The State of Card Grading in 2026: The Numbers Every Collector Should Know
- sebastian lahara
- Jul 3
- 4 min read
The short version: 26.8 million cards were graded in 2025 — a record. PSA owns 72% of the market, one company now controls most of grading, and Pokémon has taken over. Here's what it all means for your cards.
Card grading just had its biggest year ever — and the landscape shifted in ways that matter for anyone thinking about sending cards off to be slabbed. Whether you're chasing a PSA 10 or just wondering if grading is even worth it, the 2025–2026 numbers tell a clear story. Let's break it down.
Grading Hit an All-Time Record
In 2025, the major grading companies slabbed a combined 26.8 million cards — the most ever recorded in a single year, and a 32% jump over 2024. Card grading isn't a niche hobby corner anymore; it's a multi-billion-dollar industry. The global grading market was valued around $4.1 billion in 2025 and is projected to more than double by the mid-2030s.
What's driving it? Two words: Pokémon and investing. Collectors increasingly treat graded cards as assets, and the slab is what makes a card liquid, trustworthy, and sellable at a premium.
PSA Runs the Show
If you've heard "just get it PSA'd," the data explains why. PSA graded 19.26 million cards in 2025 — about 72% of the entire market. They captured roughly 76% of sports cards and 69% of TCG.
That dominance isn't just volume — it's a moat. The bigger PSA's population database gets, the more everyone relies on it for pricing and scarcity data, which pushes even more people to grade with PSA. It's a snowball. For most cards you plan to sell, a PSA 10 is the most liquid grade in the hobby, and PSA slabs typically command a 10–30% resale premium over the equivalent grade from other companies.
CGC Is the Clear #2 Now
The race for second place is over. CGC grew 121% year-over-year, grading 4.92 million cards, and has separated itself as PSA's main challenger. Its strength is TCG — especially Pokémon and other gaming cards — where its pricing and turnaround appeal to modern collectors. CGC is also the only major grader that's still independently owned (more on why that matters below).
The Big Shakeup: One Company Owns Most of Grading
Here's the story that reshaped the industry. Collectors Holdings — PSA's parent company — now owns PSA, SGC, and (pending) Beckett/BGS. That means three of the four biggest grading companies fall under one corporate roof, controlling roughly 90% of the graded-card market.
This raised enough eyebrows that a U.S. congressman called for an investigation into a potential grading monopoly in early 2026, and a private antitrust lawsuit followed. Whatever happens legally, the practical takeaway for collectors: CGC is now the primary independent alternative, and some collectors are deliberately choosing it to support competition.
Pokémon Took Over
For the first time, TCG cards outnumbered sports cards in grading — 16.8 million TCG/non-sport vs 10 million sports. Pokémon alone accounted for 16.1 million graded cards, making it the single most-graded category in the hobby. Sports grading actually dipped 12% year-over-year. If you collect Pokémon, you're now in the biggest grading category there is.
So Which Company Should YOU Use?
The honest answer: it depends on the card. Here's the quick guide.
Choose PSA if: you plan to sell, you want maximum resale value, or you want the grade every buyer instantly recognizes. It's the default for a reason.
Choose CGC if: you're grading Pokémon or TCG, you want competitive pricing, or you specifically want an independent grader. Especially strong for Japanese Pokémon.
Choose SGC if: you're grading vintage sports cards. Their vintage expertise is widely respected and their turnaround is fast.
Choose BGS if: you want subgrades (centering, corners, edges, surface) or you're chasing the rare Black Label on modern chrome and autos.
But First — Is Grading Even Worth It?
This is the part that saves collectors money. Grading isn't free: PSA's cheapest tier now runs about $25 per card (plus a required membership), and that's before shipping and the weeks or months of waiting. If your raw card is worth $15, grading it makes no sense — the fee eats the gain.
The math only works when the graded value clears the raw value plus the grading cost. That's exactly what the CardGauge scanner shows you: scan a card and it pulls the live market price AND a grading ROI breakdown — what the card is worth raw vs. what it'd be worth at PSA 7 through 10, with a plain "worth grading?" verdict. No guessing, no wasting $25 on a card that shouldn't be slabbed.
If You Do Grade — Protect the Card First
A card is most vulnerable before it's slabbed. To submit safely, you want the right supplies: penny sleeves and semi-rigid card savers (the holders PSA and other graders actually require for submission), and once your slabs come back, a display case protects that investment. Cheap gear that pays for itself the first time it saves a card.
The Bottom Line
Card grading in 2026 is bigger, more consolidated, and more Pokémon-driven than ever. PSA rules, CGC is the rising independent, and the whole market is growing fast. But the smartest move as a collector isn't picking a company — it's knowing which cards are actually worth grading before you spend a dime. Scan first, grade second.
Sources: Grading volume and market-share figures from GemRate year-end data (2025), industry reporting from Cardlines, PreGradeCards, and SI Collectibles, and market-size projections from Dataintelo (2025–2034). Figures current as of mid-2026.
This post is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. Card and grading values fluctuate. CardGauge may earn a commission from qualifying purchases through gear links, at no extra cost to you. PSA, CGC, SGC, BGS, and related marks are the property of their respective owners; references are editorial.
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