I graded about 40 cards with CGC. When I got them back I did not agree with the cgc centering standards. Cards with perfect to near perfect centering were graded 8.5 disturbingly. So I cracked them out of the cgc slabs (not all of them it was a little pricey) and sent what I could to Beckett since I couldnt undestand how cgc was grading these with 8.5 centering. Here are the before and after pictures. Wanted to make this thread to show you how cgc centering is comapred to BGS centering. I am thinking of cracking the rest and sending them to beckett as well but it proved to be a little pricey at the moment. Just some food for thought… before you send your cards to cgc or beckett 
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Yeah CGC used to be ridiculously strict with centering especially with the first variant blue label. From what I’ve seen they’ve slightly toned it down with the new black and white label cards. BGS is usually quite strict too so some of these bumps surprise me but congratulations!
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Subgrades are rarely accurate at any company.
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| Centering | Surface | Corners | Edges | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
8.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 |
 |
9.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 9.0 |
| +1.0 | -1.0 | 0.0 | -0.5 | |
|
8.5 | 9.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 |
|
9.5 | 10.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.5 | +0.5 | |
|
8.5 | 9.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 |
|
9.5 | 8.5 | 9.0 | 9.5 |
| +1.0 | -0.5 | -0.5 | 0.0 | |
|
9.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.0 |
|
9.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +1.0 | |
|
8.5 | 9.0 | 9.5 | 9.0 |
|
9.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 |
| +0.5 | +0.5 | 0.0 | +0.5 | |
|
8.5 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
|
9.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| +0.5 | +0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
|
8.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 |
|
9.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | 0.0 | |
|
9.0 | 9.5 | 9.0 | 9.5 |
|
9.5 | 9.5 | 9.0 | 8.0 |
| +0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -1.5 | |
|
8.5 | 8.0 | 8.5 | 9.0 |
|
9.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 |
| +0.5 | +0.5 | 0.0 | +0.5 | |
|
9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.5 |
|
10.0 | 9.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 |
| +1.0 | 0.0 | +0.5 | 0.0 | |
|
8.5 | 9.0 | 9.5 | 9.0 |
|
9.0 | 9.5 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| +0.5 | +0.5 | -0.5 | 0.0 | |
|
8.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 |
|
8.5 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| 0.0 | +1.0 | +0.5 | 0.0 | |
| CGC | 8.5 | 9.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 |
|
9.0 | 10.0 | 9.5 | 10.0 |
| +0.5 | +1.0 | 0.0 | +0.5 | |
|
8.5 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
|
9.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.5 |
| +0.5 | -1.0 | 0.0 | +0.5 | |
|
8.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 10.0 |
|
9.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | 0.0 | |
|
8.5 | 9.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 |
|
9.5 | 10.0 | 8.5 | 9.0 |
| +1.0 | +0.5 | 0.0 | +0.5 |
Avg centering: +0.6
Avg surface: +0.3
Avg corners: +0.1
Avg edges: +0.1
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Fun fact: none of the cards had all subgrades replicated between the two companies
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The Evolutions Nidoking getting a 9.5 centering 
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These companies lack the power to resolve two grades next to each other 
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Unsurprising. Cgc was brutal with centering, especially at the start. I’ve always found bgs to be super lax on centering
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Centering can be a weird one because there’s a standard applied to each unique card/set that the companies use. This goes into the whole ‘card quality’ aspect of grading. Also they factor in the rear centering as well which is often overlooked. Some cards can be well centered on the front, but poor on the back, and then you get a lower grade. Anyway, it’s rarely ever that consistent. I’ve seen many wonky centering grades that can change completely on a re-submission of the exact same card.
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I’m personally not a fan of either grading company. I have a few Beckett cards with very beat edges that scored very highly.
In terms of centering, as others have said CGC in the beginning was very very harsh. IMO less and less people were grading with them because of how harsh overall grades were and sought alternate grading companies. Eventually leading to changing of their grading standards to further compete
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That is a universal fact, yes. Thanks for sharing.
What I am pointing out in this specific submission is the centering standards. Every single card out of the 30 I cracked came back with better centering. If one or two came back with better centering then ok but 29 out of 30 is not a coincidence, its more definitive in this case. If thats just a coincidence and I hit 29 out of 30 for no reason then I must be extremely lucky. Clearly I saw something from my experience and capitalized on it. Im glad I did.
Thought Id share that 99% of the 30 I resubmitted all came back with better centering. And better grades in general but were concentrating strictly on centering in this case.
Yes I agree for centering cgc is definitely stricter than its competition but seems to be lenient on surface.
All these grading companies have their inconsistencies.
Out of all the inconsistencies they have, from my experience I believe cgc centering is always so strict.
All my years grading with psa and beckett you see their inconsistencies but understand their strong points and weaknesses and they do stand out after grading with them for so long. Human error will always be present. Those centering grades were criminal imo though. I saw it clear as day and capitalized on it. Now I understand the different standards a bit more.
Remember that your cards were graded by one or two people. A company’s grading criteria will vary by person (inter-individual variability), within the same person (within-person variability), and over time (changes in standards). This is true regardless of whether it is desirable or not, as humans are imperfect graders. A sample of 30 is too small to make meaningful inferences when the number of items graded per month is 184,000+.
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In my experience, most likely it’s probably true that CGC is overall harsher on centering. But I also agree that the data here is just one person’s opinion 30 times, so it’s hard to extrapolate anything about “BGS” from this data alone
No one said that my 30 card submission speaks for the entirety of cgc grading. I made this thread is to show others that I knew my specific submission was off from the standards I was use to for centering, after grading with psa and beckett over a decade. I ended up being right 29/30 is what I stated. It was not luck. I knew by experience and knowing that those 8.5s were off comapred to the standards of beckett. If I didnt know any better Id read the statistics you shared above and still have my 8.5s.
The statistics you shared are well known to many tenured collectors. Thanks for sharing anyway though for people who didnt know, that is still informative.
I specifically wrote “in this specific submission” word for word and “in this case” to be clear. If you go up and re-read.
Also, I didnt know it was only two graders. If one of the two people who grade ym cards over there are giving my gem mint centering cards “8.5s” thats pretty disturbing in my opinion. I would never want to take that chance of sending my well centered cards to cgc and have them graded 8.5s because of a 50% chance. Thats the difference between a mint 9 and a gem mint 9.5. Thanks for letting me know that as well.
I agree that cgc centering is harsh. To be clear, no one is debating against “the data here is just one persons opinion 30 times” that is a clear fact. The point is, it was my experience from grading with psa and beckett against that other persons “opinion” on the centering grades. And I was tenured enough to notice the difference standards between that one graders opinion and becketts standards in centering. I didnt get 29/30 cards back with better centering from luck. Is what I am showing here. I was confident in what I was looking at specifically for centering and that I would have a much better shot at beckett. Thats all.
Also, I would have never spent the amount of money I did to prove otherwise 
it was a bit pricey. It wasnt pure luck or an out of the blue action, if I didnt see or understand that difference in standards, I would have never done it. Im glad I saw it and understood that beckett would be more lenient on those centering grades.
If I send more cards to cgc I dont know if they will come back with strict centering grades, Im just stating I would never want to take that risk again. Not just from my 40 card sub but from your experience with cgc centeringas well, as you stated above and many others experiences. Its known in the hobby that cgc centering is strict. And that didnt derive out of nowhere or from just my 40 card sub of course.