What Is a Graded Card?

Last reviewed June 15, 2026. GradedPSABGSSGCCGC

If you're deciding whether a card in your hand is even worth submitting, our grading decision framework walks the per-card cost math. For tracking graded comps without paywalling the sold-listing history, our alternatives to CardLadder breakdown covers what we do differently at HCI.

The short version is what you read above. The longer read is about why the slab matters at all, what the label actually carries, and why a graded copy of the same card sells for a different number than a raw copy. I think the cleanest way to learn it is to picture the physical object first, then back into the price gap, and then look at where the slab does its real work. That's the order this page walks.

So, what is a graded card?

A graded card is a card that's been encapsulated. You sent it (or the previous owner did) to a third-party grading company. The grader checked it against known counterfeits, scored the four corners, the four edges, the centering ratio front and back, and the surface for print defects or wax marks. Then they sealed the card inside a rigid plastic case with a printed label across the top. The label lists the player, the year, the set, the card number, any parallel, the grade on a 1-10 scale, and a unique cert number. The slab is one-way. Cracking it destroys the certification and resets the card to raw. PSA, BGS, SGC, and CGC are the four companies with meaningful market share. Everyone else is a long way back.

How does the slab format actually work?

The slab is two pieces of polymer pressed around the card and sealed at the edge, kind of like a clamshell. Inside is an inner well that holds the card flat. The label is printed in-house at the grader and inserted between the two halves before the seal, so it can't be swapped without breaking the case. On PSA's modern slab, the label runs across the top of the front and carries a holographic strip. The hologram catches light at certain angles, which is the rough first-pass check that the slab hasn't been cracked and re-sealed. BGS uses a label that wraps the top with the grade on the right and the subgrade row across the bottom. SGC's tuxedo slab is darker around the card image and uses a label across the top. CGC's label sits across the top and the case has a thicker bezel. You'd guess most of them look similar to a new buyer, and they kind of do, but the case shapes and corner radii are different enough that a regular dealer can call out the grader at ten feet.

What's on the label, and how do you verify it?

Every label carries a cert number, sometimes called a serial number. It's the cert lookup hook. You go to the grader's site (psacard.com cert verification, beckett.com BGS cert verification, gosgc.com lookup, cgccards.com lookup), type the number in, and the result page shows the same card identity, the same grade, and the photo the grader took on the way out. If the lookup page doesn't match the slab in your hand, walk away. The cert lookup is the cheapest fraud check in the hobby and probably the most underused. New buyers skip it because they trust the slab on its face. Experienced flippers cert-check everything over $200 because re-labeled slabs and printed-label fakes have been a real problem since the 2020-2022 grading boom. Our how to read a pop report guide covers the next step after the cert lookup, which is checking how many copies at that grade actually exist.

Who are the four major graders, and what share do they hold?

PSA carries the largest installed base in modern U.S. sports cards. The rough version, based on the public pop reports plus our read of sold-listing volume, is that PSA grades somewhere between 60% and 75% of all sports-card slabs trading on eBay in any given month. BGS is the historical premium brand. Their quad-10 black label (a BGS 10 with four 10 subgrades) is the highest-value retail tier in the hobby, but BGS's bulk submissions have slowed since 2022 and their share of the modern sports market is probably under 15% in 2026. SGC has carved out the vintage market and the speed segment. Vintage submitters often pick SGC for the tuxedo presentation and the faster turnaround, and SGC's share in pre-1980 cards has been climbing. CGC came over from comics and built out a strong Pokemon and TCG business. CGC's sports share is smaller, but in Pokemon you'll see CGC slabs trading at parity with PSA. The practical takeaway: pick the grader by category. PSA for modern sports, SGC for vintage, CGC for Pokemon and other TCG, BGS for high-end where the subgrade story matters. Our PSA vs BGS answer covers the two-way decision more carefully.

Why do graded cards trade for so much more than raw?

Three things stack into the price gap. First, authentication. The slab certifies the card isn't a counterfeit or an altered copy. On anything over a few hundred dollars, that's a real source of buyer hesitation, and removing it widens the bid. Second, condition certification. The grade replaces the seller's subjective description with a third-party number, which compresses the negotiation. A PSA 9 of a card is the same condition tier to every buyer, more or less. A raw NM-rated card is a different thing to every buyer. Third, liquidity. Graded copies trade in a standardized market with tighter comps tied to grade, so the bid-ask spread is narrower and the time-to-sale is shorter at price. On commons, the gap is typically 2x to 10x raw on flagship rookies (think Mahomes 2017 Prizm Silver, Luka 2018-19 Prizm Silver). On established stars where authentication is the real driver, the PSA 10 multiple over a clean raw can run 5x to 50x. On vintage, the gap is wider still because the raw market is noisier on cards from 1952 or 1986. The gap narrows on modern bulk where the slab can't carry its own cost, and that's the practical floor.

