Collectibles On SI

How To Get Sports Cards Graded For Cheap

Grading is one way people enjoy the hobby and PSA is making it cheaper

Adam Palmer

https://pixabay.com/photos/dollars-currency-money-us-dollars-499481/

Over the past few years, grading sports cards has become an essential part of this industry. There have been ups and downs with all the companies, but now we are in a place where you have a lot of great options.

With each of the companies, you have your own experience when it comes to what you are looking for. BGS has been one of the grading companies that hasn’t made a ton of changes but is a good option if you want to get patch and autograph cards graded.

SGC doesn’t have the exact same value as PSA, but over the past few years, that gap has gotten much closer. People value SGC cards at a much higher level than in the past. If you want to have a similar value but get cards graded a bit cheaper and faster, it’s a good option.

The cream of the crop, though, is going to be PSA. It has been impressive the way they have expanded their reach, but the value of the cards has sustained. In 2021, they did have to shut down because of the backlog of cards they had, but since reopening, they have not seen as long a wait time as they had in previous years.

Through the end of 2024, you are now also going to be able to get your cards graded by them for even cheaper with their holiday special:

The big change for PSA recently has been their specials they have run for specific cards like they have here. They also made the process a lot easier with the higher demand. Earlier this year, PSA took a large risk by partnering with GameStop:

It appears that even though PSA is widely considered the biggest grading company, they are still trying to go more mainstream. They have also expanded to tons of different in-person grading locations. The National over the summer is one of the bigger locations, but if you go to their website, you will find if they are going to be at a show for you to drop off cards in your area.

Published |Modified
Adam Palmer
ADAM PALMER

Adam has been a sports content creator since 2016, initially focusing on creating sports-related graphics for his Instagram page. In 2018, he transitioned to writing and podcasting about sports cards. Since then, he has worked both independently and with companies within the industry, producing podcasts, videos, and written content on sports cards.

Home/Inside the Hobby