Grading collectibles is a billion-dollar industry. For Pokémon cards alone, millions are graded every year. Professional Sports Authenticator, or “PSA” for short, is the dominating player in this game. They assess cards based on their surface cleanness, centering, edge wear, and corner damage, then give it a grade from 1 to 10 and encase it in a plastic slab.
Cards with high grades can be worth 10x more than in raw condition, while poor grades can lower a card’s value. People analyze “gem rates,” the portion of cards of a certain variant that score a perfect 10, and the market prices cards accordingly. If it’s easy to get a 10, the premium won’t be as high.
Of course, grading costs money, and, somewhat perversely, PSA takes a cut of the alleged market value if they determine your card is worth a lot. An “upcharge,” they call it.
Some people hunt rare categories of graded cards, for example only 1s, niche promo cards, or cards with a low graded population, the data of which you can publicly see on PSA’s website. Graded cards can be more liquid and easier to move than raw copies—after all, they’ve been authenticated—but their prices also fluctuate drastically. Chase cards from new sets start in the thousands of dollars for the first few 10s on the market, then drop off a cliff only to maybe, hopefully recover years later.
Grading fully converts cards into assets and unlocks their maximum value. Some people use these assets to move serious money. In China, for example, there are restrictions on moving cash around. But graded cards? No problem. You can buy a handful of slabs for $200,000, ship them elsewhere or take them with you as you go by plane, declare them when you arrive, sell them again, and voilà! It might take a while, and the value could fluctuate, but in principal, your money can now transcend borders.
In other words, grading is a massive sub-branch of collecting Pokémon cards—and yet, you can do just fine without ever grading a single card. Cards can get lost in the mail. The graders sometimes damage them, then won’t reimburse you for their full original value. Grades are highly subjective, and many cards are sent in multiple times until they get the grade people want them to have. PSA’s dominance has led to many different problems over the years.
But, most importantly, I just don’t care for graded cards. I like arranging them in binders. For the first two years of collecting, I didn’t concern myself with grading at all. Soon, PSA will open a grading facility in Germany. After finishing a big set, I bought one of my favorite cards from it from several grading agencies. Only now am I dipping my toe into the water, and I’m not sure how deep it will ultimately go.
For you, maybe “grading” is the new trend in your sport. That special piece of equipment everyone now says you should have. It could be a certain genre in writing, infusing all your workflows with AI, or a new division in Formula 1 racing. You’re free to not care about any of these, you know?
Forget the grades. Focus on what you enjoy, show talent at, and where you truly want your skills to go.
