SGC is the Latest Company to Raise Grading Prices

The change is yet another sign of the changing landscape of grading as submissions continue to surge through all grading companies

GoSGC.co

Grading submissions don't seem to be slowing down, regardless of the company. Collectors who follow the market closely woke up this morning to an announcement that SGC is increasing its prices and adjusting their turnaround times, effective immediately.

Effective September 2, 2026, SGC will be adjusting its offered service levels in response to rapidly increasing demand and continued expansion of estimated turnaround times. Please visit our standard services and pricing page for the full breakdown: https://t.co/PcJkwnVjny.… pic.twitter.com/GKq3RACw2n

— SGC (@sgcgrading) September 2, 2026

Posting on its social media accounts, SGC said its new lowest rate has gone from $18 to $50, with an estimated turnaround time of more than 40 business days. Previously, the turnaround times were 40-50 business days.

The Grading Space Continues to Change

This announcement is another in a long line of changes across the whole grading space in the past 12 months. PSA announced about a year ago when they added about five days to the turnaround times and added a few dollars to the price per card. But just eight months later, PSA announced a bigger change, including suspending its value tiers.

Card collectors check out the items for sale duing Cards on the Coast Sports Card and TCG Show Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025 at Sanders Beach Corrine Jones Resource Center. The show had sports cards, collectable trading card games, food trucks and more. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

While the surge in submissions has affected larger companies like PSA, Beckett, and SGC, even the second-tier companies like TAG had to adjust their submission levels to catch up on their backlog.

The cheapest rate with Tag right now is $150 for a five business day turnaround.

Gem Rate Shows A SGC Decline

It is odd that SGC made this announcement today after Gem rate released their August numbers just yesterday, the first day of September.

GemRate | August ’26 Grading Recap

-- Overall grading activity decreased to 3.40 million cards and was ⬇6% in August compared to July and ⬆47% YoY.
-- On a per business day basis, grading activity was ⬇1% compared to July.

-- PSA graded 2.20m cards - ⬇12% vs July, ⬆32%… pic.twitter.com/rbqUVPJYZq

— GemRate (@gemrate) September 1, 2026

As you can see, aside from the minimal drop of 1 percent month-over-month for Beckett, SGC is the only company to see a decrease (and a pretty significant one at that) in both its month-over-month and its year-over-year. And this has been happening with SGC for almost a year now.

So why, if they are seeing a decrease in grading, would SGC have to change their price and turnaround times?

While Gem Rate shows a decline in grading with SGC, the submissions have jumped significantly. | SGC

While Gem Rate shows a decrease in SGC grading, SGC is reporting a jump in overall submissions. According to their data, cards submitted have increased by 24 percent, and overall orders have increased by 27 percent. One interesting factoid is that SGC has seen a huge jump of 2,000 in new submitters since July 1, 2026.

It will be interesting to see what Gem Rate shows in the coming months with this new submitter data with SGC. Though with the new changes in pricing and turnaround times, Gem Rate might see a short blip of an SGC increase before it mellows out again; time will tell.

Did Collectors Acquisition of Beckett Affect SGC?

Less than a year ago, in December 2025, it was announced that Collectors, PSA's parent company, had acquired Beckett. When any company adds to its portfolio, undoubtedly its resources thin out, at least right away, before it has a chance to adjust and add where needed.

Changes to SGC's grading include a price increase from around $20 to now $50, and the turnaround times have changed from 40-50 business days to simply 40 plus business days. | GoSGC.co

Could this be the case with SGC? While they said back in February of 2024, shortly after Collectors acquired SGC, that the companies would continue to operate as they have in the past, the numbers certainly show that something changed in the backend of their operations. And it was certainly affected when PSA said SGC would become a 'boutique' company for grading cards.

CGC Still Offering Bulk Service Rates

CGC is still offering bulk grading services | CGC

Certified Guaranty Company (CGC) is still one of the only grading companies out there that are still offering bulk service rates. Currently, with a 25-card minimum, the cost is just $17 per card. However, the turnaround time is an astronomical 150 working days. If your submission time clock started on September 1, 2026, the estimated completion date would be April 9, 2027, if you take into account federal holidays.

Has The Grading Landscape Boosted The PSA 9 Value?

1992 Topps Shaquille O'Neal rookie card, graded a PSA 9. | PSA

Over the past year, with the changes in turnaround times and grading fees, we could be seeing a value rebound for the PSA 9. For a long time, PSA 9 cards were valued the same as a raw card. Reason being the potential of that illustrious Gem Mint 10 grade.

But now we might be seeing a change in that landscape. The last four sales, according to Card Ladder, of Shaquille O'Neal's 1992 Topps PSA 9 rookie card $44, $44.99, and $40, for an average of about $43. All sales occurred on September 2, 2026.

When looking at sales of this card ungraded, on the same day as the PSA 9 sales, September 2, one sold for just $7, with another sale the day before, on September 1, for $9.99.

What's Next For Graded and Raw Cards

It's possible we'll see more buying and selling of raw cards. High-end pieces will still hold better value in a slab, but lower-to mid-tier cards, not worth the $50-$150 grading fees, could see an increase in value in a raw, unencased states.