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Card grading companies compared: PSA, CGC, Beckett, SGC and TAG

Checked . Every figure links to the page it came from.

PSA dealer submission booth with a queue of collectors at Collect-A-Con 2026
Collectors queue at PSA's dealer submission booth at Collect-A-Con, May 2026. Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0

Short answer

Five companies dominate card grading in the US. PSA is by far the biggest, with about 72% of the 26-plus million cards graded in 2025 according to GemRate. CGC is second and strongest in trading card games. PSA's parent company, Collectors, also owns SGC (bought in February 2024) and Beckett (December 2025), which together put about 80% of grading under one owner.

At a glance

Company Owner Cards graded, 2025 Cheapest open level Turnaround estimate
PSA Collectors 19.26 million Value, $39.99 90–100 business days
CGC Certified Collectibles Group 4.92 million Bulk, $17 (min. 25) 150 working days
SGC Collectors (since February 2024) 1.42 million Standard, $50 Not published
Beckett (BGS) Collectors (since December 2025) More than 824,000 Base, $17.95 75 business days
TAG Not part of Collectors More than 440,000 Value, $29.95 (min. 10) About 90 business days

2025 volumes are GemRate's year-end counts as reported by Cllct. Prices are per card for US submissions, before shipping, checked 2026-11-12; full price lists are in the grading cost calculator.

Grading scales

All five use a 1–10 scale, but the top of the scale differs, and that matters when you compare prices. A "10" from one company is not the same as a "10" from another.

Company Scale and top grades Source
PSA 1–10. Top grade is PSA 10 Gem Mint; no 9.5 and no Pristine tier. link
CGC 1–10 with half grades from 1.5 to 9.5. Pristine 10 (flawless, 50/50 centering) sits above Gem Mint 10. link
SGC 1–10, including a 9.5. 10 Pristine sits above a regular 10. link
Beckett (BGS) 1–10 with half grades and optional subgrades for centering, corners, edges and surface. Black Label 10 needs all four subgrades at 10; Pristine 10 sits below it. link
TAG 1–10 driven by a 1,000-point TAG Score. Pristine 10 is 990–1000 and Gem Mint 10 is 950–989. Half grades everywhere except between 9 and 10. link

How big is each company?

GemRate, which tracks population reports, counted about 26.6 million cards graded by the major companies in 2025, the most since it began tracking in 2022 (Sports Illustrated, using the same data, reported 26.8 million, up 32% on 2024). Trading card games overtook sports: 16.8 million TCG and non-sports cards against 10 million sports cards, and Pokémon alone accounted for more than 16.1 million.

  • PSA graded 19.26 million cards: 72% of the market, 76% of sports cards and 69% of TCG.
  • CGC graded 4.92 million, a quarter of all TCG grading. SI reported CGC's volume up 121% on 2024.
  • SGC graded 1.42 million.
  • Beckett graded more than 824,000.
  • TAG graded more than 440,000, up 83% on 2024 according to SI.

For month-by-month volumes see the grading tracker.

PSA "Submission Drop Off" sign at Collect-A-Con 2026
PSA's submission drop-off at a 2026 card show. Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0

Who owns whom

Collectors, PSA's parent company, bought SGC in February 2024 and Beckett in December 2025. ESPN reported that the price for Beckett was not disclosed and that Collectors said Beckett would stay an independent brand with no immediate change in pricing. Cllct put Collectors' combined share of grading at roughly 80%. CGC and TAG are the two large graders outside the group.

2026: pauses and price rises

Demand outran capacity across the industry in 2026. PSA paused its four Value levels in June and brought back Value at $39.99 at the end of October. Beckett paused its Base and Standard levels from 5 August to 15 September. SGC raised its cheapest level from $15 to $50 a card in September, calling the rise temporary. TAG closed most levels and reopened them between late September and October. See PSA grading cost for PSA's full timeline.

Which one should you use?

  • Resale value first: PSA has the deepest market, so PSA-graded cards are the easiest to price and sell.
  • Trading card games: CGC is the clear second choice for TCG and often cheaper at entry level.
  • Detail on condition: Beckett subgrades and TAG's 1,000-point score tell you more about why a card got its grade.
  • Cost: compare total cost, including shipping both ways, with the calculator.

Whatever you choose, check the card is genuine first: see how to tell if a Pokémon card is fake.

Logos: Collectors Universe, Inc; CGC logo by CGC, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. CGC is a trademark of Certified Collectibles Group; Beckett Collectibles (Collectors); SGC; TAG Grading. All credits

Sources

  1. Major authenticators graded more than 26 million cards in 2025 , Cllct (GemRate data) . Checked November 12, 2026.
  2. Over 26 million cards graded in 2025: how the market exploded , Sports Illustrated Collectibles (4 January 2026) . Checked November 12, 2026.
  3. PSA's parent company buys card grading rival Beckett , ESPN (15 December 2025) . Checked November 12, 2026.
  4. SGC temporarily raises base card grading price from $15 to $50 , Sports Collectors Daily (2 September 2026) . Checked November 12, 2026.
  5. GemRate grades reference , GemRate . Checked November 12, 2026.
  6. CGC Cards grading scale , CGC . Checked November 12, 2026.
  7. TAG grading scale , TAG Grading . Checked November 12, 2026.
  8. Card grading scale explained , CardGrader.AI (24 March 2026) . Checked November 12, 2026.
  9. PSA reopens Value grading at $39.99 , Sports Collectors Daily (28 October 2026) . Checked November 12, 2026.
  10. CGC Cards services and fees , CGC . Checked November 12, 2026.
  11. Beckett reopens Base and Standard grading submissions , Sports Collectors Daily (15 September 2026) . Checked November 12, 2026.
  12. TAG Grading's new service tiers: the October 2026 restructure , PregradeCards (28 October 2026) . Checked November 12, 2026.

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