CGC Cards: How Their Grading Compares
CGC Cards is the second-largest third-party card grader in the United States, and its slabs are graded on a 10-point scale with half-point steps, topped by Gem Mint 10 and a rarer Pristine 10 that gets its own gold label. CGC no longer prints subgrades on new cards, the old Perfect 10 grade has been retired, and as of October 2026 its standard submission tiers run from $17 to $300 a card. The short comparison with PSA is that CGC's grading is widely described as consistent and its fees are lower, while PSA slabs have historically sold for more on the resale market, with a gap that depends heavily on the type of card and the grade.
This guide explains the scale grade by grade, what the top grades mean, what happened to subgrades and the Perfect 10, what CGC charges, and how to think about CGC slabs when you are buying or selling. It does not repeat our PSA guides. For the PSA side, see "PSA Grading: How the Whole Process Works" and "PSA Grading Cost: Every Tier Priced."
Where CGC Cards came from
CGC is part of the Certified Collectibles Group, a family of grading companies that began with comics and later added coins, currency and stamps. Its trading card service started as CGC Trading Cards, focused on trading card games like Pokemon and Magic. A sister service called CSG, short for Certified Sports Guaranty, launched in early 2021 to grade sports cards.
In June 2023, the company announced that the two would combine into a single service called CGC Cards, covering trading card games, sports cards and non-sports cards. The combined company described itself as the world's second-largest card grading service. The merger also changed the scale and the label, which matters because you will still see older slabs on the market that look different from new ones. A green CSG label, a CGC Trading Cards label with subgrades and a current CGC Cards label are all real, and they are not graded to quite the same convention.
The CGC grading scale, top to bottom
CGC grades on a scale from 1 to 10 in half-point steps, which gives 19 numeric grades. Here is how CGC's own scale page describes the main ones.
| Grade | Name | What CGC says it means |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Pristine 10 | A virtually flawless card to the naked eye, with 50/50 centering and flawless color and registration |
| 10 | Gem Mint 10 | A 10 overall, but one grading criterion does not meet the Pristine standard; centering not worse than 55/45 |
| 9.5 | Mint+ | Premium eye appeal for a Mint card, with exceptional centering and surface |
| 9 | Mint | Four sharp corners with only minor wear; original gloss; front centering 60/40 or better for sports and non-sports |
| 8.5 | NM/Mint+ | Relatively smooth edges, minor touches of wear, one very minor flaw allowed |
| 8 | NM/Mint | Similar to 8.5 with small-to-moderate handling defects allowed on trading card games |
| 7.5 | Near Mint+ | A touch of wear on two or three corners or slightly rough edges |
| 7 | Near Mint | A touch of wear on three or more corners or slightly rough edges |
| 6.5 | Ex/NM+ | No more than one slightly dinged corner, or no more than two minor flaws |
| 6 | Ex/NM | One dinged corner, or two minor flaws; moderate diamond cut acceptable |
| 5.5 | Excellent+ | Light fuzziness and very minor rounding on corners; one or two dinged corners permitted |
| 5 | Excellent | Fuzzy corners with very minor rounding; two to three dinged corners |
| 4.5 | VG/Ex+ | Noticeable scuffing, scratches or one light crease |
| 4 | VG/Ex | Scuffing, scratches and one or more light creases |
| 3.5 | Very Good+ | Four rounded corners but not extreme rounding; one moderate or multiple light creases |
| 3 | Very Good | Four rounded corners; heavier staining visible |
| 2.5 | Good+ | Heavier creasing that does not run edge to edge |
| 2 | Good | Heavier creasing that may travel across the card |
| 1.5 | Fair | One catastrophic flaw such as a staple hole or missing surface |
| 1 | Poor | Major surface damage or missing cardstock |
Centering limits are written into several grades for sports and non-sports cards, which is useful. If you want to know whether a card you are looking at plausibly belongs in a 9, the centering figure alone is a quick filter: a front that is visibly 70/30 is not a CGC 9 under that description.
Gem Mint 10 versus Pristine 10
This is the part of the scale most buyers ask about, and it is where CGC differs most from the other major graders.
A Gem Mint 10 is a card that earns a 10 overall. A Pristine 10 is a Gem Mint with nothing at all to find against it: centering at 50/50 and flawless color and registration, and nothing visible to the naked eye. In CGC's words, the Pristine 10 is the "chase grade." The difference between the two is real but narrow, and it is judged by the grader, not by a formula you can compute from a photo.
The Pristine 10 gets a special gold label. CGC's own pages refer to a special label for the grade without listing every color. Collector guides consistently describe the Gem Mint 10 label as silver and the Pristine 10 label as gold, and that is what you will see in listings and on camera. If you are looking at a slab and are unsure which 10 it is, the label color and the grade text should agree. If they do not, ask the seller for the certification number and look it up on CGC's website before you bid.
One more practical point: because the Pristine 10 sits above Gem Mint 10, a CGC 10 is not one thing. A listing that says only "CGC 10" is leaving out the question that matters most to the price. Ask which 10.
What happened to subgrades and the Perfect 10
For a few years, CGC Trading Cards printed subgrades for centering, surface, corners and edges, and it had a top grade called Perfect 10, which went to a card that was a Pristine 10 with all four subgrades at 10. That combination is sometimes called a "quad 10."
Under the 2023 changes, CGC stopped printing subgrades and retired the Perfect 10 grade. CGC's scale page states that "Perfect 10" slabs keep their retired status, and that former Gem Mint 9.5 slabs convert to Gem Mint 10 under the new scale. Cards are still evaluated on the same four elements; the subgrades are just no longer shown on the label for most submissions.
