Choosing the best Pokemon Card Grading Services in 2023 is like choosing which pair of socks to put on in the morning, there’s a lot of choice, but each pair is unique!
In 2023, there’s plenty of grading services ready to help you authenticate and rate your precious cards, but which one is best to choose?
Well, I am about to tell you. I have collected rare Pokemon cards ever since I was a child, starting with base set and have graded many cards in my time, so let me share with you my experiences and why I think these are the best Pokemon card grading services of the year.
Table of Contents
1. Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA)
“But Brandon, I don’t want a sports authenticator!”. Don’t worry, that’s simply their name, they first started grading sports cards back in 1991, but they have now evolved into grading Pokemon Cards.
In fact they are the best Pokemon card grading service on the market. I have graded a majority of my cards with PSA, and even though the process is long, and gruelling you know you’re getting what you asked for.
PSA provided authenticated, and grad your card from 0 – 10 in regards to quality of the card. If you’re looking to resell your graded cards then PSA is the best service due its price retention.
The Pokemon card market highly respects PSA and trusts their strict grading rules, this builds trust in knowing that you are buying an authentic product.
From my previous experience, collectors would rather buy a PSA graded card over the others on this list, which gives it a slightly hight resell price.
It also comes in a very high quality seal of approval, which is great for storage and showcasing. PSA is by far the best Pokemon grading service of the year.
As of writing this PSA are having long delays in returning customers graded cards, this is due to sheer demand, and previous orders being on hold. For example, it took our cards almost 18 months to grade… not good!
2. Beckett
Beckett is what many class as the OG grader, they were founded in 1984 and have recently exploded in popularity due to the way they grade cards.
Beckett
Beckett has a far stricter policy when it comes to grading cards, and unlike PSA they actually rate four different areas of the Pokemon card, these four areas are:
- Centering
- Corners
- Edges
- Surface
Each of these areas get rated out of 10 and are checked for scuffing, white areas, scratches and dirt. Then overall card then gets rated a 10.
The biggest selling point for many when grading with Beckett is the fact you could potentially get a “GOLD 10”, which is the highest rating a card can get and its housed in a gold casing, making it not only look bad ass, but wanted.
These Beckett graded cards have higher value than PSA 10’s due to the fact that Beckett have strict rules and rarely give out perfect 10’s, making them far more wanted by collectors.
3. CGC
Coming in at number three is CGC, they are well known for being the go to for grading comic books, but have transitioned into all types of trading cards including Pokemon.
They have been around since 2000 and have always been respected for their authenticity. They might not have as much retail value as some companies on this list, but they’ll likely grade your cards faster.
PSA and Beckett have a backlog of cards that they are grading, and as of writing this, are slowly expanding their team, but not fast enough to solve the back log issue, whereas CGC are likely to get your cards graded swiftly.
Just like Beckett they grade your cards in four areas, centering, surface, corners and edges, then adding them up to give you a total out of 10.
They know what they are doing and have been producing high quality items for over 20 years, so even though they are low on this list, that doesn’t mean they’re not good.
It’s a great company, and they grade cards perfectly. Give them a go if you want speedy delivery.
4. Ace Grading
Ace Grading was founded in 2021 by a well known Pokemon YouTuber known as Randolph. He wants to create a grading company with a difference, and that he has done.
Unlike every other grading company on this list, Ace Grading has decided to create custom labels for each Pokemon card, allowing each graded piece from your collection to look a little different.
For example, certain V cards, or VMAX cards in newer sets get new art designs on the label that match the card, just like Moltres in the image above.
They also have unique security labels that uses third party AI technology to scan the QR code to show its authenticity and information. A bit like PSA’s long code.
Ace Grading is new on the block, and even though they’re grading ratings are all over the place and have been deemed as a bit of a lottery by some of their customers, they’re certainly a company to keep an eye on over the years.
So there’s a look at our best Pokemon card grading services of the year!
A 31 year old British fella that’s had a Gameboy ever since he was a child. Brandon is the founder of RetroDodo and has created a YouTube channel with 260,000 subscribers dedicated to retro gaming products. He now wants to create the No.1 site to showcase the latest retro products from around the globe.
