Ranking The Best Sports Card Grading Companies!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ค. 2024
- Sports cards are being graded more and more. In the past grading used to be reserved for high end or vintage cards. Grading has scaled so much that there is a pathway for any card to be graded. In this video I break down the pricing, turnaround, and value of each grading company. I discuss which is the one I would send a 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout to and why. SGC, BGS, PSA, and CSG are all great, but all of these grading companies have very unique advantages.
![[TH] VCT Pacific Stage 2 - Week 4 Day 1 // PRX vs RRQ | GE vs GEN](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/iIi2_04jGr0/mqdefault.jpg)
NOTE: CSG should have been 3rd on this list over BGS. Their grading fee is lower, the turnaround is better, and there is still strong upside for a CSG 10 gem mint. I am just sad to see BGS in this experiment as the 4th place grading company, but for expected value (including time) CSG is a better option right now.
💪🍻 Csg 💯
You also didn't consider PSA's upcharges.
@@1johnlynch Extortion I call it
Csg slab is meh
@@kinggrom1 i guess you dont like crystal clear slabs , i guess you like your windows dirty, your drinking glasses spotty, your TV hazy.. different strokes for different folks!
Glad to see some CSG love. They are the way to go and hopefully more folks catch on.
yep! they're solid n consistent!
I just started some grading with them
I just submitted 8 cards to SGC at the philly show. Mostly stuff for my PC and I knew wouldn't grade great. Just for protection. I love the look of the SGC and CSG slabs, and for the price, that is where my business will be going in the future. Great video!
I send modern cards to PSA, like it or not, everyone recognizes them as the most valuable. I send my vintage to SGC, look better and the prices are right there with PSA in most cases. My personal favorite is SGC, cases look better and they are way more transparent. PSA is going to have to explain someday how they come up with a lot of the goofy grades they assign.
I don't. I recognize them as being a crappy grading company with their grades being all over the place. If a card gets a 6, there should be a super obvious reason why it got a 6. If a card gets a 10 and I can see within .2847227 seconds that it is off center, it shouldn't be a 10.
I almost exclusively have been using SGC for the past 3 years and couldn’t be happier. Hardly anyone is paying $24 to grade with SGC. Well over half the cards they receive are submitted for $18-20 per card through group submitters. I have 2 different group submitters I use and trust. I like the low prices, fast turnaround, and accurate grading. I actually like the look of the Tux, I think the flip needs some work though.
Without using group submitters, SGC is $24 if 1 card is sent. I don’t use group submitters except for PSA grade to consignment.
@@thereverendripps1733 didn’t I state that they were $24 a card in my comment? Majority of the cards they receive are through a group. Boca alone sends them 10,000 cards a month
Nice video. I personally use csg alot because I love there slab. It's by far the best. And the clearest. Plus I've had zero issues using them.
Thanks for the information - very nice analysis as usual.
Really enjoying your videos. Awesome info for new guys like me!
Great video. Used to use BGS for the subgrades but now I go to SGC. Either way thanks for the video. Great content as always.
Been collecting for many years... 45....PSA is the name of the game.... next is BGS and SGC but less than 5% of my whole collection in these last two. I collect high end so for SGC it's mostly SGC 10 Pristine Gold label.... for BGS I tend to send very low pop parallels where a BGS 9.5 sustains very good value b/c of the low pop. itself. The low pop counters the lower BGS 9.5 perception of value.
CSG on the come up!
Thank you for all your hard work.
I am waiting for TAG to get caught up and I will be sending a bunch of cards to them. Reasons: No human bias, excellent looking slabs, a 1,000 point ranking scale and tons of data on the card explaining the grade.
TAG is going to be in the top 3 when they're fully up and running.
Great take Scottie. I'd submit to PSA for two reasons. First, consistency within my collection. Second, because of ROI. I do have a few SGC tuxedos tho.
