We are asked regularly for guidance on which provider to grade cards with. Begin with the foundations of asking yourself:
Why am I grading?
If the answer is personal, such as for your collection or because you love the card, it doesn’t matter what provider you go with or what grade you get. It’s ultimately a personal decision about the slab & label style you prefer, how much you want to spend and sometimes how long you want to wait. If however, your decision is for investment or to flip the card, PSA dominates the market share for grading and holds the most value in their ‘10 worthy’ cards.
Easy decision for investment, then. I should go with PSA?
PSA is a good choice (now this is ignoring BGS Black Label simply because of how difficult it is to get) but it is important to take into consideration two main points:
1) PSA has an upfront higher grading cost + upcharge (especially the higher value cards)
2) On average, cards will take between 3-5 months with PSA to be graded.
On review of several cards, PSA graded cards tend to demand a higher value than other providers, but the difference is most important when grading high end cards.
When grading lower priced cards (under £200) the difference between grading providers isn’t as significant. In 2025 only 34% of submitted cards got a 10, and with the increased cost at PSA and the time investment, this is a serious consideration factor.
Talk to me about other options in the UK
In the UK most of the bigger grading providers other than PSA generate similar sale prices (ACE, GET GRADED, AGS etc). However, ACE is significantly bigger than the other companies in the UK meaning these are more well known and have higher volumes of sales. Plus, they’re pretty! However, there will be certain collectors, shops or vendors that do not buy certain grading providers meaning this will impact the consumer appetite of buying your cards. This is key to consider when choosing who to send your cards to!
I have included below tables showing the total cost of grading two different cards and the sale price achieved.
| PSA | Mega Gardevoir | Grey Felt Hat |
| Grading Cost | £47 | £47 |
| Shipping Cost | £9 | £9 |
| Upcharge | £0.00 | £77 |
| Turnaround Time | 90 DAYS | 90 DAYS |
| TOTAL GRADING COST | £56 | £133 |
| EBAY SOLD | £295.00 | £1,200.00 |
| SALE AFTER GRADING | £239.00 | £1,067.00 |
| Get Graded | Mega Gardevoir | Grey Felt Hat |
| Grading Cost | £18.00 | £18.00 |
| Shipping | £9 | £9 |
| Upcharge | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| Turnaround Time | 7 DAYS | 7 DAYS |
| TOTAL GRADING COST | £27 | £27 |
| EBAY SOLD | £175.00 | £720.00 |
| SALE AFTER GRADING | £148.00 | £693.00 |
| ACE | Mega Gardevoir | Grey Felt Hat |
| Grading Cost | £32.99 | £32.99 |
| Shipping | £9 | £9 |
| Upcharge | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| Turnaround Time | 5 DAYS | 5 DAYS |
| TOTAL GRADING COST | £42 | £42 |
| EBAY SOLD | £169.00 | £620.00 |
| SALE AFTER GRADING | £127.01 | £578.01 |
I hope this article was useful. I really enjoyed writing it. These conversations can be arbitrary and contentious so please bear in mind this is an opinion and nothing more. Feel free to comment below with any thoughts or questions and I hope to follow up this article in the future with more insights.
Thanks
Dan
Impact League TCG
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