PSA 9 vs PSA 10 - Why I Collect and Invest in PSA 9 Pokemon Cards

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✅ In this video, I explain why I love collecting and investing in PSA 9 graded Pokemon cards instead of PSA 10 slabs. As I mainly collect mid-era (LV.X and ex) Pokemon cards, I find that the 9s provide exceptional value for my money.
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[@DE-xq3yt]

I collect japanese, german and english cards and I buy differently for each language. For modern japanese cards I prefer 10s, because of the small difference between raw and a PSA 10 for a lot of cards. For modern english and german cards I prefer 9s, because of the often much lower price. I often find english/german 9s, that go for like raw price and a fraction of the grading costs on ebay. People tend to forget, that 9 is still a high end card! And you are absolutely right with grading luck. You can send the exact same card in like 20 times and you will not get the same result everytime. A long term strategy for me is to look out for cheap 9s and if they go up a lot in price, I can still send them in and try to get the 10. My best find lately was the zapdos SIR in a PSA 9for around 50€. In europe the raw cards starts at 40€. And at this price range, it doesnt hurt that much, if the price isnt going up. I really enjoyed your thoughts on the topic.

[@TCGCollector]

Thank you for sharing! Very insightful. I like to do something very similar with my Japanese purchases as well. Congrats on your recent find and all the best for your collection journey!

[@aTrashBin]

For my PC, I do the same for mid-era stuff (specifically D/P Holos & Lv.Xs) but in PSA 8s. For modern I do 9-10 depending on the price difference. (Usually if the price of the 10 isnt too far off a 9; or a 9.5 even for BGS) Like you said at the end of the day, better to own a mint card over a mint 'number' on a label. Plus more $ saved that can be used for other cards!

[@TCGCollector]

Totally agree! Actually just picked up some PSA 9 mid-era and modern chase cards on auction today. Feel like the 9 cards especially for modern are a great deal on auctions with some being only slightly above the grading costs. Glad we have a similar mentality when it comes to this stuff! Happy collecting and thanks for checking out this video :)

[@MCBoss-tn6fy]

Great video, personally i am also a 9's collector. 10 is a bonus but 9 is really fine with me.

[@TCGCollector]

Totally agree. Of course I am happy when I get a 10 from my psa return but when I’m purchasing cards, especially vintage, I want to buy the 9s. Best value for a collector at least!

[@ProBlueCheese]

Cool to see others habbits in the hobby; I'm collecting only CGC prestine 10s (new label) Japanese modern alt arts.

[@TCGCollector]

That’s sick! A very difficult goal for sure. Thanks for checking out the video and good luck to you!

[@kingTucca]

Exactly good work.

[@TCGCollector]

Thanks! Glad we share a similar opinion 😀

[@purpleraikou]

Yep most of my collection is vintage cards in 9. Just makes way more sense for my budget and collection goals. I have a few ultra modern alt arts that I got in 10s, because I noticed allot of the alt art 9s got the 9 because of centering. I don't want my alt arts too off center, because the whole point of the alt art cards is the esthetic. Also, for some older cards that I just want a mint raw copy for a binder, sometimes the 8 is a similar price to NM raw. So in that case, it's allot safer to just get the 8 and crack it

[@TCGCollector]

That makes a lot of sense to me. I’m in a similar boat - definitely vintage cards are so hard to find minty raw copies so I generally purchase the 9s since it’s still affordable and does not have an insane premium compared to the 10. For modern, I feel like there’s so many mint copies on the market so I usually just buy them raw and grade it myself which usually yields me a 10 grade! However, sometimes I opted to just purchase 9 moderns especially if the price is near the price of grading. For example, I got a modern chase card from the sun and moon era for ~$20 (psa 9).

[@purpleraikou]

yea my only excuse for buying the 10 straight up over grading myself, is laziness lol. I think it's smarter to do it your way. I'm basically paying up, to cut corner. And yea if you're not too fussed about the 9, and really want the card, under $50 is a no brainer.@@TCGCollector

[@TCGCollector]

Lol, yeah for sure. I do the same too especially if it's for cheaper 10s.

[@lunisic]

I just got back into the hobby and im only doing psa graded cards this time. Ive been buying all 9's cuz unless its a brand new release psa 10's are slightly out of my budget. With a 9 you still get a mint card and when all the 10s are so far beyond reach the 9's will be in demand

[@TCGCollector]

Exactly my thought as well. Especially older cards, I really like the value the 9 brings. I find that often times it’s hard to find a mint raw copy for that price point so might as well get an already card.

