[Research](https://cardinal-app.ai/research/) # The Grading Premium Index: what a grade is worth for Pokémon cards **The cheaper the card, the less likely grading pays.** We priced 1,643 Pokémon cards from the Cardinal catalog at every grade and checked whether grading beats selling raw after the fee. For cards worth $5–$20, most don't pay even if they come back a PSA 10 (57% don't), and a PSA 9 almost never pays (3% of cards). For cards worth $200–$1,000, most pay even with a 9 or lower (67% of cards). **Why:** the grading fee is the same whatever the card is worth. A PSA 10 typically sells for 9.8× the raw price, but on a cheap card that gain is too small to cover the fee by a safe margin; on an expensive card even the smaller gain from a 9 covers it easily. Updated 2026-10-18 · Prices as of 2026-10-17 · Fees: each company's published tiers (oldest entry 2026-06-01) By price band ## The premium, and when it pays, by raw price. | Raw price | Cards | PSA 10 vs raw (median) | PSA 10 vs PSA 9 (median) | Some PSA grade pays | A PSA 9 or lower pays | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | $5–$20 | 438 | 12.6× | 4.5× | 43% | 3% | | $20–$50 | 431 | 9.0× | 5.2× | 73% | 14% | | $50–$200 | 398 | 7.0× | 4.3× | 87% | 37% | | $200–$1,000 | 318 | 8.2× | 4.3× | 94% | 67% | | $1,000+ | 58 | 9.8× | 4.1× | 100% | 85% | **How to read it.** "Some PSA grade pays" is the share of cards where at least one PSA grade is worth more than the raw card plus the fee, *if the card gets that grade*, by the same rule the Cardinal Call uses: the gain has to clear a minimum both in dollars and relative to the fee. Among those cards, 59% need a 10. "A PSA 9 or lower pays" is the share where a 9 is enough. Neither says how likely a card is to get the grade — that depends on the copy in your hand. The $1,000+ band has fewer cards (58) because few cards in the catalog are priced that high. By grading company ## How often each company's grade pays. | Grading company | Cards with prices | Some grade pays | Only a 10 pays | |---|---|---|---| | PSA | 1,315 | 74% | 44% | | CGC | 1,297 | 58% | 23% | | BGS | 1,238 | 89% | 42% | | SGC | 1,142 | 41% | 31% | | TAG | 726 | 50% | 15% | Like the table above, this assumes the card gets the grade. A company's grade pays more often when its fee is low relative to what its slabs sell for. That is why a cheaper grader can come out ahead on low-value cards even though a PSA 10 usually sells for more — and why the answer differs card by card. Method ## How the index was built. - **Sample:** up to 600 Pokémon cards drawn at random from each raw-price band of the Cardinal catalog. After removing duplicate listings, non-English printings and cards that couldn't be priced, 1,643 remained — the table shows how many per band. Mostly English printings; some Japanese-market sets may be included because the catalog doesn't record every card's language. - **Prices:** each card's raw price and graded prices at every grade, as the Cardinal app shows them, as of 2026-10-17. Graded prices pool all label eras and can come from different market sources at different grades. - **When grading pays:** computed by Cardinal's own grading engine — the same rule as the Cardinal Call — using each company's published service levels from Cardinal's fee table (synced daily; the oldest entry is from 2026-06-01). It ignores shipping and how long grading takes, and assumes the grade is known; it does not say how likely any card is to get it. - **Medians** are used throughout, so a few extreme prices don't drive the results. ## What about your card? Scan it to see its predicted grade and whether grading pays, with which company. Free on iPhone and Android. --- Get Cardinal, free: [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/cardinal-tcg-scan-grade/id6810442266) · [Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ai.cardinal.app)