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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
Grading adds value to some cards and destroys money on others. Here's the arithmetic that tells you which is which, before you spend anything.