[@rafaelrivera3156]

For me I compare a graded card in the main 3 companies which are Bgs, cgc, psa in that order and get the one that has the best grade and also the least pop so I get the best and also the most uncommon and valuable at the same time. Thats me of course everyone can Collect however they want and live their money on whattever they really want

[@TCGCollector]

Interesting! Thanks for sharing . For sure I think you can get a better deal overall if you are OK with having a collection with different grading companies especially with BGS and CGC that are often cheaper than PSA.

[@jj372]

Very informative video! I enjoyed your full video keep going 👍 (from korea)

[@TCGCollector]

Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it - really appreciate it

[@irv1992]

Nothing wrong with collecting 9s. I was able to buy 2 PSA 9 poncho pikas for under 3k which what a PSA 10 would cost. A W video bro 💪🏽

[@TCGCollector]

That sounds like a W purchase to me! Much rather buy more cards with the money I save. Thanks for the comment!

[@andrewtobias4545]

I guess with 9s, you’re kind of banking on the card going up in value. Since they track the raw prices fairly well. Personally idk how card prices will fluctuate compared to sealed, but stuff like alt arts will likely see an increase. Not sure it will outpace box prices though. Other than those I’m not too sure at the moment.

[@TCGCollector]

Yeah exactly, I like 9s not only because it reflects the actual card value more closely but I’m not betting on a particular grading company if that makes sense. I feel like buying 10s and paying the premium also means betting that PSA will remain reputable and the most widely used grading company. I don’t want to take that risk. I agree with you that it’s hard to know how individual modern cards will do compared to sealed so I’m focusing a bit more on the older stuff at the moment. Thanks for the comment!

[@scorpionstarantulas5282]

9s are my favorites I've been trying to collect all the charizards in 9s so it goes well with the vintage 9 charizards since the 10s are so expensive for vintage

[@TCGCollector]

Nice, a similar goal to myself as well. I want to collect the chase cards from all generations in a 9. Collecting all 10 charizards would be extremely difficult unless you were a multimillionaire lol.

[@uhhJshification]

Great video! Imo psa 9s are still mint. People just want perfection and if they want perfection go with bgs 10s or BL

[@TCGCollector]

Thank you :). Agree completely - PSA 9s are literally defined as "Mint" on their label as well. Often times the 9 and the 10 look very similar especially when it comes to more vintage cards. BGS BL seems to be as close as possible to perfection but I still think if you resubmit the same card again, it is likely not going to get the BL. Hence, why I think 9s are generally all around pretty solid.

[@uhhJshification]

@@TCGCollector it depends on language aswell some German cards are especially hard to get in Mint condition subgrades make them stand out more, some rather want a 9 because 10s just gets premium so much. I would rather get a 9.5 then a bgs 10..

[@TCGCollector]

Ah interesting. I didn’t know there was a language dependency. I do enjoy subgrades myself too but most of my collection is PSA based but I think I would also go for 9 or 9.5 BGS as well since I think the price will be a lot more affordable. Do you mainly buy PSA and BGS cards then? Any CGC cards?

[@Egonnnnnn]

0:20 i love that gyarados card 🤩🔥💪

[@TCGCollector]

I love that card too!! The gold borders and the pokemon roster 🔥

[@jogabonito13939]

Wish you would show the back of the psa 10 Charizard

[@TCGCollector]

It has a bit of corner whitening and a print line on the holo. This is pretty characteristic of PSA 9 Evo Holo Charizards.

[@IronNoe]

Nice video, PSA 10s are hit and miss, I’ve bought some PSA 10s off eBay that have whitening on the back that should be a 9. Just depends on the grader that day. I’ve sent cards into grade that had less whitening than the 10 and it got a 9. The price difference between the 2 is crazy for very minor appearance differences. Idk some people just like seeing the number being the highest. I am that way to but this video makes a lot of sense

[@TCGCollector]

Thanks for your kind comments! I feel very similar to you that PSA 10s I find (especially vintage) are hit or misses. I think for vintage especially, those cards are hard to grade and lots of 10s easily look like an 8/9 if resubmitted again. Hence why I would not pay that crazy high premium for a slightly (possible) better card. Lastly, I think the 10s are more risky because we are hoping PSA remains the top grading.

