We are fully aware that the BGS population reports can often be a little tricky to decipher. It can even be a little tricky to find… even for us. So, we thought to ourselves – why not write a blogpost about the Beckett population reports to help our community get to grips with how to use and understand them.

WHAT IS A POPULATION (POP) REPORT

So, here we go. First things first – what is a population report? For those who have perhaps just entered the trading card community, or perhaps those new to grading, the population report is not unique to BGS. Oh no… in fact population reports are seen across all the established card grading companies.

Population reports help you understand the number of unique graded trading cards in circulation by a particular grading company. Beckett provide their population report in a table format. This shows the number of cards of that type graded by BGS in total; the total is then split by grade.

Amongst collectors, a “Pop 1” or “Population 1” means the card holds a certain amount of rarity. A “Pop 1” means that there is only one card of that particular grade in the marketplace. Typically, rarer cards are seen as higher value, so certainly worth reviewing once your card has been graded.

HOW TO ACCESS THE BGS POP REPORT

To access the Beckett population report, you must first be logged into your account. You do not need to have made a submission or purchase to hold an account with Beckett. Simply register online here: https://www.beckett.com/register

You can access the pop report through a number of ways. The first is to navigate to Beckett’s grading section of their site (link can be found in their footer) and select “POP REPORT” from the top navigation. Once logged in you’ll be able to start you search.

The second, which perhaps is the easiest way to access the pop report for a specific card, is to use the card lookup functionality located on Beckett’s homepage. Type in the card name and number and once you’ve found your card, you can navigate from this page to the pop report quite easily.

HOW TO USE THE POP REPORT SUCCESSFULLY?

The BGS pop report, although extensive, is limited by its search algorithm. Only exact search terms, based on how BGS have classified and named a card, can be use. The search function won’t spellcheck or take phrase or broad match searches.

The best way to use the pop report successfully is to identify how BGS have named and categorised your card first. You can do this through the card lookup function (we spoke about this earlier). For example, a 1^st Edition Base Set Charizard is set in the BGS database as:

You can see here that BGS use a # in front of the card number with no mention of anything beyond the /.

With this example we recommend you view the pop report from the card dashboard or take this information to search directly in the pop report.  See below:

SEARCH TIPS BASED FOR GAMING CARDS

Through our relationship with BGS and extensive use of the population report, we’ve got a thorough understanding of its algorithm. Here are our top tips on how to search for specific TCGs.

It’s also important to note that BGS won’t release the pop report for new or unique sets until they have accumulated enough data. This typically is once 50 cards have been graded.

We hope you found this blog useful. If you’d like to talk to us about our trading card grading services, get in touch today.