If you’ve been around for even a minute, you’ve certainly noticed that PSA is the king of the hill when it comes to card grading!
In most hobbyists’ eyes, there are only even two other reputable companies: SGC and BGS (and BGS has taken a massive hit in reputation lately).
PSA grading is worth it and can create an incredible ROI with higher end cards. For lower end, the cost is too high and you’re likely better going with a company like SGC.
PSA’s Place in the Current Market
The highs of the late 2020/early 2021 card boom saw some fledgling grading companies open up, or some lower level existing ones try to grab some more market share!
We heard about companies like CSG and HGA, but most collectors’ dalliance with them is gone. Besides, it appears most serious collectors never even considered going with them—they instead either moved to SGC or paid the premium for PSA.
While PSA was closed down to all but the most expensive levels, we saw their two main competitors go in different directions:
BGS also closed down lower levels as well—for quite awhile—and took a long time to open anything back up at reasonable prices.
SGC raised their price to $75, but only for a little bit, to help catch up with the backlog. Pretty soon they were back to $30 a card (and now down to 15). Their fast turnaround times, good customer service, and their history in the marketplace helped them overtake BGS.
I think a lot of people wondered why they’d go back to BGS when turnaround times and prices were similar to PSA, but then had significantly lower resale value?
Currently, PSA’s cheapest level is $25 per card (with some bulk submitters getting access to $19 per card), yet they’re still the king of the mountain because PSA 10s are king (unless you’re talking BGS black label or SGC gold label…but those are impossible to get).
Most collectors seem to be looking at it this way:
- For anything of decent value ($300+ raw, give or take), PSA is the way to go.
- For anything lower than that, SGC provides the best ROI.
I also wrote an in-depth article comparing all the grading companies here:
Reviewing the Complete List of Sports Cards Grading Companies
How Does PSA’s Grading Scale Compare?
One interesting thing about PSA is that in the threads I’m on, no one seems to really understand how they became the king of the mountaintop.
They’re grading can be a little inconsistent (I’ve heard sports card lifers say that SGC is much more accurate and consistent), especially because they don’t have a 9.5 grade like BGS or SGC, and they also don’t have the gold or black labels for the perfect cards.
In other words, it’s too easy to get a 10. You can have more variation and still get one, while SGC or BGS would just give you a 9.5.
Plus, they don’t have subgrades like BGS does.
For what it’s worth, many collectors like their set registry and attribute that to PSA’s dominance. I haven’t used it, but it’s an easy/fun way to collect entire sets, track it, and compare to what others are doing.
Is There a Standard PSA Value Multiplier?
What I mean by this question is:
Can you say that a PSA 10 will automatically raise the value of the card by 10x, or 5x? And that a 9 will always raise the value by 2x or 3x?
The simple answer is no.
It depends on a few things:
- What’s the pop count? Because PSA grades the majority of cards, their population report (how many of a card exist in a certain grade) can give a nice view of how many high grades there are of a certain card. If a card has 20,000 PSA 10s (I’m looking at you, Zion Prizm rookie), then the PSA 10 is going to lose some of its value compared to raw
- How hard is it to find the card in good condition? This is a similar argument because the pop count will be lower. But think about really old cards, like before a lot of people took protecting their cards seriously. Here’s Jerry Rice’s rookie card:
According to these two listings, a PSA 9 gives a 100x multiplier to his Topps rookie!
Now let’s look at Zion’s Prizm card:
So the multiplier here for a PSA 9 is…1.5x?
In general, we’re seeing a trend where PSA 9s are being undervalued, and for many cards, are selling near raw. I chalk this up to EVERYTHING being sent in to be graded, especially in the past 3-4 years with card boom.
When literally millions of cards get graded, they’re going to be devalued—especially anything that’s not a 10.
Of course high-end cards graded a 9 will still see a premium, as will the old stuff (like the Jerry Rice example), but just be careful that you’ve done your research before sending in!
Rule of Thumb for Sending Sports Cards to PSA
If my main goal is to turn a profit (which it usually is)…my rule of thumb is generally this:
“Can I at least break even if it comes back a 9?”
