How Much Does It Cost to Grade a Pokémon Card? (PSA, CGC, BGS)

Short answer: grading a Pokémon card usually costs about $15 to $35 per card at the cheapest bulk tiers of PSA, CGC and Beckett, plus shipping and insurance. Faster service and higher-value cards cost a lot more, from around $75 to several hundred dollars per card, and the most valuable cards are charged a share of their value. Whether it's worth it depends on the card's value and the grade you can realistically expect.

Grading fees change often, sometimes several times a year, so treat the numbers below as a guide to how pricing works and check the company's current price list before you send anything.

How grading companies price their service

Every major grading company prices the same way:

• Service tier. Cheaper tiers take longer. The cheapest bulk tiers can take weeks or months; express tiers come back in days.
• Declared value. You state what the card is worth once graded. Each tier has a maximum declared value, so expensive cards are pushed into pricier tiers. At the top end, the fee is a percentage of the card's value.
• Minimums. The cheapest bulk tiers often require a minimum number of cards per order, or a paid membership.
• Extras. Shipping both ways, insurance, and optional services such as subgrades, autographs or crossovers from another company's slab.

Typical cost per card

These are approximate ranges, not quotes. Each company's own price list is the only reliable source.

What else to budget for

• Shipping to the grader, with tracking and insurance, and the return shipping they charge you.
• Membership or submission fees, if you use a service that requires one to reach the cheapest tiers.
• Supplies: penny sleeves, semi-rigid card savers (most graders ask for these) and a sturdy box.
• Upcharges: if the grader decides your card is worth more than you declared, they can move it to a more expensive tier and bill the difference.

Is it worth grading a Pokémon card?

Grading makes money when the graded card sells for more than the raw card plus all the fees. A simple check:

1. Look up the card's ungraded price on MyTCGValue.
2. Look up recent sold listings for that exact card at the grade you realistically expect (be honest: most cards that look perfect come back a 9 or lower).
3. Subtract the grading fee, shipping and insurance from the graded price, and compare with the raw price.

Our should I grade it? calculator does this for you, using the card's live price.

As a rule of thumb, grading rarely pays off for cards worth only a few dollars raw, unless you're grading for your own collection. It's most worthwhile for valuable cards in excellent condition, where a PSA 10 can be worth several times the raw price. See PSA 10 vs PSA 9 for why the top grade matters so much.

How to get Pokémon cards graded

1. Pick the company. PSA slabs usually sell for the most on popular Pokémon cards; CGC and Beckett are often cheaper to submit.
2. Pre-grade at home. Check centering, corners, edges and surface under a bright light (our condition guide shows what to look for). Only send cards that could get a high grade.
3. Prepare the cards. Penny sleeve, then a semi-rigid card saver, as the company asks.
4. Submit online. Create an account, choose the tier and declared value for each card, pay, and print the packing slip.
5. Ship it safely, insured and tracked, and wait. You can follow the order's progress on the company's website.

Comparing companies before you submit? Our guide to PSA vs CGC vs BGS lines up their grading scales, fees and turnaround times side by side.