I tried BGS for the first (and last) time a few months ago with two Bowman Chrome 1st autos. I thought they’d be a good choice because of the legacy aspect of BGS being a go-to with Bowman 1st autos for collectors and because one card had a minor surface flaw… which I assumed would prevent a PSA 10 but may still garner a BGS 9.5. Didn’t work. The overall grade was a BGS 9 (which was fair)… but then they graded the auto a 9, too. The card sold at auction for less than a raw version of the same card… which is a double whammy considering I had to pay (and wait) to get the slab and grade. The market just doesn’t want / respect the BGS name and slab anymore. Not like they used to. That’s great news for buyers who still like BGS or “collect the card and not the slab,” but it’s not great for sellers who went with BGS and now can’t maximize their return.
I don’t understand how the signatures get a low grade… or a bad grade. I understand if the signature is smudged or not readable or different from the norm.
PSA will also upcharge based on value, so when you consider time it takes with grading fees. It isn't as good of a value as perceived initially.
I totally agree with you on this take currently. I will say this, if the player dies not have superstar popularity, PSA/BGS is probs Lu the most recognized and purchased. CSG has a lot going for it except the roi. Cases by far is CSG.
I think only reason PSA sells for more is there is a group of rich guys that have been pumping PSA 10's for DECADES? Just a theory of mine.
And people can't comprehend 9.5 = 10.
Sure sure pal
100% agree. It amazes me that BGS is even getting 60k cards a month still. Do that many people just not like money. Lots of PC submitters I hope. Only thing that makes any sense. Why would you spend more money to wait longer for your cards to sell them for less.
Yup 100% for PC. Beckett graders are by far the most consistent. A lot of people either don't realize or don't remember, about 6 years ago, BGS was THE standard in grading. Then the pandemic brought in all of these newbies in to the hobby and all of these "influencers" like Gary V, Geoff Wilson, and so forth just preached PSA 10s ...so of course PSA 10s started to separate themselves value-wise. We used to send our "off grade" stuff to PSA to try and salvage a 10...stuff that was off centered, bad autos, surface issues....would regularly get 10s. It still blows my mind how people still just blindly throw down more money because its a PSA 10.
I totally agree on what you said re SGC 9.5 vs BGS 9.5. Every SGC 9.5 I’ve cracked has been a mess. Big drop from an SGC 10.
Amazing video! Ty ty
Thanks for the info Scottie B!
Nice video. Do you think that baseball card collecting will shift towards pitchers in the future now that batting averages have lowered and pitching is getting much better? Obviously not breaking old records of 30 complete games pitched in a season like the 20s, but relative to innings pitched, I think career ERA records will continue to be broken going forward.
Thanks, very helpful!
Hello Scottie, thank you for posting videos. I enjoy your content. It is great to see the competition in this niche market of the collecting hobby. Not sure what numbers truly articulate success. When I think of high-volume sales and quick turnarounds, I think of commercial enterprises like McDonald's. McDonald's has its place in the fast-food industry. They offer quality product, but they may not serve everyone's personal needs and tastes. Some collectors care about ultra-clear cases. Some like subgrades. Some do not care about turnaround times. So, thank goodness there are choices.
I think PSA grading has gotten more difficult and some of the older Trout PSA 10s would be 9s if sent in today. Either that or Pop Control. So, gem rate is now probably lower.
Thanks for sharing this video.
I was thinking of getting card ladder or market movers x, what are your thoughts?
I never thought I'd see BGS fall so far down the list, but the prices I've seen are consistently lower than SGC cards across the board. I think it's a great buying opportunity for already-graded BGS cards...but I agree they would be last right now for sending a new card in for grading
I agree. I've always avoided buying BGS slabs, mostly out of ignorance on my part, but your point about buying already graded BGS cards is something I'm going to really look into.
I will still send my cards to BGS knowing their customer service is horrible. But at the end of the day, I prefer my cards in a BGS slab. I will not send in prospect cards either. I will put them in magnetic holders and leave them there until they are established superstars before I send them to BGS for grading.
Great video, I prefer SGC slabs but for value send a top card to PSA and hope the up charge cost isn’t too much for the average person to pay.
