Grading services · 鑑定サービス
Submit with a Japanese specialist.
Japanese cards hit PSA 10 more often than English prints — better stock, tighter cuts, cleaner centering. But they also mis-label more often, because most graders aren't reading the back of the card in Japanese. We handle the paperwork, the freight, and the follow-up so your slab comes back right the first time.
Grader matrix
Three labels, three reasons.
The default
PSA
- Fee
- $25 – $300+
- Turnaround
- 20 – 65 business days
The market standard. Best resale liquidity for Japanese modern and vintage. Our default recommendation for any card over $50.
Vintage & ultra-high end
BGS
- Fee
- $20 – $250+
- Turnaround
- 30 – 90 business days
Sub-grades, and a Black Label 10 that carries a real premium. Best for 1996–2002 Japanese vintage and any card aiming at a $1,000+ sale.
Cost-conscious
CGC
- Fee
- $15 – $150+
- Turnaround
- 25 – 65 business days
Cheapest of the three. Sensible for $50–$100 cards where the grading fee matters, or for bulk submissions.
Process
How submission works.
Step 01
Pre-grade review
Ship the cards to us (or pull from our catalogue). We loupe-check centering, edges, surface and back — and give you a grade forecast in writing.
Step 02
Submission
We package, insure and submit at the appropriate tier (Value / Regular / Express). PSA Japan + BGS Tokyo cut international freight cost and time.
Step 03
Track & audit
You get the tracking ID and case numbers as soon as the grader logs the package. Label errors are caught on our side before the slab ships back.
Step 04
Return or resell
Receive the slab in Osaka, inspect, and decide: ship it to you, keep it in our vault, or list it on the NiCards storefront at a 12% commission.
The JP tax
Why a Japanese PSA 10 isn’t worth what you think.
A counter-intuitive truth of the JP market: Japanese cards grade higher on average, which means more of them reach PSA 10 — which means a Japanese PSA 10 is often rarer by population but less valuable by price than its English counterpart. English PSA 10s of the same card typically command a 20–50% premium.
Rule of thumb we give every client:
- Under $50 raw? Don’t grade. You’ll lose money.
- $50–$250 raw? Grade only if you’re confident of a PSA 10. The gap between a 9 and a 10 is everything.
- $250+ raw? Grade. Vintage always grades. Japan-exclusive promos usually grade.
Fees
Transparent, line-item.
Grading is priced at our cost plus a flat handling fee. We don’t mark up the grader’s invoice.