How much does PSA grading cost in 2026?

Those prices are from psacard.com on 21 October 2026. PSA changed a lot this year: it paused its Value tiers, opened Standard on September 14 as the new entry point, raised Express to $199, and renamed Regular to Priority and Walk-Through to Premier. Older guides that quote $25 or $33 a card describe tiers you can’t buy right now.

PSA grading prices by service level

PSA charges a flat fee per card, and the tier you can use is set by what the card is worth once graded. Here is every trading card tier on PSA’s site.

Every tier includes front and back photos of the slabbed card. From Priority up, the card comes back in a fitted sleeve. From Express up, you also get grader notes that explain the defects behind the grade. Premium 10 starts at $9,999 for cards up to $350,000 and adds $399 for each further $10,000 of value.

Why are PSA’s Value and Bulk tiers paused?

PSA paused them to work through a backlog it put at about 9.9 million items in September. Its announcement says Standard is “not a replacement” for Value, that Standard orders are processed after existing Value and Bulk orders, and that more tiers will reopen in phases. No date has been given. For scale, PSA’s membership page still describes member bulk pricing as starting at $24.99 a card, $8 less than Value.

Which PSA tier should you pick?

Pick the cheapest tier whose max insured value covers what the card will sell for after grading, not what it’s worth raw. PSA calls this the Max Insured Value, and it sets three things at once: your tier and price, the most PSA pays if the card is lost or damaged in its care, and the insurance on the return package.

The catch is that you have to guess the grade before you know it. A card worth $150 raw might sell for $400 as a PSA 10 and barely more than raw as a PSA 8. Price it at the grade you realistically expect, using recent sold listings for that exact card and grade. If you use PSA’s Assisted Submission, you don’t enter a value at all: PSA assigns the tier from its own Estimated Graded Value, built from past sales and expected grade outcomes, and you can’t adjust it there.

What does PSA charge on top of the grading fee?

Shipping both ways is the big one, and an upcharge can follow if the card grades better than you priced it. Here is everything that can land on the bill.

Shipping to PSA

You pay to send the box. PSA’s FAQ is plain about it: you’re “responsible for shipping both ways.” Ordering online in the US, PSA offers prepaid FedEx 2Day and FedEx Ground labels at special rates, charged when FedEx scans the package. You also need penny sleeves, semi-rigid holders and a sturdy box.

Inbound insurance

PSA doesn’t insure packages on the way in. Its coverage starts once PSA confirms the card arrived. If you ship with PSA’s FedEx label you can add inbound insurance from its partner Cabrella at checkout. Otherwise, insure the box yourself with your carrier.

Return shipping

Return shipping is charged per order and set by the number of cards and their declared value, not by where the box goes. Higher tiers carry more insurance, so return postage rises with the tier. PSA ships returns with its own insurance and signature confirmation. PSA shows the exact amount at checkout; it doesn’t publish a flat rate we could check.

Upcharges when the card is worth more than the tier

If PSA decides after grading that a card is worth more than its tier’s cap, it moves that card (not the whole order) up to the right tier and bills you the difference, plus any higher shipping and insurance. Your grade doesn’t change. If you won’t pay, PSA can return the card ungraded at your cost and still charge the tier you picked.

Collectors Club membership

Membership is optional. PSA’s FAQ says you don’t need to join to submit. Standard membership is $149 a year and Premium $199 a year (Premium adds Card Ladder Pro), plus tax where it applies. Right now the two grading perks, bulk access and member-only specials, are both marked temporarily paused, so the club doesn’t lower what you pay to grade a card today.

Sales tax and when you pay

PSA charges you once the order is graded and ready to ship back, not when you send it. PSA’s pricing pages don’t say whether grading fees carry sales tax in your state, so check the total before you confirm payment.

How much does it cost to grade one Pokémon card with PSA?

Expect about $100 for one card sent on its own in Standard. Here’s the sum for a modern Pokémon ultra rare you think will sell for around $300 as a PSA 10. The grading fee is PSA’s; the shipping lines are our estimates, because PSA prices postage at checkout.

Two things cut that number. First, send more cards at once: return shipping is one charge per order, so ten cards share it instead of one paying it all. Second, skip the post office. GameStop takes PSA submissions in store at $59.99 a card plus a flat $9.99 per order, with no card minimum and up to $1,000 declared value, and lists $5 off for its Pro members.

Now the part that matters: whether it pays. That $300 PSA 10 only beats selling raw if the gap between the 10 and the raw price, after selling fees, is bigger than about $100. If the card comes back a 9 and a 9 sells for what raw copies do, you’re out the whole $100. Our guide to whether grading Pokémon cards is worth it works the break-even through on real sales, and the PSA grading scale explains what separates a 9 from a 10.

Is there a PSA discount code?

We found no public discount code for PSA grading. PSA doesn’t publish promo codes on its site; it discounts through specials and membership instead, and on 21 October 2026 neither helped with trading cards.

• Grading specials: PSA’s specials page listed a World Series ticket special and an expired comics pressing offer. No card special was running.
• Collectors Club: bulk pricing and member specials are both paused, as above. Joining now buys you the magazine, not cheaper grading.
• Bulk: PSA’s bulk rate is a Collectors Club perk and is paused with the Value tiers.
• GameStop: the $5 Pro discount and $9.99 flat shipping are the only real saving we could verify.

Codes on coupon sites that claim to cut PSA grading fees should be treated with suspicion until PSA shows the discount in your own checkout.

How much does CGC grading cost compared with PSA?

CGC is the cheapest of the big graders: $17 a card in Bulk (25-card minimum) or $20 a card in Economy for cards worth up to $1,000. Here’s the cheapest open tier at each company, checked on their own sites.

A few differences hide behind the headline prices. CGC’s fees apply to members, but its basic Collector membership is free, and paid members get 10% to 20% off. TAG says its price “never changes” with your card’s value, so there are no value upcharges, and return shipping is added at checkout. SGC covers cards up to $1,500 at its cheapest price, the highest cap of the four. Every one of them charges return shipping on top.

Cheaper isn’t automatically better. A PSA slab of the same card at the same grade often sells for more than the others, which can cover the bigger fee. Our guide to the best grading company for Pokémon cards compares resale, and there are deeper looks at TAG grading and SGC grading.

When is the PSA fee worth paying?

When the card has a real shot at a grade that sells for at least $100 more than raw, after selling fees. In practice that means clean, well-centered cards whose PSA 10 sells for a clear multiple of the raw price.

1. Look up recent sold prices for your exact card raw, as a PSA 9 and as a PSA 10.
2. Be honest about the grade. Check centering, corners, edges and surface under a bright light.
3. Pick the tier from the graded price, then add about $40 of shipping for a small order.
4. Grade it only if the likely grade, not the best case, beats selling raw.

If you’re ready to send, our step-by-step guide to submitting cards to PSA covers the order form, packing and what each order stage means. And if you want the grade odds and the after-fee numbers on your phone before you decide, join the Buddy waitlist.