If there was ever a hobby full of acronyms, it’s card collecting. Some are more important than others, with something like BMWT or PWE simply describing a shipping method, while something labeled PSA, BGS, SGC, CSG, or BCCG could mean the difference of hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
So today, we are looking at those grading companies, specifically (more to come on grading lingo and abbreviations, which are deserving of their own standalone post). And while the three-letter names below (along with others) might all sound a bit similar, the cost of grading, how to get cards graded, and their resulting values will differ by each company.
PSA (Professional Sports Authority)
PSA stands for Professional Sports Authority and is one of the more popular grading companies among collectors. You can easily identify PSA from their simple red-bordered white label (and PSA hologram on newer slabs).
According to the PSA website, it is mentioned that “PSA has certified over 40 million cards and collectibles.” Of course, it doesn’t speak to the number of cards graded, but this tweet helps shed some light on just how many cards are being graded (or how many were being graded not long ago):
PSA announces they are now grading more than 35,000 cards a day, devoting 90 percent of their daily capacity to the grading backlog.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 9, 2021
The goal is to bring back regular service by the end of the year.
Cards graded on the Express Level will now cost $150 instead of $200.
Bonus term: If you hear someone saying that they submitted a card to PSA and it “gemmed,” then that means the card was graded a perfect 10, or, gem mint by PSA standards.
When you’re scrolling eBay you have probably seen listings like “PSA 10” or “PSA 9 OC.” These numbers represent the actual grade the card received after being graded. That is, you want to make sure the card listing is in fact a PSA slabbed card (meaning it’s encapsulated in the PSA holder with label affixed).
In addition, you might see other titles and descriptions like “PSA-ready card.” This means the card for sale is actually a raw card (one that hasn’t been graded) but the seller is saying is in good condition. Of course, this is all based on personal opinion, and you have to remember it’s the seller who is describing the card this way…
BGS (Beckett Grading Services)
BGS stands for Beckett Grading Services, a company with a name you might be familiar with thanks to their long history of publishing baseball card price guides. Other than their logo and naming, you can identify BGS slabs as those that are a bit bulkier than others, and often featuring their recognizable subgrades.
Bonus term: You might see BGS slab descriptions appended with the mention of “quads” as in “quad 9.5s,” which means all four subgrades – corners, surface, centering, and edges – received a 9.5 grade.
You might also see mentions of “BVG” and it being related to Beckett. BVG stands for Beckett Vintage Grading, so in the sense that BVG and BGS are both Beckett grading arms, then yes. But, from that same explanation, it’s easy to see where to two differ—BVG is described on the Beckett.com site as “Quality vintage grading service for your pre-1981 cards.”
And while I won’t dedicate an entire section to it, BCCG is also different than BGS. Check out the differences between BCCG and other companies, like PSA.
SGC (Sportscard Guaranty Corporation)
SGC stands for Sportscard Guaranty Corporation, and in terms of looks, are known for their “tuxedo” or “tux” slabs – as they’ve been dubbed – thanks to their refined black and white design.
One thing that might set SGC apart from other grading companies is that is could be considered the fastest card grading service thanks to 1-2 business day turnaround for $125 per card.
Of course, PSA and SGC offer in-person grading services. but that’s at an estimated 3-day turnaround, and costs $600 and $150 per card, respectively.
Read more:
CSG (Certified Sports Guaranty)
CSG stands for Certified Sports Guaranty, and while it sounds similar to SGC mentioned above, it’s a different company, and is considered a “new kid on the block” in terms of grading companies.
I’ll be honest, I’m not extremely familiar with CSG, their offerings, and benefits, so let’s take a look at what Twitter has to say.
I’ve seen that CSG is a tough grader, but may be a little more forgiving with their label switch. Speaking of the label switch, people seem to really enjoy the new look over the old.
Yeah old label csg harsher grading. I really like the new label CSG tho. I’d probably go with them over anyone for my PC stuff
— Carolina Card Co. (@CarolinaCardCo) September 26, 2022
Here is another bit mentioning the toughness of SCG grading, and a 10 probably being a very good candidate to switchover to a 10 from another company like PSA:
They are a very good company and very accurate graders. Obviously grading is subjective and any grader on any day could have a different opinion on a card that even their own company graded, but a CSG 10 should have a very good crossover chance at PSA.
— Mike’s Retro Trading Cards (@MikesUpperDeck1) September 24, 2022
HGA (Hybrid Grading Authority)
HGA stands for Hybrid Grading Authority, and according to their website, offers “color coordinated labels providing you with the most aesthetically pleasing cards ever seen.”
Card Grading Resources
So, hopefully that helps clear things up for you—if you’re still in the information-gathering stage, and would like to learn more about grading cards, consider these resources:
Should you grade your cards?
How much does it cost to grade cards?
Are graded cards worth more?
Where can you get cards graded in person?
