Insured shipping, both ways
A valuable card travels tracked and insured, out and back, at a price driven by declared value — and paid twice. Domestic US submissions get off lightly here; everyone else does not.
How much grading costs
Price grids do not lie, but they do not say what YOU will pay: insured shipping both ways, per-order fees, the wait — and, if you ship across a border, customs. Here are the full numbers.
In short
In 2026, grading a card costs from $20 at CGC (Economy; €22.61 incl. VAT in Munich, where CGC has graded trading card games since January 2026), $50 at SGC, $59.99 at PSA (the Standard level available since 14 September 2026, after the cheaper Value tiers were paused in June; €49.99 at the introductory price in the European Union), $79.95 at BGS, whose Express is the only level open, and a real $149 at TAG, whose cheaper tiers are closed at capacity. In the EU, the French company PCA starts at €12.90 per card, for a six-month turnaround. To every listed fee you must add insured round-trip shipping, per-order fees and — whenever your cards cross a border — customs and import tax. On top of that sits the invisible cost: weeks to months without the card while the market moves. A submission only pays if the expected price gap between the raw and the graded card beats this full cost, which means estimating the grade before paying for it.
01 — Data
The listed fee, company by company
Entry-level pricing for a standard, moderately valued card — the first line of the bill.
| Company | Entry tier | Turnaround at that tier | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| CGC | $20 / card (Economy, value ≤ $1,000) — €22.61 incl. VAT in Munich | 90 working days (US) · 45 (Munich) | TCG graded in Munich since January 2026; the TCG and Japanese-card specialist |
| SGC | $50 / card (declared value ≤ $1,500, 1-9 cards) | 40+ days (40-50 business days estimated) | No longer a budget option; strongest on vintage sports |
| PSA | $59.99 (Standard, max insured value $1,000) — €49.99 in the EU at launch | ~90-100 business days (US) · 80-90 (Frankfurt) | Value tiers paused since June 2026; the most liquid slab by far |
| BGS | $79.95 / card (Express, the only open level) | 15 business days | Base and Standard paused, Beckett EU online submissions unavailable; four subgrades |
| TAG | $22 listed — $149 actually open | ~5 business days (Priority) | Entry tiers closed at capacity; measured 1000-point score |
| PCA | €12.90 / card (Classic, value ≤ €249; €10.90 from 10 cards) — €19.90 (Fast) | 6 months (Classic) · 1 month (Fast) | French company — the domestic option for European collectors |
02 — Details
The four costs the listed fee does not show
Per-order fees
Most companies bill handling and return shipping per order, on top of the per-card price — a fixed cost that weighs heavily on a one- or two-card submission and fades on a batch. It never shows up in the per-card grid you compared.
Customs and the border step
Shipping into or out of the United States adds import duties or VAT on the return leg, a declaration to get right, and the risk of a customs hold. At PSA, collectors in the European Union now avoid it: since 15 September 2026 they can submit directly to its Frankfurt facility, without a dealer and without the cards leaving the EU. Dealers still exist, and charge their service on top of PSA's grid. CGC offers the same for trading card games, graded in its Munich facility since 12 January 2026.
The lock-up
Weeks to months without the card, on a moving market. A hype cycle that deflates while the card sits at grading turns a paper-profitable submission into a wash — it is a cost, even if it appears on no invoice.
03 — Steps
The profitability calculation, in four lines
A deliberately simplified example with fictional numbers — the method is what matters.
Estimate the grade
No estimate, no calculation: all the value of a submission lies in the expected grade. A card capped by its centering or a holo scratch has a grade you can know in advance — and often, it does not fund the trip.
Note three real prices
The raw card, the card at the expected grade, the card one grade below. Actual sales, not listings. The gap between these prices — not the absolute value — is what funds the operation.
Add up the full cost
Grading fee + per-order fees + insured round-trip shipping + customs if you cross a border. That total, not the catalogue fee, is what the price gap has to beat.
Compare against the plausible worst case
If the expected grade earns €60 over raw but one grade below earns €5, the submission is a bet, not a calculation. The right question is not “what if it gems?” but “what if it comes back one lower?”.
04 — Questions
Frequently asked questions — grading costs
What is the cheapest way to grade a card?
Among the US companies, CGC: $20 per card at its Economy tier (90 working days; $17 in Bulk, from 25 cards), or €22.61 incl. VAT in Munich for trading card games. SGC now starts at $50, PSA at $59.99 at its Standard level (€49.99 introductory in the EU), and BGS only has Express open, at $79.95. In the European Union, PCA's Classic tier is cheaper still — €12.90 per card, €10.90 from 10 cards — but takes six months. The cheapest grade is still the one you do not pay for: a card capped at 8 by its centering costs the same as one that gems.
Why is PSA so expensive in 2026?
PSA paused its economy (Value) tiers on 2 June 2026. On 9 September it announced a Standard level, available from 14 September and now its cheapest: $59.99 per card (max insured value $1,000) in the US, and €49.99 in the European Union at the introductory price (€59.99 afterwards). You are paying for liquidity rather than for the grading itself: the PSA slab still resells faster and higher than any other, which is why the premium survives the price rise.
What does grading cost from outside the United States?
Add insured round-trip shipping, import duties or VAT on the return leg, and the risk of a customs hold — there is no single number, since it depends on declared value and carrier. In the European Union, two of the majors now remove most of that, since the cards stay inside the EU: PSA, whose Frankfurt facility has taken direct submissions from individuals since 15 September 2026 (from €49.99 per card), and CGC, which has graded trading card games in Munich since 12 January 2026 (from €22.61 incl. VAT). Shipping both ways comes on top; CGC Munich publishes its return fee: from €33.32 incl. VAT for 1 to 5 cards within Germany, €38.08 to France (rates effective 5 February 2026).
Does grading a €20 card make sense?
Rarely for resale: even at PCA the full cost approaches or exceeds the card's value, and it would take a perfect gem to hope for a gain. It can make sense for preservation or attachment — but that is a collecting expense, not an investment, and it is better decided knowingly.
Do prices drop at volume?
Sometimes, and mostly through shipping: PCA's Classic tier drops from €12.90 to €10.90 per card from 10 cards, and CGC's Bulk tier ($17, or €20.23 in Munich) needs at least 25 cards; everywhere, per-order fees and return shipping are shared across every card in the box. Pre-screening becomes even more profitable then: every card cut from the batch is a direct saving.
05 — Read next
Read next
Estimate the grade before paying the full cost
One free trial detailed analysis, then credits from $1.99: enough to screen your best cards before paying for a submission.