Gyarados

A PSA 10 currently sells for about $142,353, raw the card sits at $5,481 — 26,0× as much. Of 1.054 copies already graded, 5 % received a 10 and 28 % a 9. Mathematically, submitting returns $14,114 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 22 auctions the median was $98.25, across 56 fixed-price sales $68.47. Auctions therefore fetched about 43 % more — worth it mainly for sought-after cards with several bidders.

Half of all sales fell between $19.61 and $58.06, with a median of $28.14. 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 $15.14. Offers well below $9.09 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.