Salamence

A PSA 10 currently sells for about $1,644, raw the card sits at $4.78 — 343,9× as much. Of 925 copies already graded, 24 % received a 10 and 41 % a 9. Mathematically, submitting returns $581.64 on average, before fees and shipping. Rule of thumb: submit when the value at a realistic grade is at least double the raw value — which is the case here. Centering decides it: an off-centre card will not get a 10. The grade distribution comes from the PSA Population Report; people pre-sort before submitting, so your own hit rate may differ.

Across 67 auctions the median was $5.62, across 88 fixed-price sales $4.49. Auctions therefore fetched about 25 % more — worth it mainly for sought-after cards with several bidders.

Half of all sales fell between $2.33 and $5.86, with a median of $3.52. Selling fast lands you nearer the lower end; with patience, good photos and a complete title the upper end is achievable.

The cheapest genuine sales were around $1.67. Offers well below $1.00 are typically fakes, mislabelled cards or a different variant — ask for photos of all four borders and a close-up of the surface.

lastsold uses only real sales — eBay plus auction houses like Goldin & Fanatics — recent sales count more (recency weighting), outliers and fakes are removed. It's not an estimate but actual sold prices, separated by condition, language and grading.