Shining Gyarados

A PSA 10 currently sells for about $81,936, raw the card sits at $4,502 — 18.2× as much. Of 2.390 copies already graded, 5 % received a 10 and 27 % a 9. Mathematically, submitting returns $15,909 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 91 auctions the median was $3,719, across 73 fixed-price sales $3,103. Auctions therefore fetched about 20 % more — worth it mainly for sought-after cards with several bidders.

Half of all sales fell between $1,204 and $2,902, with a median of $1,717. 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 $814.35. Offers well below $488.61 are typically fakes, mislabelled cards or a different variant — ask for photos of all four borders and a close-up of the surface.

Last Sold 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.