SGC grading explained: what it costs in 2026, how the scale works and whether it’s right for your Pokémon cards

SGC is the grader most Pokémon collectors know from its black slab and rarely use. That’s worth a second look, because its fast service is among the quickest in the hobby, and the September price change moved where it sits against PSA and TAG. Here’s what SGC charges, how its scale works, and when it’s the right company for a card.

What is SGC?

SGC is a third-party grading company in Boca Raton, Florida, that has authenticated and graded trading cards since 1998. Its name stands for Sportscard Guaranty, and most of what it grades is still sports cards, but it grades Pokémon and other trading card games on the same scale.

Ownership changed twice in the last two years. Collectors, the company behind PSA, bought SGC in February 2024. In July 2025 SGC’s president, Peter Steinberg, stepped down, and PSA’s president Ryan Hoge said Collectors wanted to “right-size” SGC into a smaller, boutique grader. In December 2025 Collectors also agreed to buy Beckett, so the same parent now owns PSA, SGC and Beckett. SGC still grades under its own name, label and scale.

It is a small player in Pokémon. GemRate’s figures for the first half of 2025 put SGC at 8% of all cards graded but 18% of sports cards, which tells you how little of its volume is trading card games.

How much does SGC grading cost in 2026?

Standard SGC grading is $50 a card for cards worth up to $1,500, with an estimated 40+ business days. Expedited service, 2 to 3 business days, starts at $150. The fee is set by the card’s declared value, which should be what it’s worth once graded, not what you paid.

What does SGC charge for return shipping?

Return shipping is added per order, not per card, so it hurts most on small submissions. You also pay to send the cards to SGC yourself.

One more cost to know: SGC’s terms say it won’t grade cards it judges altered (trimmed, recolored, bleached, cleaned or otherwise restored) or counterfeit, and it still charges the standard fee for looking at them. If a card came from a stranger online, check it isn’t fake before you pay to find out.

How long does SGC take?

SGC estimates 40+ business days on standard and 2 to 3 business days on expedited. The clock starts when your package is unboxed and logged, not when you mail it, so add the days in the post both ways.

SGC vs PSA vs TAG on price and speed

At the cheap end SGC now sits between TAG and PSA on price and beats both on speed. At the fast end it’s in a different league: a 2 to 3 day SGC grade costs a quarter of PSA’s 7 to 10 day Premier.

The full PSA picture, including what “insured value” means for a card that comes back worth more, is in our PSA grading cost guide, and TAG’s tiers are in the TAG grading guide.

The SGC grading scale

SGC grades from 1 to 10 in half points, with two 10s on top: 10 Pristine and 10 Gem Mint. Each grade has a centering limit and a short description of the wear it allows. Here is the full scale as SGC publishes it.

Does SGC centering apply to the back?

SGC gives one centering figure per grade and doesn’t publish a separate one for the back. PSA does: its 10 allows 55/45 on the front but 75/25 on the back. Until SGC says otherwise, treat a badly off-center back as a risk at SGC that it might not be at PSA.

SGC Pristine 10 vs Gem Mint 10

A Pristine 10 is a card with dead-center 50/50 centering and no wear even under magnification. A Gem Mint 10 allows 55/45 and a slight print spot you’d need close scrutiny to find. SGC writes them as 10 PRI and 10 GM. Very few modern Pokémon cards are cut 50/50, so for most submissions Gem Mint is the realistic top.

How SGC’s scale compares with PSA’s

The two scales line up closely from 9 down, with the same 60/40 for a 9 and 65/35 for an 8. The differences are at the top: SGC gives a 9.5 and PSA doesn’t, and SGC has a Pristine 10 above Gem Mint while PSA has a single 10. A card PSA would call a strong 9 can come back an SGC 9.5. Our PSA grading scale guide has PSA’s full table.

What does an SGC slab look like?

SGC’s holder has a black insert around the card, nicknamed the tuxedo, with the grade and card details on a label at the top. The black frame makes bright borders and holo art stand out, which is a big part of why vintage collectors like it.

The grade on an SGC label is a single number. There are no subgrades, unlike Beckett, and no score, unlike TAG. SGC’s terms say plainly that its holders are not waterproof or UV-resistant, which is true of slabs in general, so keep them out of the sun.

Do SGC Pokémon cards sell for less than PSA?

Usually, yes. For the same Pokémon card in the same grade, a PSA slab normally sells for more than an SGC slab, because most Pokémon buyers search for PSA first and PSA has far more slabs, sales and price history. How big the gap is depends on the card, and it changes over time, so there isn’t one honest percentage to quote.

The way to know is to look up recent sold listings for your exact card at SGC and at PSA in the grade you expect. Watch for three things: whether there are any SGC sales at all (thin markets swing), whether SGC 10 Pristine sells above a PSA 10, and whether the gap is bigger than the money SGC saves you in fees and time.

Is SGC worth it for Pokémon cards?

SGC is worth it when the graded card gains more than about $65 over raw, after selling fees, and you aren’t giving up a big PSA premium. That $65 is the real cost of one card: $50 to grade and $15 to send it back.

So a card that sells for $30 raw needs to sell for over $100 as an SGC slab before grading pays, and that’s only if it gets the grade you hoped for. Run the same sum for a 9 as for a 10. Many modern cards are worth less as a 9 than the fee to grade them. Our guide to whether grading is worth it walks through this card by card.

SGC crossovers, reviews and reholders

A crossover sends a card already graded by another company to SGC to regrade in an SGC slab. It costs the same as grading a raw card, from the same table above.

• Set a minimum grade. The point of a crossover is that the card only leaves its old slab if SGC will give it at least the grade you name. SGC warns that crossovers sent without a minimum grade take longer.
• Reviews, asking SGC to look again at a grade, are priced on the same table as grading.
• Reholders replace a scratched or cracked SGC holder that hasn’t been opened: $50 up to $3,500, or $75 up to $7,500, at standard speed. If the holder has been opened, the card has to be regraded at the grading fee.

Crossing a Pokémon card from PSA to SGC rarely makes sense, since the PSA slab usually sells for more. The useful direction is the other one: a high SGC grade can be a reason to try a crossover to PSA, which works the same way at PSA’s prices.

SGC pros and cons

SGC’s strengths are speed, a sharp-looking slab and a 9.5 that PSA doesn’t give. Its weakness for Pokémon is resale.

Who is SGC good for?

SGC is the right call when speed, looks or your own collection matter more than the last dollar at resale.

1. You need a card back fast. A 2 to 3 day grade for $150 is hard to beat if you’re selling into a spike or need a slab for an event.
2. Vintage Pokémon in your personal collection. Base Set era holos in the black slab look great on a shelf, and you aren’t chasing the PSA premium on a card you’re keeping.
3. A near-perfect card you want rewarded. If a card is flawless but slightly off-center, SGC’s 9.5 sits between PSA’s 9 and 10.
4. Mixed submissions. If you already send sports cards to SGC, adding a few Pokémon cards to the same order shares the return shipping.

SGC is the wrong call for a modern chase card you plan to flip, where PSA 10 is what buyers pay up for, and for cheap cards, where $65 is more than the grade adds. For a side-by-side of all five companies, see the best grading company for Pokémon cards.