{
  "url": "https://www.moonstonehq.com/articles/the-label-is-worth-more-than-the-grade",
  "slug": "the-label-is-worth-more-than-the-grade",
  "title": "The Same Card, Two Slabs: a PSA 10 Is Worth 2.42 Times a CGC 10",
  "summary": "On the 4,547 cards our graded tape prices in both a PSA 10 and a CGC 10 on the same day, the median PSA 10 sells for 2.42 times its CGC twin, and PSA is dearer on 92.9% of them. The gap holds one grade down (1.90x at the 9) and against BGS (2.11x versus a 9.5). Whatever you are buying when you buy a slab, a meaningful part of it is the label.",
  "section": "Quant research",
  "published": "2026-09-21",
  "readMinutes": 8,
  "publisher": "moonstone",
  "findings": [
    {
      "value": "2.42x",
      "measures": "median PSA 10 against CGC 10",
      "basis": "4,547 cards priced in both on September 21, 2026"
    },
    {
      "value": "92.9%",
      "measures": "of those cards where PSA is dearer",
      "basis": "4,224 of 4,547. CGC is dearer on 321"
    },
    {
      "value": "1.90x",
      "measures": "the same comparison one grade down",
      "basis": "PSA 9 against CGC 9, 2,871 cards"
    },
    {
      "value": "2.11x",
      "measures": "PSA 10 against a BGS 9.5",
      "basis": "565 cards, PSA dearer on 98.1%"
    }
  ],
  "tables": [
    {
      "title": "Cards sitting on the median ratio",
      "columns": [
        "Card",
        "Set",
        "PSA 10",
        "CGC 10",
        "Ratio"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Card": "[Shining Tyranitar](/card/neo4-113)",
          "Set": "[Neo Destiny](/set/neo%20destiny)",
          "PSA 10": "$10,900.00",
          "CGC 10": "$4,499.50",
          "Ratio": "2.42x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Piplup](/card/me02-098)",
          "Set": "[Phantasmal Flames](/set/phantasmal%20flames)",
          "PSA 10": "$99.86",
          "CGC 10": "$41.27",
          "Ratio": "2.42x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Pidgeot ex](/card/sv03-217)",
          "Set": "[Obsidian Flames](/set/obsidian%20flames)",
          "PSA 10": "$60.00",
          "CGC 10": "$24.75",
          "Ratio": "2.42x"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Dodrio V](/card/swsh8-201)",
          "Set": "[Fusion Strike](/set/fusion%20strike)",
          "PSA 10": "$41.21",
          "CGC 10": "$17.00",
          "Ratio": "2.42x"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "The same question, three ways",
      "columns": [
        "Comparison",
        "Cards priced in both",
        "Median ratio",
        "Share where PSA is dearer"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Comparison": "PSA 10 against CGC 10",
          "Cards priced in both": "4,547",
          "Median ratio": "2.42x",
          "Share where PSA is dearer": "92.9%"
        },
        {
          "Comparison": "PSA 9 against CGC 9",
          "Cards priced in both": "2,871",
          "Median ratio": "1.90x",
          "Share where PSA is dearer": "90.8%"
        },
        {
          "Comparison": "PSA 10 against BGS 9.5",
          "Cards priced in both": "565",
          "Median ratio": "2.11x",
          "Share where PSA is dearer": "98.1%"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "charts": [],
  "sections": [
    "What the typical gap actually looks like",
    "Where the number stops being trustworthy",
    "The premium survives being tested"
  ],
  "method": [
    "Graded medians come from our own recorded sale tape, read on day 20717 (September 21, 2026), the most recent day with a full graded snapshot. A card enters the comparison only when a median exists for both grades on that same day, which is 4,547 cards for PSA 10 against CGC 10, 2,871 for the 9s and 565 against BGS 9.5. Ratios are computed per card and then the median across cards is reported, so a single very expensive card cannot move the headline. Every row on both sides of this tape carries a comp count, and the extreme individual ratios are almost always built on single-digit or low-double-digit samples on one or both sides; the median is quoted precisely because it is robust to them. Nothing here is investment advice."
  ],
  "terms": "Figures are moonstone's own recorded measurements, dated as published. Quote them with the population stated beside them. The article at `url` is the human form of this file."
}