How Is Pokémon Card Centering Measured?
Centering is a ratio between opposite borders, it is the flaw sellers most often miss, and it is the one thing on a card that no amount of careful storage can fix.
Tag
Psa
What Is a PSA Population Report?
It counts how many copies PSA has graded and at what grades. What that tells you about scarcity, and the four ways it misleads people who read it as a census.
Near Mint vs PSA 9: Why Condition Words Mislead
Marketplace condition words and numeric grades measure different things. Here is what Near Mint really permits, and why a clean card still grades a 7.
Is Grading Worth It? Run the Numbers on Your Card
Grading one card costs about $108 all in as of September 2026. Here is the arithmetic step by step, worked twice: once where it pays and once where it does not.
Why a PSA 10 Neo Genesis Lugia Costs 12x a PSA 9
Just 15 of the 12,000+ graded Unlimited Lugia 9/111 are PSA 10s. Here is how centring builds that price cliff, and what to do with a raw copy.
What Grading Pokémon Cards Actually Costs in 2026
PSA Regular is $79.99 a card, CGC Economy is $20, and Beckett's two cheapest tiers are sold out. Add postage both ways and supplies and four cards through PSA works out at roughly $88 each.
Fake PSA and CGC Slabs: How to Check a Cert
Every graded slab carries a number you can look up on the grader's own site before you pay. Here are the three lookup pages, what each one actually returns, and what it means when the database describes a different card to the one in your hands.
Pokémon Card Condition: What Near Mint Actually Means
Near Mint is a defined standard with a point budget, not a compliment. What each condition allows, how the three scales differ, and what the gap costs you.
PSA vs CGC vs Beckett for Pokémon: Which Should You Use?
PSA slabs sell for far more than CGC or Beckett on the same card. Here are the current fees, the verified price gap, and the cases where CGC still wins.
Japanese vs English Pokémon Cards: Which Are Worth More?
Japanese cards grade far better than English ones — 81% PSA 10s against 25% on the same 2023 cards. Worth more is a different question, and it splits.
Is It Worth Grading Modern Pokémon Cards?
PSA's Value tier is paused, so a modern card now starts at $79.99 to grade. Here is the arithmetic on which cards clear that bar, and which lose money.
How Much Is a Base Set Charizard Actually Worth?
Three different cards share the name. One is worth about $500 raw, one about $1,000, one about $5,500 — and telling them apart takes ten seconds.