Professional Card Grading Companies

Professional grading companies are service companies that provide consistent and impartial grading of cards. Someone with a card sends it to the card grading company, and that company's expert graders assign the card a grade. The card is encapsulated in a tamper-proof container often called a "slab" or labeled with a tamper-proof holographic label that identifies the grade given to the card, and it is returned to its owner. The fee paid to the grading company, per card, is typically between $4 and $20 plus the cost of shipping it by insured mail. Cards are either "raw" meaning not professionally graded or "graded" meaning professionally graded. If a dealer inspects a card, no matter how expert he may be, the card is not graded because dealers have a conflict of interest due to being a seller of cards. Thus his opinion is not impartial.

Professional grading has changed the card market tremendously. The cards have become commodities and it is possible to buy and sell them sight-unseen with much more confidence. Professionally graded cards command good prices, because people will trust a professional grade and are often willing to pay more for these cards. It is now true that if someone is trying to sell a non-graded premium card, people will wonder why it isn't professionally graded. There is the concern that if it is not professionally graded, there might be something wrong with it. This is a special concern with autographed base cards that were autographed after distribution from the card company where the possibility of a forgery exists. Professional grading virtually eliminates that risk.

There are five grading companies that are well known and respected in the industry. Those companies are: PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator), SGC (Sportscard Guaranty Authority), BGS (Beckett Grading Service), SCD (SCD Authentic), GAI (Global Authentication). Cards graded by these five companies tend to sell easier and for higher prices than those graded by lesser know companies.

Among the lesser know professional card grading companies are: AGS (Advanced Grading Specialists), ASA (Accugrade), CGS (Champs Grading Service), CEX (Certified Express), CSA (Certified Sports Authentication), CTA (CTA Grading Experts), FGA (Foremost Grading Authority), HGA (Holographic Grade Authenticator), KSA (KSA Sports Card Authenticator), MINT (Mint Grading Service), PRO (PRO Sports Grading), PGS (Professional Grading Services), TFA (The Final Authority), USA (Ultimate Sports Authority), WCG (World Class Grading).

All the companies listed above except HGC use tamper proof slabs to encapsulate their graded cards. HGC uses a tamper proof and copy proof hologram to seal and label their grading in a regular top loader protector. Many collectors like this because the graded cards fit right in with the rest of their collection. I have found HGC conservative in their grading and they do not use in between grades like NM+ 7.5.

Although it is true that cards graded by the five well known companies tend to sell easier and for higher prices than those graded by lesser know companies, I have seen no difference in the consistency or quality of the grading of the cards. They all do an excellent job of giving reliable grades to the cards. I believe professional grading is a wonderful thing for the consumer. It assures they are getting what they pay for.