PSA vs CGC vs BGS vs TAG: Which Grader for Pokemon?

All four grade Pokemon cards on a 1-10 scale, but the same number does not mean the same thing on each slab. PSA has one 10 (Gem Mint). CGC and TAG each have two 10s, Pristine and Gem Mint. Beckett (BGS) calls its 9.5 Gem Mint and puts its rarest result, the Black Label, above Pristine 10. When you buy, read the words on the label, not just the number, and compare a slab only with others from the same grader and grade.

The four graders at a glance

Every fact here comes from the graders' own published standards, read on 2026-10-09. Graders change their scales and labels, so check the source pages before you rely on a detail.

What "10" means at each grader

The easiest way to compare top grades is centering, because every grader publishes a number for it. The table shows the tolerance each grader allows on the front and back of the card.

On paper, a PSA 10 and a CGC Gem Mint 10 allow the same centering. Buyers often compare a BGS 9.5 with a PSA 10, and on centering alone the 9.5's published tolerance is the tighter one. Centering is only one of four things every grader judges, though, and these documents do not tell you how strictly each company applies its standard in practice.

Gem Mint, Pristine and Black Label in a listing title

Those words mean different things depending on the grader, so a title alone can mislead you.

• "Gem Mint" is PSA's 10, CGC's lower 10, TAG's lower 10, and BGS's 9.5. "Gem Mint BGS" in a title is a 9.5, not a 10.

• "Pristine" is CGC's top 10, BGS's 10 and TAG's top 10. PSA has no Pristine grade at all, so "PSA 10 Pristine" in a title is a seller's adjective, not a grade.

• "Black Label" is Beckett only: a Pristine 10 in which all four subgrades are 10. Every other BGS 9.5 and 10 has a gold label.

• "CGC 10" alone can be either of CGC's two 10s. Check the label in the photo.

Before you trust any of these words, look at the label itself in the photo, then look up the cert number on the grader's site (see Cert number (certification number)).

The missing 9.5s, and an old CGC label

PSA and TAG have no 9.5. PSA gives half grades only between 2 and 9, and TAG skips the half step between 9 and 10. So a title that says "PSA 9.5" or "TAG 9.5" is wrong, whatever the card is.

At CGC and BGS, 9.5 is a real grade but not the same one. CGC's 9.5 is Mint+. Beckett's 9.5 is Gem Mint, its gold-label grade.

CGC has also renamed grades over time. Its current scale page says old labels reading "CGC Trading Cards Gem Mint 9.5" (or "CSG Gem Mint 9.5") correspond to today's CGC Gem Mint 10, and that its old Perfect 10 is retired. So an older CGC slab marked Gem Mint 9.5 is not the same grade as a current CGC 9.5. See CGC grading.

Subgrades, scores and reports

The four graders give you different amounts of detail beyond the main number.

• BGS grades centering, corners, edges and surface separately. Two BGS 9.5s of the same card can have different subgrades, and buyers read them. Beckett also offers a single-grade service with no subgrades, so not every BGS slab shows them (see BGS 9.5 and BGS Black Label).

• TAG links each slab to a digital report with images and identified defects. With its DIG Report Plus, it adds a 1000-point score, so you can see whether a 10 is a high or a low 10.

• PSA has no subgrades. Instead it can add a qualifier for one specific flaw, such as OC or ST, written after the grade (see PSA grading scale).

• CGC's published scale describes each grade in detail. Its current pages do not settle whether its Pokemon labels show subgrades, so check the label in the photo.

Checking the slab before you pay

Each grader offers a way to look up a slab, and each check answers a slightly different question.

• PSA has a cert verification page. PSA warns that it does not remove all risk: criminals sometimes copy real cert numbers onto counterfeit labels.

• CGC images every graded card, and you can view those images with its Verify CGC Certification tool. Its labels carry microprinting, UV ink, holographic foil, a cert number, a barcode and a QR code on the back.

• TAG puts a cert search and the DIG report online, and says every slab has security you can check with a smartphone.

• Beckett's website was offline on 2026-10-09 while Beckett investigated what it calls suspicious technical activity. Beckett says its online tools may be unavailable, so a BGS cert may not be checkable until the site returns.

eBay's Authenticity Guarantee adds one more check for single cards of $200 or more: PSA inspects the holder for tampering and confirms the case and label are authentic, without regrading. eBay's terms accept graded cards from PSA, SGC, CGC and BGS. TAG was not on that list on 2026-10-09. The full step-by-step slab check is in Verify a Graded Pokemon Card Before You Buy.

How I buy

I buy mostly PSA. I think BGS is good too, though I haven't bought one yet. A BGS Black Label is a very low-population label.

I also sometimes like buying vintage cards in CGC 7 or 8 slabs that have good centering.

I have submitted cards to PSA myself, and the first one back did not get the grade I expected. That story, and how PSA's process works, is in How PSA Grading Works, and Is It Worth It?.

The trade-offs for a buyer

No grader is the right one for everyone. These are the trade-offs from their own standards:

• PSA: one 10 and a simple scale, so a PSA 10 is easy to compare with other PSA 10s. No subgrades, so you learn less about the card from the label.

• CGC: two 10s, so you have to read the label. Detailed published standards, and images of every graded card online.

• BGS: four subgrades unless the single-grade service was used, so the label shows where a card is strong or weak, and the rarest top result in the Black Label. You also have to read four numbers, and Beckett's online lookup was down when this was written.

• TAG: a digital report for every slab, a score with DIG Report Plus, and no paper label. Not on eBay's Authenticity Guarantee grader list as of 2026-10-09, and no 9.5.

Whichever you choose, compare a listing only with listings of the same card, grader and grade. On a ChaseBoard watch you pick the grading company and the grade, including Black Label for BGS, and a CGC 10 watch catches both Pristine and Gem Mint 10s, so check the label before you buy.