Card grading has become a huge part of the collectable card hobby, and while some companies have been around since the 90s, there’s more choice than ever after some unprecedented years of demand in recent years.
In my opinion, the best all round card grading company for regular collectors is SGC; I’ll go into why I think that later in this guide.
It’s almost standard practice these days for collectors to grade their favorite and most valuable cards; Despite the wait times and costs involved, there are benefits to grading cards, with the main reason being the potential increase in resale values.
Table of Contents
Quick Summary: What Is The Best Card Grading Company To Use?
For reputation: PSA
For grading reliability: SGC & BGS
For adding value to cards: PSA & BGS
For the cheapest grading: SGC & CGC
For the fastest turnaround time: SGC & ISA
For the label design: HGA
For Vintage Cards: SGC
I’ve reviewed the top card grading services in more detail below.
The Best Card Grading Companies
PSA (Proessional Sports Authenticator)
Grading Scale: 1-Poor to 10-Gem Mint, including .5s (excluding 9.5).
Pricing: $14.99 per card to $7,999 per card, depending on card value and service level (varying turnaround times).
Check PSA’s latest pricing and turnaround times here.
If you’ve spent any amount of time in the card collecting hobby, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of PSA grading; They’re arguably the most well-known and popular card grading company right now.
PSA, which stands for Professional Sports Authenticator, was founded in 1991 and grades all types of collectible cards, including sports cards and Pokemon cards, as well as offering an autograph authentication service.
There’s no doubt the company has established itself as one of the main players in the card grading world, and collectors are often willing to pay more for a PSA slab, than they are with some of its competitors, because of their reputation and popularity, plus the value that a PSA label adds to a card.
For modern cards, PSA are definitely the most-used grading service, but the high-volume of customers they have does affect their customer service, which is quite slow.
Pros:
- Highly reputable and well-known brand.
- Higher card values on PSA graded cards than any other company.
- Accurate and reliable grading.
- Broad service offering.
- Mobile app to track submissions.
Cons:
- Relatively slow customer service.
- Long turnaround times for the more affordable service levels, due to popularity.
- Expensive for high value cards.
SGC (Sportscard Guaranty Corporation)
Grading Scale: 1-Poor to 10-Pristine, including .5s.
Pricing: $15 per card to $3,750 per card, depending on card value and service level (varying turnaround times).
Check SGC’s latest pricing and turnaround times here.
SGC is another card grading company that has been around since the 90s, and has established itself in the hobby. The company has been grading and authenticating cards since 1998, and they’re particularly popular for vintage card grading.
The big appeal with SGC right now is the turnaround times, which are significantly faster than the likes of PSA and BGS, and while their slabs don’t always hold the same high values as those 2 card grading companies, they’re reputable and reliable enough to still add good value to cards.
SGC’s entry-level service for card grading is one of the cheapest on the market, they charge $15 for any cards with a value of less than $1,500, with no quantity requirement. That’s a huge reduction in price compared to PSA’s like-for-like service, for example.
Pros:
- Experienced and reputable company.
- Good turnaround times.
- Accurate and reliable grading.
- Cheap entry-level service.
- Mobile app to track submissions.
Cons:
- Standard size slabs feel less safe for cards than some alternatives.
- Lower added-value compared to PSA and BGS.
BGS (Beckett Grading Services)
Grading Scale: 1-Poor to 10-Pristine (+ Black Label), including .5s.
Pricing: $14.95 per card to $500 per card, depending on service level (varying turnaround times).
Check BGS’ latest pricing and turnaround times here.
BGS, which stands for Beckett Grading Services, is another very well-known and popular trading card grading company.
Although the company has been around longer, BGS started their card grading service in 2001, and they’ve gone on to establish themselves as one of the most reliable card graders.
BGS offer a wide range of services, and grade all types of collectable cards. They also offer an autograph authentication service.
The company is arguably best-known in the card collecting hobby for the Beckett Black Label 10, which isn’t achieved easily; A premium version of their grade 10, whereby the card must achieve a 10 in all 4 sub-grades (centering, corners, edging & surface). BGS Black Label graded cards are generally the most valuable in the hobby.
