PSA 9 or PSA 10? How much the price changes, card by card

Between a PSA 9 and a PSA 10 of the same card there is a single point on the scale, but on price the gap runs from twice to more than eleven times. On Base Set vintage the 10 is worth 3.5 to 11 times the 9; on modern alt arts the ratio drops to 2 or 4. Here are the numbers, card by card, and what they mean for a buyer.

The PSA 10 to PSA 9 ratio, card by card

The figure we use is the ratio between last month's PSA 10 value and the PSA 9 value, calculated on the realised sales recorded by PriceCharting in October 2026. It is not an estimate: it is the price at which the cards changed hands.

• Charizard 4/102 Unlimited: the 10 is worth 3.5 times the 9, with a PSA 10 value of about €11,000.
• Blastoise 2/102: 7.8 times, PSA 10 value about €7,700.
• Venusaur 15/102: 8.1 times, PSA 10 value about €4,300.
• Mewtwo 10/102: 11.4 times, PSA 10 value about €4,200.
• Pikachu 58/102: 7 times, PSA 10 value about €480.
• The Jungle holos (Snorlax, Flareon, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Scyther): 5.9 times, reference PSA 10 value about €4,000.
• Gengar VMAX alt art from Fusion Strike: 2.6 times, PSA 10 value about €2,100.
• Giratina V alt art from Lost Origin: 3.9 times, PSA 10 value about €3,100.

The reading is immediate. The older the card, the further the 10 pulls away from the 9.

Why the gap is so wide on vintage

The price of a grade depends on how many copies exist in that grade. The cards of 1999 and 2000 came off the presses with approximate centring, borders that whitened at the first touch and a holofoil that was already scratched inside the pack. A copy that gets a 10 today has survived twenty-five years of all that. Few exist, and demand concentrates there.

The 9, by contrast, is a reachable grade: a well-kept card with a minimal centring flaw or a corner barely touched will get it. Many more are in circulation. That is why on Mewtwo or Blastoise the 10 costs eight or eleven times the 9: not because the card is more beautiful, but because the grade is rare.

Modern cards: a 10 is worth two or three times a 9

From 2020 onwards print quality has improved and cards are protected from the first second. A high percentage of the copies sent for grading come back with a 10. The top grade is still the dearest, but it is no longer a statistical exception.

You can see it in the numbers: Gengar VMAX sits at 2.6, Giratina V at 3.9. For a modern card the 9 is often regarded as a missed grade, and the market prices it accordingly. The premium of the 10 exists, but it is a premium for quality, not for rarity.

The Charizard case: a lower ratio than you would think

Charizard 4/102 is the dearest card on the list, but its 10 to 9 ratio is the lowest among the vintage cards, 3.5. The reason is demand for the 9: a Charizard PSA 9 is, for many collectors, the copy to own, because the 10 is above €10,000 and the 9, dividing the value by the ratio, sits in the region of €3,000. When the 9 is in high demand, its price rises and the ratio compresses.

The direction is worth noting too: according to PriceCharting, the PSA 10 value of the Unlimited Charizard fell by 11% over twelve months, while Blastoise, Venusaur and Mewtwo rose by more than 100% in the same period. A price is a dated fact, not a guaranteed trend.

For buyers: when a 9 is the rational choice

If the goal is to own the card, admire it and keep it, on vintage a PSA 9 offers the same cardboard, the same illustration and an excellent condition at a fraction of the price. With the budget for a Mewtwo PSA 10 you can buy several Base Set 9s. It is a reasonable choice, and many experienced collectors make it.

The 10 makes sense when you want the grade that is beyond discussion: no negotiation over condition, no doubt about a corner, maximum liquidity on resale. On modern cards, where the 10 costs two or three times the 9, the step up is easier to justify.

Why Pokechrono chooses the 10

We sell only PSA 10 cards, and the reason is exactly the one above: it is the standard that leaves no room for interpretation. A buyer taking part in a single-bid auction knows in advance what grade they will receive, can check the certificate on the grading company's website and has 48 hours from delivery to check everything.

This does not mean the 9 is a bad choice. It means that, on a platform where every card passes through an expert before going online, we preferred a single grade, the highest, so as not to have to explain the difference every time. The numbers in this article say how much that difference costs.