Three clear acrylic card holders standing side by side in a comparison lineup

● GRADING · CHAPTER 07 — ROUTE 03 · COMPARECH 07 · ROUTE 03 · COMPARE

CGC & THE OTHERS
when another slab wins.

PSA is not always the right send. Three other names take cards every day, and for some cards one of them is the better answer. Turnaround, resale, subgrades, cost — compared honestly.

▸ THE GRADER MATRIX

Four names, four honest questions. No grader wins all of them — and that is the whole decision.

THE GRADER

RESALEMORE = HIGHER PREMIUM

TURNAROUNDMORE = FASTER BACK

SUBGRADESMORE = MORE DETAIL

COSTMORE = CHEAPER SEND

PSAThe default send

STRONGEST

SLOW

NONE

PREMIUM

CGCThe value alternative

SOLID

QUICK

OPTIONAL

CHEAPEST

BECKETTThe subgrade house

NICHE-STRONG

SLOW

ALWAYS

PREMIUM

TAGThe machine grader

THIN MARKET

QUICK

PER-DEFECT

MID

● STRENGTH○ NOT WHERE THIS ONE WINSGLOWING ● = BEST IN COLUMN

◂ SCROLL THE MATRIX ▸

PSA WINS

The resale — and only the resale. It is still the label buyers pay a premium for.

CGC WINS

The money and the wait. Cheaper in, quicker back, and stricter than people expect.

BECKETT WINS

The detail. Four subgrades on every card, and the black label people chase.

TAG WINS

The evidence. A machine shows you every defect it found — and where.

Read the matrix by the column that matters to your card, not by the row you already like. A card you plan to sell wants the resale column and nothing else. A card going into your own binder can happily take the cheaper, faster, more detailed slab.