So I want to send a card into Beckett or CSA. Now, I know that PSA is “better” for grading, but I wouldn’t be doing it for grading. I’d solely be doing it for protection, and since Beckett and CSA is much cheaper then PSA, I would rather use one of them. If anyone is a member, or knows a member, that is willing to send in a card for me with their membership (I’ll pay the fees!), I’d greatly appreciate it.
Go get em’ Scott!!!
You can say my opinion is slanted because I prefer psa to Beckett due to their market prominence, and maybe it is. As objectively as possible, I had a psa 6.5 with a minor crease cracked out of its holder and sent to Beckett. It got a 9!!! Only an 8.5 for surface. I also owned a Beckett 8 1st ed Charizard…it had more scratches on the front than a played card! I couldn’t even enjoy it due to all the silver showing so I sold it. I’ve never had a Beckett card regrade up even a 0.5 grade to psa and I’ve had two go down 0.5 to psa. Contrary to what Beckett efficionados will preach. There’s a reason psa is king in our market, they are more consistent (I’ve only had two psa grades out of 200 I disagreed with). Beckett has a stronger holder, sure, but those thick cases become a nuisance when you have hundreds of graded cards, they quite simply take up too much space!
Personally speaking, I prefer psa labels and find important information is easier to read than Beckett ones. The Beckett breakdown on the back is neat! I just find the psa ones strike a chord with me and they’re clear and concise. I never could warm to the coloured Beckett ones but that’s me. Overall we all have our preferences but people need to stop questioning psa’s consistency. I find them exceedingly accurate and I’ve sent many orders and am a logical thinker, if psa gave me all over the place grades, frankly I wouldn’t use them.
Posted before I saw your comment. Yeah its all preference absolutely!
If your looking to sell, PSA cards go for more. Most really rare cards are graded by PSA such as the illustrator, pika trophies, and so on.
Oh that’s neat! I always remembered it inconveniently added to the back, I still find their labels hard to read. Looking at the picture right above my comment box it’s hard to see it’s 9.5, PSA are easier to read in my opinion and I always liked that.
As for PSA 10’s, I own a bunch and there isn’t a speck of white on a single one, and I know that for fact as I would have never accepted it! They are flawless and I’m not being slanted when I say that.
The PSA 6.5 that regraded to a 9 was literally 4-5 months ago, there is no accepting that. The card was noticeably damaged with a minor crease and that is certainly not mint worthy. PSA caught it, Beckett didn’t, bottom line.
Anyways I’m not trying to argue but it’s annoying to hear the same old:
- “Beckett is so much more consistent than PSA!”
- “A Beckett grade will cross over up at least a half grade to a full grade to PSA so it’s more valuable”
- “PSA 10’s are always damaged and Beckett 9.5’s are always perfect so Beckett is better”
1,2, and 3 are false in my experience, everything you have said that doesn’t fall into those categories (not that you said all those things, but those are things I hear a lot) is valid as everyone has their opinions.
Overall I don’t want to come across in the wrong way. I absolutely respect your opinion for what it is, I’m not trying to tear you apart or anything don’t get me wrong 
I just hear a lot of stuff about Beckett vs. PSA that has nothing to do with you specifically, this just gave me an opportunity to post my opinions.
They are both great grading companies and obviously both respected. They both have their better and worse attributes
As do I, many thanks this is always a topic worth a good discussion. I think people who support either party always make it seem like there’s a huge difference but there isn’t. There are minor differences and both are clearly good companies, it all comes down to what you prefer.
Hahaha…it is a miracle PSA even knows what they are looking at half the time! For example:
1.) They labeled my 2002 No.1 trainer as spring…it is from the summer.
2.) I inclosed a note stating that my computer error was indeed a kamex and included pictures comparing the two…they still labeled it wrong and I had to call them to fix it.
3.) They once again mislabeled my 1999 tropical mega battle…I had to call them yet again…
4.) Their refusal to grade these is quite annoying. They are obviously real!! 
They did make good on the issues with minimal fuss so that’s a plus. All joking aside, I do prefer PSA over any other company.
hahaha Mike! Number #4 made me laugh out loud!
This is an all round wrong. I mean this in the nicest way possible frank; you do not have the experience to make that kind of statement. It is good to be enthusiastic about grading and have a preference of which company you personally like, but if you want to step into the realm of facts, PSA is going to win every time.
First, let me say I have had my frustrations with PSA. I have graded thousands of cards through them. I have sent in high end pokemon cards, baseball cards and hockey cards. They do not have the most knowledge on Prize/Trophy cards but after a well typed document with enough references they reconsider.
However, PSA is the best company for grading any sport cards and pokemon included. The consistency they have in grading sport cards is phenomenal. If you do research of the sport card market, any card graded with the same grade will always sell higher if it is PSA. A perfect example is a wayne gretzky rookie card. There has literally been only one PSA 10 of this card. It has earned the highest mark in Hockey cards: $94,000. They are extremely critical and knowledgable when it comes to sports cards.
Now, why most people thnk PSA is rubbish is because you hear nonses like, “I have a PSA 10 with whitening on it and scratches and it’s torn and it’s cut and it exploded” but after all of this nonsense is said you Never see an actual photo of the card. Like I said before, I have graded over thousands of pokemon cards with PSA and never had a card with even a hint of whitening get a 10. Sometimes I can’t distinguish between what a 9 and 10 is but then when you check out their centering regulations rationality is restored.
Also, I would prefer a company like PSA that denies grading certain cards because it is not 100% of their authenticity. I would not want a company accepting any card that is sent to them.
tl;dr
If you want a plain and simple way to tell which company is the most reputable, search ebay for “Beckett” and then search “PSA”. PSA results completely eclipse Beckett. PSA is by far the most sought after/reputable grading company. The next in line would probably be Beckett, but it is a whole tier below PSA.
Hahaha I thought you might get a kick of that! But I agree, if your going to get a pokemon card graded…go with PSA. Like Scott said, there is a reason why pretty much 90% of all graded cards on ebay are PSA.
Ah that makes sense! That is true about Beckett. They give you the reasons for why your card received the overall grade it did.