Pokemon Card Grading Guide

Grading turns a piece of cardboard into a sealed, slabbed, graded asset. A high grade can multiply a card’s value many times over — but a low grade or a rejected submission can leave you worse off than you started. This guide walks through how the three major grading companies score cards, what they look for, and how to decide whether your card is worth submitting in the first place.

The Three Major Grading Companies

PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator)

PSA is the most established grading service for Pokemon and the one most collectors and buyers look for. PSA uses a 1-10 scale and encapsulates the card in a clear slab with a label that states the set, year, card name, and grade. PSA grades carry the deepest sales history, which is why our charts are anchored to PSA data wherever possible.

BGS / Beckett

Beckett (BGS) grades on a 1-10 scale with quarter-point increments and prints sub-grades for centering, corners, edges, and surface on the label. A BGS card with all four sub-grades of 9.5 or higher earns a coveted "Black Label" BGS 10 — extremely rare and extremely valuable.

CGC

CGC (Certified Guaranty Company) entered the Pokemon market more recently. It uses a 1-10 scale similar to BGS, with quarter-point increments and sub-grades. CGC slabs have grown in popularity, but PSA still commands a price premium on most vintage Pokemon.

The Grading Scale

• Gem Mint 10 — virtually perfect. Sharp corners, clean surface, well-centered, no print defects.
• Mint 9 — looks new on first inspection, with one minor flaw permitted.
• Near Mint-Mint 8 — very light wear; a few minor defects allowed.
• Near Mint 7 — minor wear visible to a trained eye.
• Excellent 6 / 5 — light handling, light surface wear, soft corners.
• Very Good / Good 4 / 3 — clear play wear and visible defects.
• Poor / Fair 1 / 2 — heavy damage; only valuable for the rarest cards.

What Graders Look At

Centering

How evenly the printed image sits inside the card border, measured front and back. PSA tolerates roughly 55/45 to 60/40 centering for a 10. Off-center cards are the most common reason vintage cards miss the top grade.

Corners

Looked at under bright light, corners should come to a clean point. Even faint whitening or fuzzing knocks the grade down. Vintage corners almost always have some wear.

Edges

Edges are checked for chipping, whitening, and nicks. Cards that have been shuffled or played in a deck typically show edge wear even when the corners still look clean.

Surface

Surface defects include scratches, print lines, dimples, dents, and indentations from being pressed in a binder. Holographic cards are especially prone to surface scratches.

How to Self-Evaluate Before Submitting

• Use a bright LED light and check the card under it from multiple angles.
• Look at the back of the card — many cards lose grades because of back defects nobody bothered to check.
• Measure centering by eye against the borders on all four sides.
• Use a jeweler’s loupe (10x) for corners and surface.
• Compare against PSA’s public population data — if very few 10s exist, your odds are slim.

Should You Get a Card Graded?

Grading makes sense when three things are true: the card is genuinely high-end, the difference between a PSA 9 and a PSA 10 is meaningful in dollar terms, and your honest self-assessment puts the card at PSA 9 or better. A rough rule of thumb:

• PSA 10 value < 4x grading fee → usually not worth it.
• PSA 10 value 4-10x grading fee → worth it only if the card is clearly clean.
• PSA 10 value > 10x grading fee → usually worth submitting if you grade it conservatively at 9+.

Common Mistakes

• Submitting a card that is obviously off-center because you "want to see" what it grades.
• Cleaning a card with anything wet — instantly disqualifying.
• Bending a card during inspection (loupe + thumb pressure is a classic way to crease a corner).
• Skipping research on population reports.

Next Steps

Once you understand the scale, look up the card you’re considering in our price guides to see what each grade is currently selling for.