Hi all, probably this is a very discussed topic already, but wanted to hear some different oppinions and also what would you recomend me.
Long story short, 99% of my collection is all PSA graded ( Full holo sets of japanese base set, english 1st jungle + fossil + team rocket holo sets, and spanish 1st base set holo)
The thing is, Ive been buying not graded or minor company graded cards recently, and will have to send them for grading.
Seeing at the prices of grading ( PSA 50$/card, BGS 35$Ecnomo with subgrades) It really makes me reconsider things.
Do you still think, PSA is rated over BGS, or is a misconception that I have? I even considered send my collection of cards to BGS for grading and matching the new submissions to BGS⌠Most of my collection is PSA 9s and 8s.
So, it could be summed up in the following questions;
1- Do you think PSA is better rated over BGS? ( BGS9 card having same value as a PSA 9 card)
2- Is any of them considered to be âless restrictiveâ than the other? ( Some people say BGS, other people say PSA⌠IMO they are the same but want to hear some oppinions)
Depending on the previous questions it would help me decide toâŚ
3- Would you send the new cards (half Crystal holo card sets, and the remaining sapinsh 1st ed cards to complete spanish 1st base set) grading to PSA to match the already collection, OR send them to BGS and try to slowly move the collection from PSA to BGS.
I know this is a difficult topic and probably deppends on personal oppinions, would Ive been struggling to decide and would like some extra oppinions, thank you very much!
PSA is better than BGS but at the upper tier of grading, the black label still hold a much more premium than any PSA 10.
In terms of value, I would rank it like this. Black label 10 > PSA 10 > BGS pristine 10 (except in rare cases like Garyâs two first edition BGS charizards) > BGS 9.5 > PSA 9 >BGS 9> PSA 8 > BGS 8.5 > BGS 8âŚetc
BGS is less strict on anything below 8.5, they start to get stricter on 9 and over in my opinion but grading is subjective for the most part.
You canât go wrong as both PSA and BGS are very well established but in terms of absolute value, PSA is still king. Just donât submit your high end cards to random new three letter grading companies that popped up in the last two years.
Thank you! Yeah I dont rate nor collect anything from minor companies, I just have been buying here in europe some cheap cards from minor grading companies with high grade and that the card status looks at least that grade or higher, that are way cheaper than the same PSA equivalent grade and that will crack and send for PSA for grading
Iâm going to reply with my own view and perspective. You will find many topics on this subject on here and other websites (just do a search). This has been my experience:
I think at this moment in time, PSA appears more sought after than BGS across most collectibles, but specifically Pokemon cards. As a collector, that is up to your own judgment on which one you personally value more or less. In regards to BGS 9 vs PSA 9 specifically, the market seems to currently discount BGS 9s over PSA 9s on most cards in general in Pokemon. It seems that either due to personal bias or some other factor, people are willing to pay more for a PSA 9 Pokemon compared to BGS 9. I believe the main reason is simply because PSA has the most dominant market-share in Pokemon & overall long-term reputation and thus the most collectors/buyer pool willing to pay for the PSA slab. Most people want to stick to PSA instead of branch out, so itâs a very personal thing in these regards.
If youâre more into âbuying the cardâ and less into âbuying the gradeâ I think BGS slabs can provide a tremendous personal collector value option in the Pokemon hobby. For example, I have bought a couple of very nice BGS 9.5 Pokemon for just a small premium over a PSA 9 that I feel was worth it even though theyâre probably PSA 9s if graded at PSA.
However, theyâre cards that I wouldnât want to sell, so it doesnât bother me to have them in my collection for re-sale purposes or re-grading purposes. I just really liked the card, regardless of the grade on the slab.
Iâm not certain what you mean by âless restrictiveâ? Do you mean one grades harder or easier? In my experience, they grade at different standards across all grades. This is definitely a grey area I find with all grades. You can find âstrongâ and âweakâ examples from both companies for the assigned grade. In my experience, the BGS grades becomes more âlooseâ when you get in the 8.5 or below grades. Sometimes they can look really good, other times they can look like a much lower PSA grade within that assigned grade.
You can at times still find some PSA examples that are clearly over-graded or under-graded, it all depends on each card. Review each card as close as you can and make up your own mind if youâre worried about it.
If you already have the collection in PSA, Iâd probably stick to all PSA. Youâll just spend a bunch of extra money cracking and re-grading everything. I would only do that if you really want a BGS collection as opposed to PSA. Iâd personally want to save the money to buy more cards, but that is up to you.
Bottom line is, collect what you like. The Pokemon collectors largely prefer PSA but if you find the right card from BGS, I still think theyâre worth picking up from time to time. Thereâs just a lot less of them out there and a lot less BGS collectors in Pokemon compared to other hobbies.