What's the difference between graded and authenticated?

Authentication is the yes-or-no check that the card is real, not a counterfeit or a printed reproduction. Grading is authentication plus a numeric condition score on the 1-10 scale. Every graded card has been authenticated, but not every authenticated card has been graded. PSA, JSA, and Beckett sell authentication-only services for autographs (mostly), where the question is whether the signature is genuine, not whether the card is mint. For raw cards, "authenticated" without a numeric grade usually means a signature is genuine but the card itself hasn't been condition-scored. In market terms, authenticated-only autos trade above raw signed cards (because the auto is verified) but below the same auto in a numerically graded slab (because the slab adds the condition tier). If you're reading an eBay listing that says "authenticated" but not "graded," check what was authenticated and by whom.

Raw versus graded, side by side

Here's the rough version of how the two states stack up across the four practical axes a buyer or seller cares about. None of these are absolute, but the directional read holds across categories.

For the full graded-vs-raw walkthrough including the cost-to-grade math, our graded and raw cards answer covers the round-trip read.

How do you spot a fake graded card?

Re-labeled slabs and outright counterfeits started showing up at volume during the 2020-2022 hobby boom, and they haven't gone away. The cheap checks first. Look at the holographic strip on a PSA label and tilt the slab. The holo pattern should shift across the strip, not stay flat. Compare the slab against a known-good slab of similar vintage (a $20 PSA common from the same submission window is a fine reference). Check that the case edges show one clean seal with no shaving marks. Then do the cert lookup. Type the cert number into the grader's site and compare the photo the grader posted to the card in your hand. The photo will catch a re-label even when the holo and the seal look OK. If you can't run the cert lookup (no internet, no photo on the grader's record), that's a soft red flag on its own and a hard pass on anything over $100. The grader's photo archives go back roughly to 2018 for PSA's modern slabs. Older slabs may not have a photo on file, in which case the holo plus seal plus dealer reputation is the read.

Bottom line read

A graded card is the same card you'd hold in your hand, but with three layers of certification stacked on top. The grader checked it for authenticity. They scored the corners, edges, centering, and surface on a 1-10 scale. They sealed it in a tamper-evident case with a printed label and a cert number you can verify. The slab adds 2x to 50x to the resale price on cards where authentication and condition certification carry weight, and it adds nothing (sometimes negative) on cards where the grading fee can't be recouped. PSA dominates modern sports, BGS holds the high end, SGC owns vintage and speed, and CGC owns Pokemon and TCG. Pick the grader by category. Cert-check anything over $200. Our grading decision framework handles the should-I-submit math on your own copy.

Frequently asked questions

What does it mean when a card is graded?

It means the card was sent to PSA, BGS, SGC, or CGC, authenticated against counterfeits, given a numeric grade from 1 through 10 on the four physical attributes (corners, edges, centering, surface), and sealed in a tamper-evident plastic slab. The label lists the card identity, the grade, and a cert number you can verify on the grader's site.

How can I tell if a card is graded?

A graded card is in a rigid plastic case roughly the size of a slim deck of cards, with a printed label across the top listing the player, year, set, and grade. The case is sealed and tamper-evident. If the card is loose in a sleeve or top-loader, it's raw, not graded.

How much does it cost to grade a card?

PSA's bulk tier sits roughly around $20 a card for declared values under $499, with higher tiers scaling up to a percentage of declared value. BGS, SGC, and CGC all sit in a similar range at the bulk end. Add shipping both ways and supplies. The cost-to-grade answer walks the fee tiers card by card.

How long does it take to get a card graded?

Turnaround at PSA Value bulk has run roughly 45 to 65 business days through 2026. Express tiers cut that to 10 to 20 days for a fee premium. SGC has tended faster on standard tiers. BGS has run slower on Beckett's bulk tier. The PSA timing answer tracks the current windows.

Are graded cards worth more than raw?

Usually, yes. A PSA 10 of a flagship rookie typically trades at 3x to 10x a clean raw on commons and 5x to 50x on stars. Mid-grades close the gap. A PSA 5 or 6 can trade below a clean raw because the certified grade exposes condition issues the raw market would've talked past.

What is the most reputable card grading company?

PSA holds the deepest market share in modern sports cards and tends to set the resale anchor. BGS carries weight on high-end with the quad-10 black label as the apex. SGC is the vintage favorite and the speed pick. CGC owns Pokemon and TCG depth that PSA has historically lagged. Pick by category, not by reputation alone.