When I examine a card, I want to be pretty sure that it’s a 10 to my eyes. Then, if I missed a little something, or the grader is having a bad day, I’m still likely to get a 9.
With this way of thinking, I expect pretty much everything to come back a 9…then when I get a 10, I’m excited for it and will definitely be making a profit.
Many of the cards I send in are also high-upside cards (rookies with room to grow). So even if it comes back a 9 and I break even, I can still hold it and hope for profit in the future.
How do you do the research to figure out the value of your card? I wrote a whole post on it:
=> How Do I Find Out How Much My Football Cards Are Worth?
Which Sports Cards to Send to PSA
- The All-Time All-Timers – If you’re blessed with one of the holy grail cards, send that sucker in ASAP. I’m talking about Mantle rookies, Jordan rookies, Jim Brown rookies, etc. These are the ones that even graded a 3-4 bring back a premium because it at least proves the card isn’t a fake.
- Rarer Rookies From a Long Time Ago – The Jerry Rice example from above would fall in this category. However, if it’s in bad condition, don’t send it in (unlike the cards from the previous category). You do need to be careful about “long time ago” though. Players (even all-timers) from the junk wax era shouldn’t always be graded. Some Barry Sanders, Ken Griffey Jr, and others aren’t worth anywhere near as much as you think.
- Newer, High Value Cards – for cards that I’m pulling today, it’s got to be a card worth $50 or more at least to send to PSA. The days of sending in a base Lamelo Ball rookie are long gone. But if you’ve got a Prizm silver that’s a different story.
How Can I Tell if My Card is in Good Enough Condition to Grade?
PSA has a great resource on their website where they show you pictures and give descriptions for each grade.
Here’s how I look at a card:
- I first look at the centering. If it’s clearly off, then I’m not sending my card in.
- Next, I look at the corners. If they appear sharp and not rounded/dinged at all, then the card is still in the running.
- Now that I’ve looked at those two things with the naked eye, I pull out my magnifying glass (I bought a $10 loupe on Amazon) and look at the corners again.
- Now go along the edges with your magnifying glass to be sure you’re not seeing anything suspect.
- Next, under a bright light, look carefully over the surface for scratches, indents, smudges, etc.
There are some things that will automatically disqualify from sending in a card, such as whiting or rounding on even one corner, any sort of indent, a decent scratch or multiple small scratches, etc.
But if I only see one SMALL thing wrong with the card, then I think it’s got a good chance to get a 10. If I see two small things, I’m almost for sure NOT sending it in.
At this point, I Iike to send my cards into a review service. These are companies that submit cards on your behalf to grading companies, but they review them first. For any cards they kick back to you without grading, they only charge $3-$5…which in my opinion is the best money I could ever spend!
Try NashCards. They’re amazing. I’m not an affiliate…just love their service.
Should You Use PSA for Your Personal Collection (PC)?
So let’s say you’re not interested in selling a card, perhaps ever, but you want to have it encapsulated. You’ve got a few things to take into consideration.
For my PC cards, my favorite option is to buy those fancy magnetic holders (that pic above is one of my favorite PC cards).
But, grading is certainly an option for getting a card in a sealed, professional-looking holder and having a grade attached.
However, it is $25 to get a card graded by PSA. They will also hit you with an upcharge if it’s an expensive card that grades well.
For example, let’s say you’ve got a Jordan rookie, and it comes back a 9, you’re likely going to be hit with a $1,000 upcharge.
If you’re selling the card, that’s not a big deal. But if you plan to hold, are you willing to shell out $1,000 for the holder?
You might be tempted to go find a less-reputable company that doesn’t have upcharges for expensive cards. After all, why do you care if you’re not ever going to sell it and just want it protected?
Here’s the problem:
Even if you’re not planning to sell the card, what if you:
- Get into financial trouble and want to sell?
- Want your kids to have a better ROI if they sell when you die?
In those cases, having a card graded by PSA rather than a cheap no-name company can pay huge dividends.
