Is it worth grading Pokémon cards?

Sometimes. The card type does not change the fee. PSA, CGC, and TAG publish one card price list for Pokémon and for sports. What changes the answer is the gap between the raw price and the slab price, minus the bill.

A common $15 to $40 modern card often loses right now. PSA’s cheap Value tiers are paused, so PSA starts at $59.99 plus return shipping. CGC Economy is $20 plus a return-shipping figure from an older table. If a grade 10 only adds $25, the slab does not pay for itself.

It flips when the grade adds more than the bill. A card at $40 raw that would sell for $180 as a 10 clears CGC’s Economy bill with room left over. A 9 at a much lower price can wipe that out. Type both grades. The verdict says so when the lower grade loses.

CGC Bulk is $17 a card, and it wants 25 cards worth $500 or less each. One holographic is not a bulk order. Selling fees on eBay or TCGplayer are extra either way, and they are not in these totals.

Example: a cheap card that does not clear the fee

Raw $15.00, grade 10 sells for $40.00, one card. These prices are an illustration, not a market quote.

Not worth it

Not worth it. The extra money from a grade 10 does not cover the published grading cost. One fitting tier has no published price, so check that grader before you rule them out. The cost to mail the cards to the grader is not included.

Grader	Tier	Grading fee	Return shipping	On a grade 10
PSA	Standard	$59.99	$19.99	Not worth it
CGC	Economy	$20.00	$20.00	Not worth it
TAG	Standard	$59.95	Not published	Not worth it

Example: a grade 10 that clears the fee, and a 9 that does not

Raw $40.00, grade 10 sells for $180.00, grade 9 sells for $55.00, one card. These prices are an illustration, not a market quote.

Worth grading with CGC

Worth grading with CGC. On a grade 10 you would be $100.00 ahead of selling raw, after the grading fee and estimated return shipping. A grade 9 would not pay for itself at the published prices. The cost to mail the cards to the grader is not included.

Grader	Tier	Grading fee	Return shipping	On a grade 10
PSA	Standard	$59.99	$19.99	Worth grading
CGC	Economy	$20.00	$20.00	Worth grading
TAG	Standard	$59.95	Not published	Worth it if shipping is low

Put your own prices in the calculator. Sold-listing links under the verdict are there so you can check the raw and graded numbers you typed.

Run the numbers

Pokémon and sports cards use the same published prices here. The tier is the cheapest open one that covers the card.