[@1stzard]

It is all POP and supply and demand. There are 20k evolution Charizard PSA 9's and only 500 for the PSA 10.

[@TCGCollector]

Definitely plays a large role. But that's rarity created by PSA. How many of those Evolution PSA 10s will get a 10 if you resubmit it?

[@1stzard]

That is what I am going to do, take a microscope and find all the 10's myself and submit.@@TCGCollector

[@TCGCollector]

Awesome, me too. Good luck bro!

[@Swatta637]

When I got into Pokemon collecting and PSA graded stuff, I seriously disliked how massive the jump from PSA 9 to 10 was, especially since you can find 10s that look the same or worse than 9s. I'd say generally I can notice a difference between 9s and 10s, but it is small. Very small. The fact that it the average PSA 10 is 3.5x a PSA 9 in cost is frustrating. Problem is, I don't see how it's going to change. And given how skewed this market is towards a 10, it's hard for me to see PSA 9s as a worthwhile buy. I've been under the assumption for the last year that PSA 10 -> mostly investment, some collector and PSA -> mostly collector, some investment. Would be interested in your opinion.

[@TCGCollector]

Thanks for commenting. I definitely agree with you that I don’t agree with the high premium price that the PSA 10s get; hence, why I generally collect good quality 9 cards. I think quite a few people will pay the premium for the 10 as an investment but I personally can’t justify spending that much on a card especially if I don’t think the card is “10 worthy”. The other thing I have trouble wrapping my head around is what if PSA no longer becomes the desired grading company. I think buying a PSA 10 is also buying into the fact that PSA will continue to be the most desirable grading company. Just an additional risk factor to take into consideration. Although, it’s likely going to remain that way, I personally don’t feel comfortable paying that 2 -10x premium for that grade. I think at the end of the day, it’s still the card inside the plastic that matters the most so I try to judge the card myself as well. Lastly, I think it is worthwhile to compare what % gain the 9 vs 10 have during previous market rises. I know for some cards the actual % increase in a 9 card may be higher than a 10 since the entry price for the 9 is usually drastically lower. Just some thoughts. Please let me know what you think! Cheers

[@DarkAK2]

I literally have modern 9s that are perfect in every way and 1 high valued 10 that has a very noticeable bump on the corner of the card. In the end of the day collect cards for the card and not the grade.

[@TCGCollector]

My thoughts exactly. Thanks for sharing! Always interesting to hear stories like this

[@alexmathewmendoza]

PSA 9's are great to collect because they're often budget-friendly and you get essentially the same card for a fraction of the price. When I buy slabs, 99% of the time it's because I want to collect and keep the card so I'll often go for the 9.

[@TCGCollector]

My thoughts exactly! Great bang for your buck especially if you can pick out a high quality 9. Thanks for checking out the video!

[@JediMasterT]

Hit it on the head, something you didn't touch on for me is, I prefer 9s also cause just as you said they are easier to buy, they are also easier to sell if you wanna move some of your cards around and buy something else or whatever. It's a lot easier to sell a 9 than a 10 just cause of the cost of entry.

[@TCGCollector]

Thanks for bringing that up! I haven’t thought about that as much and that’s a great point. Totally agree - definitely nice to have more liquid items.

[@JediMasterT]

@@TCGCollector Yea plus 9s are less volatile, 10s have the highest volatility of price flux

[@TCGCollector]

Yeah exactly. I think a 10 is nice and all but the biggest thing for me is actual quality of the card. What if PSA is no longer the preferred grading company and the 10 does not command a premium anymore. I would like to buy the card not the label/PSA branding. That' s something I won't be taking a risk on.

[@RoyalSubjectsMusic]

The price jump between 9 to 10 is so drastic and honestly not justifiable 99 percent of the time. With vintage I even go for the 8's because alot of times its cheaper than finding a minty quality raw card and the quality difference from 8's to 10's really isn't much of anything. Like you could make a business cracking vintage 8's out and selling them raw for more money than you paid for it.