Can you do the same video but for vintage?
I feel Csg is the overall best company. I also really like Sgc for vintage.
How about bgm? I found a huge lot of cards from then, but I can't find any reviews
I have a better question. If the PSA Set Registry disappeared completely, everything erased with no replacement, would PSA still have the market stranglehold?
Maybe, but boy would it be very close with SGC
CSG slabs are really nice with relic cards like jersey or autos and anything that's really shiny or sparkly. SGC is better with vintage cards and PSA with modern.
I see PWCC has a partnership with Beckett (and others) where you can send your cards in, get them graded at $25/each and they are done in 10 days...Have you looked into that as an option? To me it seems like a great way to just send cards off 1 time and not have to handle again (I guess it would depend on the card you are sending in as well...like a really high value card you'd want to send to PSA regardless as the resale of PSA seems way higher?)
I tend to like PSA the most just because their PSA 10's command the highest demand. But I just don't like how PSA tends to be too lenient when it comes centering. Some pretty off-centered cards may still end up getting graded a PSA 10 which doesn't sit right with me.
Great video.
I sent in cards to PSA ($40 option) in January......
Supposed to be a 20 day turnaround, but it's about 60 days now & still haven't received them yet.
Why offer 20 days if it's not gonna happen?
How do you feel about FCG? I’m not sure about their gem rates but I’ve heard it’s $14/card and a 10 day turnaround.
I bought a mike trout bowman platinum refractor /999. I was thinking of grading it, but then it came with some surface dings that I didn't notice. So I may just hold it and sell later and lose money like I do with the majority of my purchases. :)
Thanks sorry so late to see this but it would be interesting to do a video now after a year has passed and see if anything has changed with ISI coming on strong.
Great video
Would you care to share your process as to how you stock up on your favorite cards? DO you look for raw, PSA 10's, buy when you have the funds, wait for low bid wins, etc. I would really like to hear your mindset and process.
New to the hobby.... Question for anyone... I have a really nice raw raw Mantle #350 card... I'm thinking about submitting it to CSG for grading. Any thoughts? Thanks.
I have cards out to PSA and BGS currently. I can tell you that BGS takes all of 60 BUSINESS days to complete the job under the standard price. My PSA submission which was submitted 2 weeks ago is already in the final stage. All of the submissions are for modern and ultra modern cards. PSA, IMO, also has a superior website from anyone else. The BGS website really lacks in updates compared to PSA.
On this particular card I think you’d have to consider that there are more BGS gems than others because that company was the go-to for grading early on when many of these cards were first graded, not because they are necessarily more lenient on the card and give out a higher gem rate. I’m sure if every BGS gem of this card were cracked and resubbed to any one of the other grading companies you’d see a similar gem rate.
Where did you get those carts?
I gotta say PSA was much better about their turnaround times, but have begun to slip again. I have an order still in grading that was "entered" on 1/14/23. I'll let you do the math. But they've done a good job of rigging the system so it feels like you have to go thru them if you want to maximize your resale value.
BGS' complete lack of attention to their business and competition is frustrating. I have a bunch of good cards in BGS, and watching them tank just because of the company's lack of business savy is maddening. Not sure how a company can be so tone deaf.
Any chance you could make a video showing from start to finish how exactly to send cards to a grading company?
I agree , would be nice
It really isn’t that hard folks. The grading companies have clear instructions on their websites and there are TH-cam videos showing how to pack and ship them. Take 30 seconds and look yourself.
@@matthew1072a hey thanks for the feedback!
This video needs an update on pricing and turnaround times . However I love that CSG was called out for being stricter . That’s a fact proven by cross grading . CSG is not number 2 for turnaround they are dead last.
