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What is needed to be the #2 in Grading?
I wanted to spark this discussion here and get others opinions. For reference, I am talking mostly for modern sports cards, since I play around in that space a lot more. Obviously everyone knows Collectors has bought Beckett and SGC, so now they are under the same company as PSA. SGC before being acquired was on track to being the dominant #2 in grading with their slabs being the second highest seller with modern cards after PSA. Since the acquisition, their numbers have declined drastically. We need a new #2 in the space. Personally, I think TAG has the best chance to take over that spot. My only problem is turn around times and pricing. Everyone knows no one will take over PSA’s spot in terms of resale value, so these other graders need to make up for it in different ways. Back in August, I was looking to do a submission. I was looking at PSA and TAG. At that time, both places were $22 a card, PSA had a 45 day turnaround time while TAG had a 30 day turnaround time. Yes, TAG’s turnaround time is slightly better, but is that 15 day difference worth not having the same resale value? The reason SGC was on the rise is the fact that their pricing was significantly cheaper, with significantly quicker turnaround times. The resale value wasn’t the same as PSA, but you were getting that card on the market sometimes months before PSA. I think we need to see TAG have better pricing with quicker turnaround times and they can have a very good shot at being a dominant force in the grading space. I would like to know what others think about this.
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9 Replies
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I’ve been wondering about this too, but I’ll be honest, I’m still trying to understand how all of this actually plays out in practice. From the outside, it feels like PSA is just the default because of resale, and everything else has to compete on speed or cost.
I remember hearing a lot of momentum around SGC before the acquisition, mostly because it was cheaper and faster, not because people thought it would beat PSA on value. (Although, I personally prefer the way their slabs look…)
I’m still learning a lot and don’t do much grading at this point, but it seems like if a true #2 is going to emerge, I’d imagine it’s going to HAVE to clearly win on either price or speed (or both), not just be “slightly better.” But, that doesn’t solve the resale value dilemma…
The only logical option is for us to all stage a revolution and starve PSA by forming an alliance and stop submitting to them…Haha!
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As of now, I’m not sure if anyone can really be the clear cut #2. The reason being, is that other companies are only grading a small amount of cards compared to PSA. As far as grading volume goes, CGC is #2 and they still did about $15 million less cards than PSA in 2025. So even if re-sale values went up for one company and rivaled PSA, it would be hard for them to manage the influx in business they would receive due that. To be clear, I don’t think this can never happen, I just think it will take a lot of time.
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The thing is, CGC is mostly Pokémon and other TCG’s. The thing I notice most on the rate of change chart is TAG being up 83% from 2024, which is exciting to see. But like I said, I don’t think anyone will ever do the volume or resale value that PSA will, but it’s nice to have a #2. We saw SGC get close, and I think that was great for the hobby.
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If I’m taking a stab at who the #2 grading service is I would say CGC. I think they have a great rep and have been in business for years. I have not graded in a while, but if I was going to I would bite the bullet and send to PSA, because of the value add of the card in a PSA case or I would send to CGC. I personally wouldn’t send to TAG ever.
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I pointed out in the initial question I was mostly talking about modern sports cards. I completely agree though that when it comes to other tcg cards, CGC is the clear cut #2. I play around much more in the modern football and basketball world though, and from what I’ve seen a CGC 9 can actually go for significantly cheaper than raw.
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A graded 9 cheaper than raw is crazy!
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CGC slabs are just really hard to resell from what I’ve seen and heard at the major shows across the country.
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I totally agree here. I have seen CGC 10s go for so cheap. It’s hard to get behind anything other than PSA, SGC and BFS, but I want to lol
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I get very few CGC slabs. The last one I got was a CGC 10 Pokémon card. I bought it and got out of it as soon as I could. There was one decent sale and then right after I sold, a CGC 10 did less than 50% of a PSA 10. Too risky for higher end cards IMO.
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