Pros:
- Highly reputable and well-known brand.
- High values on graded cards compared to competitors due to their reputation.
- A chance to get a highly sought-after Black Label Pristine 10.
- Accurate and reliable grading, with subgrades.
- Broad service offering.
- The most protective slabs.
Cons:
- Long turnaround times.
- Basic autograph grading system.
- Quite a complicated grading scale for beginners.
HGA (Hybrid Grading Authority)
Grading Scale: 1-Poor to 10-Flawless, including .5s.
Pricing: $14 per card to $40 per card, depending on service level (varying turnaround times).
Check HGA’s latest pricing and turnaround times here.
HGA, which stands for Hybrid Grading Approach, is one of the newer card grading companies on the market – they launched in early 2021.
They’re trying to innovate and change the card grading game, with software based grading.
They claim on their website that every card is scanned at ultra-high resolution, which can pick up more than the human eye with a magnifying glass.
The concept of software based card grading is still very much new, and unproven, so it could take some time before collectors fully trust it; This will have an effect on the value of cards with their slabs.
HGA also claims to have the slabs and labels on the market, and to be fair, it’s hard to disagree.
Their custom labels match the color scheme and design of the card in the slab, so it makes for some really nice looking slabs.
They also offer horizontal slabs, with a horizontal label for relevant cards, which aren’t offered by the likes of PSA and BGS.
Pros:
- Custom labels which match the design and colors of the card, for nice looking slabs.
- Prices based on turnaround time, not card value.
- Software based grading removes subjectivity and human error.
- Fast turnaround times.
- Horizontal slabs.
Cons:
- Unproven software technology, which isn’t yet fully trusted.
- A very new card grading company, less reputable than competitors, which affects values.
- Limited service offering (eg. they only grade standard sized cards currently).
ISA (International Sports Authentication)
Grading Scale: 1-Poor to 10-Gem Mint, including .5s (excluding 8.5 & 9.5).
Pricing: $12 per card to $22 per card, depending on service level (varying turnaround times).
Check ISA’s latest pricing and turnaround times here.
ISA was founded in 2010, so they’ve had a solid amount of time in the card grading market to build a bit of a reputation.
The big appeal with ISA is their cheap prices and good turnaround times.
While their slabs don’t hold the same weight as some of the bigger companies, like PSA, BGS and SGC, ISA has built a good reputation for fast card grading, however there have been questions around the consistency of their grading.
Pros:
- Cheaper prices.
- Fast turnaround times.
Cons:
- Not as well-known as some of the competitors, which affects card values.
- Questions around consistency and reliability of card grading.
CGC Cards (Certified Guaranty Company)
Grading Scale: 1-Poor to 10-Perfect, including .5s.
Pricing: $12 per card to $150 per card, depending on card value and service level (varying turnaround times).
Check CGC’s latest pricing and turnaround times here.
CGC offers a wide range of grading services, for both sports cards and non-sports cards.
They’re still very much new, and un-established, after launching their card grading service in mid 2020.
There have been questions around the reliability and consistency of their card grading, but CGC are an emerging option for collectors, with good turnaround times and pricing; Plus nice looking labels and slabs.
Pros:
- Good turnaround times.
- Broad service offering.
- Cheaper prices.
Cons:
- Slabs hold lower value than more established services.
- Questions around consistency and reliability of card grading.
My Pick
There’s no doubt the more well-known and established brands like PSA and BGS hold more weight in the trading card hobby, because of their reputation, and that leads to higher values on their graded cards.
So, if you’re solely focused on adding value to a card, for resale purposes, and grading reliability then PSA or BGS are still the card grading companies to go for overall, despite the long turnaround times, and high prices, for more valuable cards.
My personal pick for the overall best card grading service to use is SGC. They have quicker turnaround times, reasonable pricing, with the cheapest entry-level, and they have a good reputation, so while their grading might not add as much value as the likes of PSA and BGS, I think overall they’re the better pick for collectors.
SGC have also launched a mobile app to make new submissions, and tracking current orders, easy.
