TAG is the company that replaced the grader's eye with imaging. Every flaw is measured, quantified and published — a level of transparency no human grade offers. Which leaves the awkward question: does the slab actually resell?
TAG (Technical Authentication & Grading) grades cards by photometric imaging rather than by eye: the card is scanned under multiple lighting angles, every flaw is measured, and the 1-to-10 grade derives from a precision score out of 1000 points, documented in a DIG report you can consult online. Announced tiers run from $22 (Basic) to $299 (Walkthrough), but in 2026 the entry tiers are closed at capacity: only Priority ($149, about 5 business days) and Walkthrough ($299, 2-3 business days) show open slots. From Europe, submissions ship to the United States, customs included.
01 — Key facts
02 — Data
The announced grid — keeping in mind that the lower tiers are closed at capacity in 2026.
| Tier | Price | Indicative turnaround | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | from $22 / card | 75+ business days | Entry tier; closed at capacity in 2026 |
| Standard | not published | 45 business days | Closed at capacity in 2026 |
| Express | not published (unverified) | 25 business days | 1000-point score displayed; closed at capacity in 2026 |
| Priority | $149 / card | ~5 business days | 1000-point score plus detailed sub-scores (DIG+ report); limited slots |
| Walkthrough | $299 / card | 2-3 business days | Same deliverables as Priority, front of the queue |
03 — Details
Two human graders can differ by a full point on the same card; the same card re-scanned by the same machine returns the same score. That repeatability is TAG's core argument, and the reason its reports stand up to audit.
Where a PSA label carries a bare number, the DIG report lists the flaws found, their position and their weight in the score. For learning to grade — or challenging your own intuition — it is the most instructive document in the hobby.
The TAG slab is young: its secondary market is shallower than PSA's, and the average international buyer knows it less. Condition for condition, resale remains slower and often cheaper than in a PSA slab.
The Basic and Express tiers are closed at capacity, so the real entry ticket is $149 per card. At that price TAG no longer competes with PSA on volume — it is reserved for cards whose condition deserves to be documented to the point.
04 — Questions
It is above all repeatable: the same card re-scanned returns the same score, which no human grading guarantees. The mapping to a PSA or BGS grade is not mechanical, though — every company applies its own tolerances.
Technically, a TAG 10 is at least as demanding as a PSA 10, since the underlying score is measured. Commercially, no: PSA's slab liquidity remains far superior, and that is what the market pays for. On a card headed for sale, the price gap between slabs usually exceeds the severity gap.
TAG closed its regular tiers — Basic, Standard and Express — for lack of processing capacity: only Priority ($149) and Walkthrough ($299) showed open slots, in limited numbers, at our last check, on 29 September 2026. This can change; TAG's official page prevails.
Yes: sports cards and TCG, Pokémon included. The imaging method is the same whatever the game; only population and price dynamics differ from segment to segment.
No. The GradeMate report borrows the score format TAG publishes — a precision score out of 1000 from which the grade derives — because it is the most readable, but the analysis is independent, runs on your photos, and has no link or partnership with TAG. TAG scans the physical card under controlled lighting; GradeMate estimates from what your photos show.
05 — Read next
The GradeMate report quantifies every flaw in the same format: you know what the machine will see.