Good video... can't argue with this logic. Although one thing to remember most of the best versions of the card went to BGS & PSA before 2020; so they got the mint-est copies in theory. Why an SGC would sell more than BGS is beyond me; but to be fair; this is a base card; and BGS does more high end cards; RPA's/ Auto's. I'd imagine BGS would be equal to or more than SGC on higher end cards.
im surprised you were able to navigate BGS' pop report 😆
CSG is my favorite. I have yet to ever submit a card, but they will all be going to CSG. I think their slabs are the best..i hear so many complaints about PSA, it jist turns me off.
I submitted one card to PSA under express ($120). Today is the 8th business day since it officially arrived and only on step 4 (grading). PSA is garbage to me right now. Only way they can make it up is giving me the proper grade on my one card. I really only use SGC.
Thank u
I’m a SGC guy all the way! Fast turn around, good price, and looks the best!
PSA looks old and is for the old people on their D**Ks.
Psa I'd for the d**k messaging contestants
PSA....Subbed one card at EXPRESS level. they received 3/15. today (3/21) still at ARRIVED STAGE. have a feeling i just pissed away $120
? What’s wrong with HGA ?
No one beats BGS in consistency and transparency. Outside of cost …those are the two most important factors in grading
BGS is absolute dog shit and they won't be in business much longer
On the flip side,BGS is the best value hands down as a buyer, agree?
I’m all for any of the Three companies that don’t start with PSA. CSG and SGC should be your top two then BGS and then KSA out of Canada, especially for your hockey cards. Not sure about KSA and their grading on other sports but I know that KSA and CSG are also probably the Top Two coin Graders in the world!!
I would recommend looking at any card in a PSA 10 slab very carefully chances are it’s not a 10 buy the card not the slab
PSA is always going to be #1. I loved SGC before PSA prices and turnaround came back to earth, but their pop reports aren't keeping up with companies like TAG and even CSG. My first and final experience with BGS was terrible customer service and defective slabs. RIP HGC.
If TAG can scale, they can be #2.
If you think it has a CHANCE at a Black Label, it behooves you to send it to BGS!!!
Meanwhile up north in Canada, grading services are very pricey with the U.S companies, dollar exchange and then you get dinged on duties. (whether you are suppose to or not, Fed Ex won't deliver until you pay). I had a numbered auto rookie, X-10 Bo Bichette (TO Blue Jays)I sent in to Beckettes, final price tag was about $175 CND. I understand they are hard graders but the auto came in 10 and overall card 8.5, with all 4 grades that average 8.88. How is that not a 9? That was for the cheapest service and took 3 months to get here, and Beck's screwed up my address and I'm lucky the deliver guy new how to read a postal code. It's for my pc, so I don't care too much but $$$, going to explore others companies with bulk. Not impressed with Becky's.
Uh none of the big 4 will give you grading notes, and one has the audacity to upcharge you just for giving you a 10. Yeah so why would I submit to any of them??
At some point these companies should supply the customer with a breakdown of why and how the card received its grade. They are looking at way more than just corners, edges, centering and surface, IMO…main reason why I have been so skeptical to submit any of my cards.
The whole up charge thing is baloney, from what I can see it’s market manipulation at its finest.
Who upcharges for a 10?
@@jwiderman24 Totally agree. FCG does, they are newer but growing fast but far behind the others.
@@powerhitter033 PSA on high dollar cards
@@chrisc4264 Wow! That is lame
PSA is still King!
KSA from Canada anyone?
I've not had any issues with them so far.
For my PC? That’s SGC. I just prefer the way they look.
The only reason PSA is number #1 is due to cards rate of return money wise. Your left shaking your head when you get a 9 due to subgrades.
People want 10s. That’s why bgs has fallen, people don’t look at the bgs 9.5 as a 10
Psa if you plan is to resell. Literally any other company if you plan on not selling it. Psa is the worst at everything except for resale. Lots of great companies other than the big 3 to choose from too.
I can’t stand psa anymore. I sent in a Mario Lemieux rookie card from my personal collection from when I bought a box as a kid. Long story short sent it in and got a 7, was not happy at all because the card is mint, so I broke it and sent it back and they gave me an altered and wouldn’t grade it. Fuck them
I'd love to see you do a video on FCG, GMA and HGA and compare them to CSG.
