says #cards. Then in the second box place the fee that you are paying per card. Either $8 or $6 depending on the number of cards you are sending. Then multiply the two numbers together to get a total.
Shipping Fees
Once you have filled in the squares the final step is to calculate the shipping fees. Shipping costs are listed based on the UPS ground service. We recommend that ground service as it is very efficient and more cost-effective for our customers. Insurance can be purchased for $2.00 per $100 worth of value. Look at the number of cards that you are submitting to calculate the appropriate fees.
Payment Information
Also on the bottom section is the payment information. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express. We also accept checks and money orders. If you want to pay by PayPal please include your PayPal address and when the cards arrive we can email you an invoice.
If you are paying by credit card, please place all the needed information below, including card number, expiration date, and security code, and then sign below.
Packing and Protecting Cards for Shipping
Card Sizes and Thicknesses that We Grade
The thickest cards we can grade are 138 points. Here is a great chart that you can print out for free that will help you measure the thickness of your card.
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Why Would You Grade Your Pokmon Cards
Legitimacy ensures the playing card is not counterfeited or tampered with.
Preservation and Presentation protects the card and its condition in clear plastic casing.
Resell Value the core reason behind grading. Most rare Pokémon Cards are usually sent away for grading in the hope they are rated a score of 9-10. With graded cards, buyers will be most confident that a graded card with a high score is authentic . If you want to see an example of resell value benefit, you only have to look at a 1st Edition Charizard. This particular card could be brought raw from the market place for about $700-1000 AUD. If the card was graded a 9, the resell value could approach the $1800-$2500 mark. A grade of 10, you are looking at $10,000+ AUD.
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Pokemon Card Grading In The Uk With Worldwide Shipping
Our card grading turnaround times start from just 72 hours. All cards are graded in our London offices and securely shipped worldwide.
We grade Pokemon cards and all other forms of TCG, collectible cards and stickers.
We also use some of the most advanced card case security in the world. Have a look at the security page to read about features including micro text, UV, holograms and more.
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Forensics / Special Tools
A forensic analysis device is then used to check the collection card for particularly fine scratches and other possible blemishes. This ensures that even the smallest hairline cracks are detected. This final inspection process with special tools from forensics ensures the very high quality of our grading.
How To Grade Your Pokemon Or Tgc Card Collection With Psa
A very wide range of TGC cards can be graded at PSA and BGS, not only Pokemon. PSA is perhaps the most popular option for grading Pokémon Cards. They mark their cards with red grade labels and are incredibly reliable, but somewhat slow as well. Because of their popularity, their wait times have grown significantly.
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X More Accuracy Meaning True Grades Every Time
It goes without saying that overall eye appeal is important when it comes to scoring the quality of a cards condition.
Thats why we go 1000x further for your collectables by supplying each of our graders with their own TOMLOV microscope to ensure no imperfection goes without inspection thorough inspection.
Our team is highly experienced. Our graders Peter, Aaron & David inspect thousands of cards every month.
Where Should I Get My Cards Graded
Currently, 3 official card grading companies are trusted by card collectors worldwide. They are Beckett Grading Services , Certified Guaranty Company , and Professional Sports Authenticator . Having your cards graded by any of these companies would give your card a seal of legitimacy that can drive up its resale price.
Beckett Grading Services was established as a card collecting pricing guide. However, in 2001, they started their grading services. Although they are best-known for MTG card grading, most collectors still consider a BGS 10 as the gold standard in card collecting. In fact, their 1st Edition Charizard Holo which received a BGS 10 Pristine rating was sold for over $55,000 on eBay!
Certified Guaranty Company is the youngest among the three card grading companies. Although theyve been around for almost as long as the 2 other companies, they started as a comic book grading company. Its only in 2020 where they started grading trading cards. Although they are young in the card grading game, collectors believe that they have strict standards that make them trustworthy. Moreover, aside from the typical grades, they also provide collectors with subgrades for their cards.
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What Are Pokemon Cards
For the uninitiated, Pokemon Cards are part of the Pokemon Card Trading Card Game that originally launched in 1996. Back then, the original set contained just 151 cards one for each OG Pokemon.