I am just a slab cracker, not a slab collector. My thinking is instead of converting your slabs all to one company, just leave them as is, or even better, build a binder collection. You can save a ton of money on each card going forward. Find a NM raw copy, then sell your slab copy for more. But, if I had to pick one slab to house all my cards, it would be CGC by a land slide. The slab is clear, instead of frosty like PSA. And the label is much larger so there isnât abbreviated words like PSA has to do.
Either way, I am sure you will find whatâs best for your collection.
For Pokemon cards, Non-PSA sub 9 grades are a wasteland. I donât think even the employees at the non-PSA companies can explain the grading scale below 9. Its been that way a long time with BGS & Pokemon.
The Black label is more popular today. I think that is what most people are aiming for with BGS, the 9-10 range.
At the end of the day, just collect what you like and as long as your slabs are in PSA or BGS, you should be fine. But PSA for the most part is preferred.
@markzkong, Sports cards â Pokemon cards. For example, PSA is not the primary for MTG, but it is for Pokemon. Each hobby has a different standard and history with grading.
Exactly⌠I was going to mention this in my first post. Coming from collecting graded Magic cards, PSA 10s generally carry just a small premium over a BGS 9.5 or sometimes sell for the same prices. Much different than a PSA 10 compared to BGS 9.5 in Pokemon. This was really confusing for me at first because I really like both BGS 9.5 and PSA 10 in Magic just fine. This is also why I like BGS 9.5 in Pokemon at times, because they can still be a very nice card but just severely discounted compared to PSA 10. But, Iâve learned to accept that theyâll never carry the same premiums and take it all into consideration when collecting graded cards. Usually instead they are just valued like a PSA 9, with a slight to modest premium depending on the card (I like 9.5 WOTC holos, like Charizard for example).
I think this is really important stuff to understand depending on what hobbies one is part of. You really need to have a strong understanding of these market fundamentals to make the most value of your purchases in these hobbies and to enhance re-sale if you have to sell something at any point. If you have stacks of PSA cards, you simply have way more buyers in Pokemon but if you go with BGS your market options are much more limited and then it varies for all the other hobbies as well. For these reasons and others, I will buy a BGS Pokemon, but if I do it will be a permanent collector piece and not a card to re-sell or flip like a PSA one.
Trying to get black labels is just gambling. Youâre going to tell me some minimum wage grader is so accurate that his opinion of a 10,10,10,9.5 vs a 10,10,10,10 is worth thousands and thousands of dollars in premium? A fool and his money are soon parted.
PSA is the top dog without question. But with the exception of perfect 10s/black labels, CGC is actually outselling the equivalent grade BGS cards. So Iâd say that CGC has established themselves at least as much in the Pokemon market as BGS.
CGC only got popular because PSA and BGS were closed in April 2021 unless you want to pay $200-250+ to grade. Once PSA or even BGS open up their $20 value submission again, you will see the majority of the people go back to submitting to these two companies. If PSA or BGS can give the same turnaround time at the same price as CGC, then there is really no competitive advantage to choosing CGC over these two well established brand.
Yes CGC is very popular right now because they are cheap and have a fast turnaround time but those two factors will change as both PSA and BGS work on their backlog. In terms of value, sport cards far outpace pokemon (obviously Loganâs illustrator is the exception rather than the norm but for the most part there are far more $500k+ sports card than there are of pokemon). That tells me the majority of whales are in sports and that market is dominated by PSA and BGS.
The important point is that CGC cards are selling for more than the equivalent BGS grades. And this is despite the bottleneck in the BGS supply and the increasingly large CGC supply. If BGS having been closed was at all relevant to their market share, we wouldâve seen PSA slabs experience a similar decline relative to CGC. But nope, PSA remains the Pokemon market leader. The secondary market value ranking right now is firmly PSA > CGC > BGS, and I donât see how BGS reopening changes that. If anything, the easing of the BGS bottleneck might give CGC more of a lead.
And the dynamics in the sports cards market are irrelevant. In MTG, PSA is an afterthought. Does that make PSA any less of the king for Pokemon? Of course not.
Thank you all very much for the comments, it have been really helpful. I am glad I have found this forum, here in Spain is so difficult to find people who really understands and appreciates Pokemon card collecting ( most of the people just collects base set cards and consider European gradin better than PSA so you can imagine the iq)
Something I really like from PSA is the set registry, really helpful to keep track and organized the collection.
I think I will get the collector club membership and send for grading the ones I am, more excited about now, itâs 50$ the card but oh well. All the submissions will be cracked cards from CGC, BGS and other minor European grading companies, will make a post with the comparison result when received!
I grade frequently with and collect both for my personal collection. I honestly love them both but I do highly enjoy my BGS 10âs whether gold and especially black labels more than any of my PSA 10âs. But the truth is getting a Pristine from Beckett is extremely difficult so in reality it is hard to have any real collection of them especially for WOTC cards so I am content with majority of my collection being PSA 10âs and having that uniformity.
Both companies have been around and have dealt with cards long enough for me to warrant long term confidence in my opinion. Certainly my Top 2 for Pokemon and Sports.