Great video but can you speak a bit slower in future posts? Thanks.
You didn't mention you cannot submit that trout card to psa under any level lower than express because of its value. So it's 150 to grade that with no guarantees it'll 10. No thanks
When you discuss pricing you have to consider that PSA upcharges based on the value of the card. Others don’t.
PSA are making too many dubious grading decisions!
Team sgc all the way
I find it absurd how many PSA 10 cards I have seen that have obvious flaws. If you decide to buy a graded PSA card you better look it over very carefully. I prefer Beckett when it comes to actually grading a card on it's quality. I haven't dealt much with SGC but I believe they too grade cards based on their attributes. I'm sorry to all you PSA fans, it appears to me they just like giving good grades.
I agree 100%. I think PSA's logic works like this: if you spend $200 grading 5 cards, you're not likely to get any 10's or maybe the lowest valued card gets a 10. If a person spends $2,000 getting 40 cards graded, at least half will be 10's. I think PSA looks put for people that spend more money with them. It makes sense fiscally, but its terribly dirty imo.
PSA rips off their customers and their slabs are dull.
HGA is cool but overpriced for the time being the horizontal slabs are the best in the business.
SGC is near perfect in all categories and they don’t rip off their customers everything modern/vintage looks great in a tux
BGS is good for high/ultra high end cards which will grade near perfect other than that for regular cards high end to lower don’t use BGS.
I don’t know anything about CSG if that’s their name? I do like the new black slabs they look sleek the green were bad!
My opinion
I don't think any of the factors you listed are viable as factors to determine "who is the best company to grade your card". The cost is probably the only factor. Time to grade isn't because when you have the card in hand, nothing else matters. What SHOULD matter is the accuracy and the standards the companies use to grade a card. The fact that a PSA 10 uses a 60/40 ratio allowance for a 10 should kill the value of a PSA 10 as other companies have a more stringent criteria on centering.
The "value" of the card based on the company is also a bad factor to use to determine if a company is good or not is due to the fact the "value" is determined by the consumer. Consumers are generally "dumb" and will purchase items based on the simplest form of math in their head they can understand. BGS 9.5 = PSA 10 does not compute to a simple minded human. In their mind 10 > 9.5 so PSA 10 must be a higher grade, hence pay more for it. But the centering criteria for PSA proves that a PSA 10 should be less than a BGS 9.5.
These videos keep coming out and I wish people would generalize their OPINIONS based on different factors. Such as:
"If you want to grade inexpensive cards with the mindset to flip them for a profit and easy grading criteria, go with PSA"
"If you want to grade a card and get an accurate grade for the true representation of your card, go with BGS"
"If you are a master of card doctoring and want to regrade your card for a higher grade, go with PSA"
"If you want your card to be mostly graded and have a real sexy slab around it, go with SGC"
"If you want your card to be slabbed and survive the next world war event, go with BGS and a Pelican case"
"If you want to make a living off the average human and cater to their wants, go with PSA"
I agree Daniel that is what the consensus thinks about grading with those companies!
Don't know a single person who subs to CSG lol
I do! all I sub with
I only grade with PSA and BGS, I don’t like the look or feel of a sgc slab feels cheap imo.
yeah i absolutely hate sgc slab. the look and black filling i do not like
CSG is best but all the sheople in the hobby now only care about flipping so PSA stays on top. PSA slabs are ugly and cheap, their service is the worst as well.
I totally disagree, just look at the prices! BGS 10 it’s higher in value than PSA 10… we all know that if you submit a 9.5 BGS to PSA will get a 10 grade. And the black label, oh my! The black label is 70 percent over the PSA 10 value! Example: a PSA 10 Umbreon 2021 evolving skies alternate art it is sold at 1000 dollars in general, maximum 2000, but a same card graded 10 BGS black label sold for 12000 dollars! So please don’t confuse people on value! You cannot put SGC in front of BGS when talking about value! Do more research!