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Directories & comparisons

PSA Alternatives — Where to Grade Instead

PSA paused all four Value tiers on 2 June 2026, taking the entry price of a PSA slab from $24.99 to $79.99 overnight. This works out what the alternatives cost for your specific card, and whether the resale premium on a PSA holder is worth the difference.

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Compare recent sold prices of the same card in each holder.

Every open option for a card at this value.
Grader & tierPer cardSubmission totalDaysEst. resale eachNet after grading

What actually changed

PSA did not raise a price. It removed everything below Regular at $79.99, pausing Value Bulk ($24.99), Value ($32.99), Value Plus ($49.99) and Value Max ($64.99) on 2 June 2026 while working through a backlog it describes as roughly ten million cards. The reopening is tied to clearing that backlog rather than to a date.

The alternatives, and what you give up

Published per-card grading fees and availability, checked 3 September 2026.
Grader Tier Per card Max declared value Business days Status
BGS Base (no subgrades) $14.95 $250 75–90 paused
Base + subgrades $17.95 $250 75–90 paused
Standard $34.95 $1,000 45 paused
Express $79.95 $2,500 15 open
Priority $124.95 $5,000 5 open
CGC Cards Bulk 25+ cards $17 $500 150 open
Economy $20 $1,000 90 open
Standard $55 $3,000 10 open
Express $100 $10,000 5 open
WalkThrough $300 $100,000 2 open
SGC Standard $15 $1,500 40–50 open
Standard (mid) $85 $3,500 40–50 open
Expedited $150 $3,500 2–3 open
Expedited 7.5K $250 $7,500 2–3 open
TAG Basic $22 $500 45–60 paused
Standard $39 $750 30 paused
Express $59 $1,000 10–15 open
Priority $149 $2,500 5 open
Walkthrough $299 $10,000 2–3 open
  • SGC at $15 is the cheapest open slab anywhere, with a $1,500 ceiling that is higher than several tiers costing five times more. The trade-off is resale: SGC holders command less than PSA on modern cards, more on some vintage.
  • CGC at $17 bulk or $20 economy is the only major grader with every tier open, though bulk needs 25 cards and quotes 150 working days.
  • Beckett paused Base and Standard in August 2026, leaving Express at $79.95 — no cheaper than PSA Regular.
  • TAG at $59 for Express, with a machine-generated defect scan no other grader publishes.

The question that actually decides it

Not which is cheapest, but whether the PSA resale premium exceeds the fee difference. On a $180 modern card with a 25% PSA premium, the premium is $45 against a $65 fee gap — so SGC wins. On a $2,000 card the same 25% is $500, and the fee gap is irrelevant. The crossover moves with the card, which is what the calculator above is for.

Questions people ask about this

Why did PSA stop taking cheap submissions?

PSA paused all four Value tiers on 2 June 2026 to work down a backlog it puts at around ten million cards. The cheapest orderable tier became Regular at $79.99, roughly tripling the entry price of a PSA slab. The company has tied reopening to a backlog target rather than to a date.

What is the cheapest way to grade a card in 2026?

SGC Standard at $15 per card, with a $1,500 declared-value ceiling — the cheapest open rate at any major grader. CGC Bulk is $17 but needs 25 cards in one submission and quotes 150 working days. Both are a fraction of the $79.99 that PSA now charges at its lowest available tier.

Is a PSA slab worth more than SGC or CGC?

On modern cards, generally yes — PSA population and liquidity dominate that end of the market, and the premium is real. On vintage the gap narrows and sometimes reverses, with SGC well regarded on pre-war material. The premium only matters if it exceeds the fee difference, which on cards under a few hundred dollars it frequently does not.

Where these numbers come from

Rates on this page were last checked against the published price lists on . Grading companies change fees and pause tiers without notice — confirm the total on the submission form before you pay.