Should you send your Pokémon card to PSA? Four questions decide.

The above-the-fold answer (60 seconds)

Send your Pokémon card to PSA if: (a) it's worth ≥ $50 raw, (b) it's a card with a real PSA-10 premium (alt-art, WOTC 1st Ed., Japanese chase rare, Charizard/Pikachu/Lugia flagship), (c) corners and centering look clean to the eye, and (d) you can wait 4–12 weeks. If any single answer is "no" — skip, or run a SnapGrade pre-grade first so you're deciding with data instead of hope.

Five worked examples on real Pokémon cards

Example 1 — Charizard Holo 1st Edition (Base Set)

• Q1 worth ≥ $50? Yes — even raw it's $1,500+
• Q2 PSA-10 premium? Yes — PSA 10 sells for $40,000+; PSA 9 for $5,000
• Q3 corners clean? Inspect under loupe. Assume yes for this example.
• Q4 can wait? Yes, plus use Express ($300 tier) given value
• Recommendation: Submit. Run SnapGrade first to confirm predicted 9 or 10 — at this value, knowing which tier to use justifies the $2.

Example 2 — Pikachu V Promo with visible edge wear

• Q1 worth ≥ $50? Yes raw, ~$80
• Q2 PSA-10 premium? Modest — PSA 10 ~$200, PSA 9 ~$120
• Q3 corners clean? No — visible edge wear means likely 8 or below
• Recommendation: Skip. Submission fee $42 + shipping ≈ break-even on a PSA 9. Don't submit.

Example 3 — Japanese Charizard EX with perfect centering

• Q1 worth ≥ $50? Yes raw, ~$220
• Q2 PSA-10 premium? Yes — Japanese alt-arts have strong international PSA-10 demand
• Q3 corners + centering clean? Yes by eye
• Q4 can wait? Yes
• Recommendation: Submit. Pre-grade first — Japanese alt-arts often have surface micro-flaws invisible to the eye that drop a 10 to 9.

Example 4 — Common Pikachu non-holo from a modern booster

• Q1 worth ≥ $50? No — worth $2
• Recommendation: Skip. No math saves this.

Example 5 — 2003 Reverse Holo Blastoise with uncertain centering

• Q1 worth ≥ $50? Yes raw, ~$70
• Q2 PSA-10 premium? Modest — vintage reverse holos have decent collector demand
• Q3 corners + centering clean? Unsure — centering looks borderline 55/45
• Recommendation: Pre-grade first. This is exactly the card where SnapGrade earns its keep — if the centering measures 60/40, the card is capped at 8 and submission is a waste. If 55/45 or better, submit.

When to choose PSA vs Beckett (BGS) vs CGC

For most Pokémon cards, PSA has the largest population and the highest resale premium — default to PSA. See our service-comparison guides for the details:

• PSA vs BGS — Beckett has sub-grades but smaller Pokémon market
• PSA vs CGC — CGC is faster but with lower PSA-10 premium recognition
• SGC vs PSA — SGC is fastest, growing recognition in sports
• BGS vs CGC — head-to-head if you're not going PSA

What "pre-grading" actually does for you

A SnapGrade pre-grade is a 6-second AI prediction of the PSA grade your card is likely to receive — with sub-grade breakdown (centering / corners / edges / surface) and per-aspect confidence. Across 412 verified PSA returns, our prediction matched within ±0.5 grade in 87% of cases. For Pokémon specifically, 89%.

Pre-grading turns Q3 (the hard one — "do corners and centering look clean?") from a guess into a measurement.