PSA vs. CGC vs. Beckett vs. TAG: Which Grading Company?

How much does grading cost at PSA, CGC, Beckett and TAG in September 2026?

These are every open tier on each company’s own price page, read September 22, 2026. Turnaround times are the companies’ estimates in business days, not guarantees, and they move often. Shipping both ways is extra.

The value of the card picks the tier. PSA and CGC cap what each card may be worth in each tier. A card worth $200 fits PSA’s Standard tier; a $2,000 card has to go to PSA Express at $199, where CGC would take it in Standard at $55. Both companies can move a card they think is undervalued into the right tier and bill the difference, but they ask for different figures: PSA upgrades by the card’s value after grading, so choose its tier for what the card should sell for once graded, while CGC’s Declared Value Policy asks for the card’s current value, which for a raw card is the raw value. TAG works differently: it charges a flat fee per tier, doesn’t upcharge by value and doesn’t require a declared value, but each tier only insures a card up to the amount shown. Beckett’s temporary form lists no value limit at all; Beckett confirms the total after it reviews the order.

Memberships and shipping. PSA’s FAQ says you don’t need its Collectors Club to submit, and CGC says a paid membership isn’t required, though CGC’s paid members (from $39 a year) save 10% or 20% on grading. You pay shipping both ways everywhere. PSA publishes a return chart that starts at $19.99 for 1–4 cards insured up to $2,000; Beckett charges insurance at $1.50 per $100 of declared value plus postage worked out at invoicing; CGC and TAG show return shipping at checkout. The grading cost calculator adds all of it up for your card count, value and deadline.

Which grading tiers are paused right now?

Several of the cheapest tiers were closed on September 22, 2026. The calculator skips them, and they’re listed here so you know they exist and can check whether they’ve reopened.

• PSA opened its $59.99 Standard tier on September 14, 2026, and said in its announcement that Standard “is not a replacement for our Value tiers, which remain paused.” The same update renamed Regular to Priority ($79.99) and Walk-Through to Premier ($599), and raised Express to $199.
• Beckett took beckett.com and its app offline for what it calls infrastructure enhancements. Its status page says Base (with subgrades), Standard and Express are available through a temporary form, that pricing hasn’t changed, and that Beckett EU submissions and some online tools, including the population report, may be unavailable.
• TAG marks Basic, Standard and Express “currently at capacity” with no price shown, and Priority and Walkthrough as having limited slots.

When does the turnaround clock start?

Later than the day you ship. PSA says a tier’s estimate doesn’t begin until the order has been entered into its grading system. CGC counts working days from a submission’s delivery to its facility, and warns that a card not yet in its database can take longer while it’s researched. TAG measures in business days and excludes weekends, holidays and carrier transit. Allow for shipping both ways and processing on top of any estimate, and don’t pick a tier by its turnaround if you need the card back by a specific date: none of the four guarantees it.

How do the grading scales compare: PSA 10 vs CGC Pristine 10 vs BGS Black Label vs TAG?

All four grade on a 1-to-10 scale, but they treat the top of it differently, and that’s where the price differences between slabs usually sit.

A 10 isn’t the same 10 across companies. The names overlap (Gem Mint is PSA’s top grade but the second-best 10 at CGC and TAG), the centering limits differ, and buyers price each company’s slabs separately. When you compare prices, compare the same company and grade.

PSA

PSA grades the card as a whole on its 10-point scale and prints the grade and certification number on its LightHouse label. A PSA 10 Gem Mint is its top grade. There are no subgrades; PSA’s Express and faster tiers include grader notes that detail the card’s defects.

CGC

CGC has two 10s. A Pristine 10 is “virtually flawless” to the naked eye with 50/50 centering and gets a special label; a Gem Mint 10 is a 10 that misses one of the Pristine requirements. CGC also retired its old Gem Mint 9.5: its grading scale says legacy CGC Trading Cards and CSG Gem Mint 9.5 grades now read as CGC Cards Gem Mint 10 in the population report.

Beckett (BGS)

Beckett gives four subgrades (centering, corners, edges and surface) alongside the overall grade, and its temporary form says all current services include them. Beckett’s Black Label is a Pristine 10 with 10s on all four subgrades, according to Rare Candy’s Beckett guide; beckett.com’s own scale page was offline when we checked, so confirm the details there once it’s back.

TAG

TAG (Technical Authentication & Grading) scores every card out of 1,000 and maps the score to a 1-to-10 grade: 990–1000 is a TAG Pristine 10, 950–989 a Gem Mint 10, 900–949 a Mint 9. TAG says its Pristine represents less than 1% of the cards it grades. The score separates a “high 10” from a “low 10,” and each card gets a DIG report listing notable flaws on corners, edges, surface and centering.

What centering does each company allow for a 10?

Centering is written as the bigger border’s share: borders of 3 mm and 2 mm are 60/40. These are the published limits for trading cards like Pokémon. Every company describes them as approximate, and graders weigh eye appeal too.

A note on PSA. PSA’s standards page shows its grade definitions in a slider we couldn’t read as text. The 55/45 front figure for a PSA 10 reflects a change collectors spotted on that page in early 2025 (it previously read “55/45 to 60/40”, which is still what PSA’s older “Grading Your Cards” article says). Check psacard.com/gradingstandards before you rely on a borderline card.

Below Gem Mint 10, CGC gives centering numbers only for sports and non-sports cards, not for TCG cards like Pokémon, and TAG gives trading cards their own, stricter limits on the back. Beckett’s numbers are left out on purpose: its site was down and the secondary sources we found disagree. Measure your card with the centering calculator, which uses these same limits.

