PSA Leads Record-Breaking June as Card Grading Reaches New All-Time High
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Card grading has never looked stronger. After a slight dip in May and the announcement from PSA about their grading backlog, four of the five grading companies tracked by GemRate reported record highs last month. It looks like the PSA grading team’s extra effort is paying off.
The record-setting June saw a total of 3.5 million cards graded across the major grading providers, crushing the prior record of 3.1 million set in April. On a per-business-day basis, grading activity was up 13% compared to May and is up an astonishing 65% year over year.
With help from an extra business day, PSA, CGC, Beckett, and Tag all hit record highs in June, with PSA and CGC both surging over 15% compared to May. Only SGC saw a decline, dipping 19% compared to May and down 75% year-over-year.
PSA Graded Card Data
PSA graded 2.50 million cards in June, up 21% compared to May and up 74% year-over-year. TCG, which includes Pokémon, One Piece, and Magic: The Gathering, accounted for slightly over 71% (1.78 million) of graded card volume, up 23% from the month prior and up 95% compared to last year.
SGC Falling Hard
There doesn't seem to be much demand at all for SGC's grading services, and if this trend continues, it's questionable how much longer GemRate will keep publishing their data. It was only a few months ago when they were neck-and-neck with TAG, but with TAG's strong upward momentum, especially within the TCG space, and SGC's sharp declines, we may be seeing a replacement to the GemRate report very soon.
In the Items Graded by Month graph in this month's GemRate report, it's rather shocking to see SGC and CGC grading collectibles at nearly the same rate until the fall of 2024, at which point CGC started to take off and SGC plateaued for a few months and then plummeted. It's also important to point out that SGC was acquired by Collectors, the parent company of both PSA and Beckett, in 2024.
Less Robust GemRate Report Than Prior Months
Unfortunately for fans and power users of the GemRate report, the most recent June report isn't nearly as robust or detailed as it has been in past months and years. The GemRate team decided to forgo the additional details this month due to time constraints and is likely looking to publish the report after the holiday weekend.
In the past, monthly reports were exciting because they always included detailed breakdowns of most graded players and TCG cards. For example, in March 2026, we saw a huge jump in Kon Knueppel graded cards. Insights like these added significant value to the overall quality and interest of the reports as a whole.
The GemRate team is still deciding whether to bring back these additional details, and I, for one, hope they do. If those deeper breakdowns return, the GemRate report will once again be one of the hobby's most valuable monthly reads.
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Conor is a leading sports collectibles writer and market analyst with more than 100 published articles covering sports cards, Pokémon, auctions, investing trends, and hobby culture. A lifelong collector who entered the hobby in the early 1990s, Conor’s expertise centers on vintage and modern basketball cards, basketball icons, and iconic Boston sports memorabilia tied to legends like Larry Bird, Tom Brady, and David Ortiz.