In simplest terms, Pokemon cards are baseball cards but for adorable Japanese Pocket Monsters.
Since then, Pokemon has exploded into the worlds most valuable media franchise, valued at over $100 billion worldwide. For comparison, thats more than Star Wars, Spongebob, and James Bond combined.
Fueling two decades of meteoric growth was a steady stream of new Pokemon creatures and thus new cards to collect. There are around 898 total Pokemon and over 9,100 Pokemon cards to collect in the English market.
Not all 9,100 cards are available on store shelves at once, of course. The Pokemon Company International, the folks who make Pokemon cards, publish and release cards one generation at a time, with each generation lasting about two years.
In total, there have been eight generations of Pokemon cards since 1996. And as the next generation of cards begins appearing on store shelves, the previous generation tends to sell out. At that point, its no surprise that certain cards begin shooting up in value!
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Pokmon Dedicated Population Reports
Every card you submit gets entered into our unique database so you can reference the authenticity of your grade along with the cards details at any time. Your cards will also be entered into our population reports.
Youll find no Yugio or sports cards cluttering our database. We specialise and dedicate our efforts to the perfection of consistent Pokémon grading for collectors around the world.
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How Can I Get Cards Graded For Cheap Or Free
If you are on a budget, but you still want to get your sports cards graded, you might be looking for the cheapest way to send them off. There is a third-party website called Graded Gem that allows you to send your cards to PSA for a discounted price.
Their prices range from just over $11 to just under $35 per card. Graded Gem is currently not accepting submissions, and it is not yet known when they will start to take orders again. You can keep your eye on their website to see when they will be ready again.
How Much Does It Really Cost To Have A Pokmon Card Graded
Youll see prices ranging from $9 to $500 to get a single Pokémon Card Graded. Prices do go down if you send cards in bulk though. And if you plan to get a lot of cards graded there are reduced rates and/or monthly specials for members. On average plan on about $15-30/card once you pay for shipping both ways
Theres also another catch you should be aware of. You have to declare the value of the cards for insurance and authentication. The bulk rate just applies to less valuable Pokemon cards. If you have a 1st Edition Charizard that you think is worth $25,000, the grading on that one card will cost you more. Thats because the grading companies need to get more insurance for your card in case something happens to it under their care. This is usually well documented at each grading companys site.
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Psa Graded Pokemon Cards A Beginners Guide
So lately at Titan Cards you may have seen that weve been shouting about our newest Pokemon Card lines PSA Graded Ultra Rare and Secret rare cards sounds great right? But what exactly is PSA grading, and why would anyone want a PSA graded card? This article will give you a beginners guide to the ins and outs of graded trading cards, Pokemon and otherwise.
A selection of PSA graded Pokemon Cards we just put into stock this week.
What Tcg Cards Are Worth Money
The growing popularity of vintage trading card games is creating a gold rush. While most TCG cards are common, the rare exceptions have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction. Are your TCG cards worth money? The most expensive TCG cards tend to be first edition cards, tournament prizes, limited editions, and cards given to the publishers employees.
- Most uncommon and common TCG cards
- Cards in poor condition
Collectible TCG Values
Vintage Magic: The Gathering cards are valuable to collectors, and rare Pokémon cards are also in demand. Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, first introduced in the US in 2002, are also considered collectible to the adults who grew up playing these games. While nostalgia drives the demand, no doubt the prices paid for rare TCG cards draws in speculators and traders as well as collectors.
How Much are Rare Pokémon Cards Worth?
If you have a mint holofoil First Edition Base Set Pokémon card, youre in luck! Pokémon cards can be marked common, uncommon, rare and ultra-rare, but its only the rarest, best condition cards that have the highest value. While most Pokémon cards are worth less than a dollar, a shadowless Charizard base set holographic card may sell from $1,000 to over $100,000 depending on the grade, because the population of cards is so low. Here are examples of valuable Pokemon cards sold at auction:
- SOLD ON JUL 12, 2020 FOR: $90,000.00 Pokémon Super Secret Battle No. 1 Trainer Trainer Promo Hologram Trading Card PSA Gem MT 10.
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