Which grading companies give subgrades?

• Beckett: yes. Its temporary form says all services include subgrades unless otherwise indicated, and its status page lists Base only “with subgrades”. The form also notes that a card graded 10 without subgrades gets them added automatically for a $3 upgrade fee, which applies to Beckett’s no-subgrade option when it’s offered.
• TAG: not subgrades in the Beckett sense, but every tier comes with the 1,000-point score and a DIG report of notable flaws on corners, edges, surface and centering. Walkthrough ($299) adds TAG’s DIG+ report with 1,000-point sub-scores.
• CGC: CGC’s card fee schedule for September 2026 lists no subgrade add-on, so expect one overall grade.
• PSA: no subgrades; one overall grade, with grader notes on Express and faster tiers.

Subgrades matter most for a card that just missed: a 9.5 with a 10 for centering tells a buyer something a plain 9 doesn’t. For a card you’re keeping, they’re a nice-to-have rather than a reason to choose.

How are the slabs and labels different?

• PSA seals each card in what it calls a tamper-evident, sonically sealed case, with the grade and certification number on its LightHouse label. Standard, Priority and Express include front-and-back imaging of the graded card; Super Express and up get high-resolution Premium Imaging.
• CGC uses an ultrasonically welded holder. Its label carries microprinting, UV ink, holographic foil, a unique certification number and barcode, and a QR code on the back that links to the card’s images. Pristine 10s get their own label, and CGC’s holders lock and stack together.
• TAG lists archival UV protection, an inscribed label and its Proof feature on every tier, plus deionization and a fitted protective sleeve, and 360-degree video on the DIG report.
• Beckett labels show the subgrades when a card has them, per Rare Candy’s Beckett guide. We couldn’t read Beckett’s own holder and label pages while beckett.com was offline, so we’ve left out the rest.

Looks are personal. If the slab is going on a shelf, hold a few of each in your hand before you choose, or browse the graded slabs aisle.

How do you check a cert number or a population report?

Every slab has a certification number. Type it into the grading company’s own lookup and the card, grade and label should match the slab in front of you exactly; if they don’t, walk away. Population reports show how many copies of a card each company has graded at each grade, which is how collectors judge how scarce a high grade is.

PSA’s app can also scan a label’s QR code or take the cert number, and CGC’s labels carry a QR code on the back. Every graded card in our shop is listed with its grading company and certification number so you can run this check yourself before you buy.

Can you move a card from one company's slab to another?

Yes, through a crossover, where the new company grades the card while it’s still in the old slab. CGC’s fee page describes its CrossOver service for cards in PSA, Beckett or SGC holders: CGC only breaks the old slab and re-holders the card if it thinks the card will get the same grade or higher. If not, the card comes back in its original holder and the full grading fee still applies, unless you ask CGC to “cross at any grade”. The fee follows the tier for the card’s value.

PSA lists a crossover service on its price page too; check its current terms before you send a slab. Two things to weigh before crossing: you pay a full grading fee again, and a card can come back lower. Compare sold prices for the card in both slabs at the grade you expect first.

Which grading company should you use for Pokémon cards?

There isn’t one answer, and anyone who gives you a flat ranking is guessing at a market that moves. Decide by what you’ll do with the card.

If you plan to sell it

Let sold prices decide. Look up recent sales of your exact card in each company’s slab at the grade you expect (the price check tool opens those searches) and subtract each company’s fee and shipping. The gap between, say, a PSA 10 and a CGC Gem Mint 10 of the same card is the number that matters, and it differs card by card. PSA describes itself as the largest third-party grading company for trading cards, but its cheapest open tier on September 22, 2026 was $59.99 with a 90–100 business day estimate, which eats into a cheap card’s profit. Run your numbers through Should I Grade It? to see the grade you need just to break even.

If it’s for your own collection

Cost, wait and the look of the slab matter more than resale. Beckett Base ($17.95, 75+ business days) and CGC Economy ($20, about 90 working days) were the cheapest per card for a single submission, and CGC Bulk ($17) if you have 25 cards or more worth up to $500 each. TAG’s score and DIG report suit collectors who want to know exactly why a card got its grade, at $149 a card for Priority while its cheaper tiers are full.

If you need it back fast

Speed costs more everywhere. On September 22, 2026 the quickest estimates were CGC WalkThrough (2 working days, $300, cards up to $100,000) and TAG Walkthrough (2–3 business days, $299, limited slots). A step down, CGC Express was 5 working days at $100 for cards up to $10,000, TAG Priority 5 business days at $149, and Beckett Express 15 business days at $79.95. PSA’s fastest were Premier (7–10 business days, $599, up to $10,000) and the Premium tiers (5–7 business days, from $999).

Modern cards vs. vintage

Most modern cards are worth less than the fee, so the cheap tiers and the break-even maths decide it; check centering first, because a card that can’t reach a 10 rarely pays. Vintage cards are usually worth more, and then the value limits matter: a $2,000 card goes into PSA Express at $199, CGC Standard at $55 or TAG Priority at $149 (insured to $2,500 there). CGC also offers a CrossOver service for cards already in PSA, Beckett or SGC holders, charged at the tier’s fee.

If you’d rather sell than send cards off for months, text photos of the fronts and backs to (760) 453-6389. We buy singles, binders, whole collections and graded slabs for cash or trade credit, and our offers are based on recent sold prices for the exact printing and condition. See how selling works.