i like how their grade guarantee is capped at 10k what will that get u not even a psa 7 rayquaza these days 
vs psa’s cap of like 250k
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I have heard a lot on Youtube about how consistent CGC grading is and that a “Pristine 10” is like the perfect card with impeccable grading authenticity and all that jazz. Sounds fantastic, unless you actually look at facts. Here is an example of the so-called perfect card ….. it is clearly off-centered in both front and back, and some poor sucker bought it for $4,000 …… I just wear reading glasses, and even I can tell that the centering is really poor - this would be lucky to even get a PSA 9 …… Look for yourself: https://www.ebay.com/itm/306711164574
I mean I could say the same thing for BGS BL though. Some cards squeeze through the cracks 
Edit: You’re definitely right though that the centering is really bad
Yeah! After all the Youtube hype (Pokemon Steven and others), I was considering sending my cards to CGC for once, but now I feel like they are as “consistent” as anybody else out there, and it’s all hype, and no substance. The only big differentiator is it is cheaper with no upcharge (woo hoo) ……. but pound for pound (grade for grade), you get a lower payout for spending less relative to PSA. Also the CGC 10 looks like a total scam …. these cards are perhaps PSA 9 at best looking at actual graded samples that sold ….
Yeah, I like to think of what the average collector would consider “gem mint”. Also we have to remember that they used to be 9.5s, but people don’t like 9.5, so they just slapped a 10 on it.
I will say though that I’ve seen some 10s that look really great. And I think all but a handful of pristines look really really great. And I’ve seen some PSA 10s that look just absolutely gnarly.
The more that people send in cards, the more chance there is for variance. With CGC becoming more popular, they’re grading more, which just leave more chance for stuff to slip. Which is a totally normal part of growth.
At the end of the day buy the card not the grade, but sometimes you can get a good card with an equally good/neat label.
I dont know if you meant to share a link to a PSA graded card but I’m a bit confused by it. You’re talking about a CGC graded card in your post but your link is to a PSA 8?
No, that’s a eBay gimmick to drive sales by pointing you to a current unsold listing of the same card …. search for the Ebay item number: 306711164574.
CGC pristine is better than the normal 10 but i feel like its just a cgc 10 with better centering.
On my last cgc sub I got 8 pristines out of 22 cards. That is NOT a high standard. Compare that to BGS where I’ve never sniffed a black label before
cgc has to be more picky if their pristines are to be valued better because as it stands the market doesnt even view them to be on par with BGS GOLD 10, not even close. Sometimes the cgc pristine fails to even match the psa 10 premium
On nearly all modern cards, cgc pristine outvalues PSA 10 which is all that really matters to CGC
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if it were much easier to get a pristine then there wouldnt be only like 1-5 of them for psa 10’s 10-200 copies some vintage cards even have 0 pristines. this is esp true for stuff like 1st ed base, gold stars etc
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well lets not talk too much about vintage as even psa isnt giving out 10s for pack fresh vintage. If cgc was in the game for 20+ years we could make some more apples to apples comps. They also dont have many subs on vintage cards
For modern, just look at the pop report. Go ahead and track any recent chase card
for instance. Charizard phantasmal flames 125 SIR:
960 total copies graded. 176 pristine 10s… sorry. that is NOT an elite standard. Over 18% of the entire pop is pristine?
Okay look at a harder to grade card, like umbreon 161 from prismatic which tends to have a lot of corner nicks and whitening. 41 pristine 10s and the total amount graded is much less than the charizard I just referenced
When cgc first introduced the new pristine label it was getting crazy comps but now I’ve noticed that drop big time. Sometimes it gets a small premium over psa. But often times it doesnt even match the psa10 anymore
I dont want to say its so easy, but its really about the centering and how rigid they want to be. It’s tight on the front but the general consensus is that 55/45 is allowed for the back.
looking at that same umbreon card, there is a reason there are only 2 black labels and zero Tag pristines, because they are much tighter on centering.
I know with tag they need 50/50 in the front all directions and 52/48 max in the back, but its digitally measured so if your at 52.15/47.85 (technically 52/48 but they give no rounding grace) your already disqualified from pristine. Thats why it feels impossible to get any english pristines with them.
Same with black label
all 3 companies graded a similar amount of the umbreon btw. Just giving you food for thought
idk anything about ultra moderns swory 
but for vintage if its really easier you would see alot more 10s because even if the price is lower than psa 10 ppl would be crossing 9s etc from other companies but that doesnt really seem to be happening (or if it does theres very little success)