[@TCGCollector]

Thanks for the comment! Yeah, totally agree the 10 price isnt worth it for myself personally. Especially since I believe a lot of vintage 10s are likely not reproducible (ie. it might receive a 9 the if you regrade it). For sure agree with you that 8s are quite minty as well and that a lot of time it’s cheaper than the “mint” copies on the market. I learned my mistakes from earlier on where I was trying to buy and grade “mint” middle era (ex and lv.x) cards but did not do well since they were quite hard to grade due to the silver borders and holo pattern. After that, I decided to just buy the graded version for not too much more

[@adamcordeiro473]

Collectors buy 9s dealers by 10s. Psa 9s are the way to go

[@TCGCollector]

Agreed - definitely best bang for your buck going the 9 route. Perhaps 10 might be better for people trying to flip

[@joelh90]

Psa & 9 for cards older than sun and moon are fine

[@TCGCollector]

Especially for older cards, the 10s are not usually "flawless". A lot of 10s look like 9s to me.

[@grumpycardcollector4292]

9s are a collectors grade. Normally it stays to an owner for a very long time or permanently. The 10s however are an investors grade it will just normally circulate between investors and comeout more often making it overpriced

[@TCGCollector]

That’s an interesting point. Agree with you that PSA 9s are a good “bang for your buck”. I’ve also seen some 9s appreciate quite well (some instances outpacing 10s) since the entry point is quite a bit lower for the 9s as well

[@DK-BayBay]

i collect 9's as well. super cheap. most of the time you can get a 9 for the cost of the card raw if you're willing to wait. and the difference between a 9 and 10 is negligible. more often than not i feel like its subjective. for me, im not buying the cards to re-sell, but to display in my collection. so to me its a great deal. and for anyone out there...i promise you, nobody is coming to your house and going wow omg you have all these in psa 10!? nobody cares. collect what you want but imo 9's and even 8s are a good route to go if you want some heavy hitters without the cost. my wife got me a psa 8 charizard for like 50 bucks for christmas. looks awesome and end of the day idc.

[@TCGCollector]

Couldn’t agree more. Thanks for sharing! As everyone always says: collect the card not the grade!

[@scorpionstarantulas5282]

I also see people breaking 9s from Cgc and sending them into to Psa to get grade 10s just because Cgc is tougher at grading cards

[@TCGCollector]

Interesting. I definitely thought some cgc 9.5s can become psa 10s but didn’t know that some 9s could also grade a 10. I guess this goes back to my point that we should buy the card and not the grade.

[@TCGCollector]

Thanks for sharing by the way :)

[@samersalama6275]

I understand the reason people choose to collect a 10 over a 9 but when you are able to get the same card but you are able to grow your slab collection, you should choose the 9.

[@TCGCollector]

Yeah, I mean that's why I chose to collect strong 9s personally. I am just personally not a fan of the increased price of a card due to it have a PSA 10 label on it.

[@samersalama6275]

I’m starting to see your point. I love having slabs. They look so clean and you can hold it in your hands without worrying you will damage a corner.

[@TCGCollector]

Exactly, think it's the best way to protect/preserve your cards.

[@CenutriomaN]

🔝

[@TCGCollector]

Thanks bro!

[@piotrdobrzynski3]

Is good is seans 🇵🇱👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@TCGCollector]

Thank you!!! 🙏👍👍😃

[@charliehustle94_]

I only buy 10s

[@TCGCollector]

It gets too expensive!? No?

[@charliehustle94_]

Nah you just need to be more selective and be willing to take bigger bets - I don’t buy hyped cards like alt art umbreon etc because the pop is too high

[@Icex7]

PSA sucks at grading. It amazes me they're the biggest company.

[@TCGCollector]

I think it is somewhat inconsistent but I think each company has some flaws. Which grading company do you prefer?

[@Icex7]

@@TCGCollector Yeah, for sure. I'd pick Beckett.

[@TCGCollector]

Ah, makes sense. I do really love the subgrades and the style of the label!

[@LemonRBLX905]

He teaching us to try not to get 10s I’m losing brain cells

[@TCGCollector]

Yup, 10s are the worst!

[@adamantcatnap5466]

You collect 9s cause you can’t afford 10s lol idk why this is a video

[@TCGCollector]

I’m glad you can afford it!

[@MCBoss-tn6fy]

@adamantcatnap5466 26 sub lol

[@dontcare7190]

He’s a troll. Most 9’s look like 10s. In many cases the only people that can tell the difference are the graders themselves. 9s are the smarter option for collectors, let the flippers stick to their 10s.

[@charliehustle94_]

KEKW