For buyers and sellers, this creates three vintages of CGC slab:
- Older slabs with subgrades on the label, including Perfect 10s. These are a closed population. No new Perfect 10s are being issued, and some collectors pay premiums for the ones that exist.
- Slabs graded under the transition, where a 9.5 may now be recognized as a Gem Mint 10.
- Current slabs with a simple label and no subgrades.
When you compare prices, compare within the same vintage. A Perfect 10 sale tells you about Perfect 10s. It tells you very little about a current Gem Mint 10 of the same card.
The CSG green label
Sports cards graded by CSG before the merger came in a distinct holder with a green label. CSG changed its label in 2022 and removed printed subgrades, saying a cleaner presentation would complement most sports cards. Cards in the original green-label holders were eligible for a reduced reholder fee for a limited window that ended June 30, 2022.
If you are buying a sports card in an older CSG holder, it is a legitimate slab from a company that is now part of CGC Cards. It is worth understanding that the grading convention at the time was not identical to today's, so the number on it should be read in context.
What CGC charges as of October 2026
CGC publishes its tiers on its services and fees page. As of our check in October 2026, standard grading looked like this.
| Tier | Price per card | Turnaround | Maximum declared value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulk | $17 | 150 days | $500 (25-card minimum) |
| Economy | $20 | 90 days | $1,000 |
| Standard | $55 | 10 days | $3,000 |
| Express | $100 | 5 days | $10,000 |
| WalkThrough | $300 | 2 days | $100,000 |
| Unlimited Value | $300 plus 1% of fair market value | 2 days | No limit |
| Jumbo Card | $20 | 120 days | No limit |
Add-ons include a pedigree notation for the tier price plus $5, and a custom label for the tier price plus $8. A reholder service, for moving a card into a fresh CGC holder, was listed at $10 per card with a 20-day turnaround. CGC also lists membership discounts of 10% for Associate and Premium members and 20% for Elite members. The 2023 merger announcement said paid membership would no longer be required to submit.
Turnaround times and prices change often at every grader. Treat this table as a snapshot and confirm on CGC's page before you submit anything. Shipping to and from the grader, insurance and any handling fees are on top of the grading fee.
How CGC slabs sell compared with PSA
This is the question most people really want answered, and the honest answer is that it depends on what you are selling.
PSA is the largest grader, and for most categories its slabs have historically drawn higher prices than the same card graded by CGC. One card-market data site, which compiled completed-sale data in early 2026 for Pokemon cards, reported that PSA 10s typically sold for 18 to 29 percent more than CGC 10s on recent releases, 22 to 30 percent more on semi-vintage cards, and 40 to 70 percent more on vintage cards such as Base Set Charizard. The same source reported smaller gaps at grade 9. That site gave no sample size or date range, so treat those percentages as an indication of direction and not as a price list.
The same source noted an exception: CGC's retired Perfect 10 sold at a premium over standard PSA 10s. Other 2026 commentary has argued that CGC's Pristine 10 now rivals or beats a PSA 10 for some modern Pokemon cards. These claims point in different directions, which tells you the market is still working this out. That is exactly why the specific completed sales for the specific card matter more than any general rule.
Several things push the gap one way or the other:
- Population. A scarce grade tends to sell better than a common one, whichever company assigned it. A PSA 10 of a card with thousands of PSA 10s competes with all of them.
- Category. The gap tends to be wider for vintage and for cards where collectors are building registry sets with a single grader.
- Liquidity. PSA slabs have more buyers, which usually means faster sales and tighter pricing.
- Confidence in the grade. Some buyers cross over cards between graders hoping for a higher grade. CGC slabs are often described as accurate and consistent, which attracts buyers who care more about the card than the brand on the slab.
If you are choosing where to submit, resale premium is only one factor. CGC's lower fees and the shorter bulk, economy and standard options can make sense for cards where the PSA premium would not cover the extra cost, or where you intend to keep the card. Our guide "PSA Grading Cost: Every Tier Priced" has the PSA numbers for a direct comparison.
Buying a CGC slab: what to check
A graded card is only as good as the match between the slab and the card inside it. Before you bid on a CGC slab, run through these checks.
- Look up the certification number. CGC's website lets you confirm the grade and the card details from the cert number printed on the label. A slab with a number that does not match is a red flag.
- Check the label and holder style. CGC's labels include security features such as microprinting, UV ink and holographic foil, and a QR code on the back links to the card's record. Compare against the images on the cert page.
- Read the card, not just the number. A 9 with 60/40 centering and a 9 with 50/50 centering are not the same purchase, even though the label is identical. Ask to see the card tilted under light.
- Know the grade you are paying for. A Gem Mint 10 and a Pristine 10 are two different grades. Confirm which one the listing means.
- Compare like with like. Match the exact card, the exact grade and the grader. A completed sale for a PSA 10 is not a price for a CGC 9.5.
Live auctions help with these checks because you can ask the seller to read out the cert number, show the back of the holder, and turn the slab under the light before you bid. On ShopBidz, Houseofcards859, a card seller from Wantagh, New York, and BuzzTCG, from Maryville, Tennessee, who sells trading cards and sports cards, are two sellers you can watch live and put these questions to. Looking up the cert number while the slab is on camera takes less than a minute.
Selling a CGC slab
If you have a CGC slab to sell, the same facts that help a buyer help you. Photograph the label and the card clearly, state whether it is a Gem Mint 10 or a Pristine 10, give the cert number, and mention anything that is distinctive about the vintage of the holder. Do not describe it as "PSA equivalent" or "better than PSA." Buyers trust a straightforward description more than a comparison, and a plain listing leaves the price to the card. For selling basics, see "Where to Sell Baseball Cards" and "How Much Are Baseball Cards Worth?"
Bottom line
CGC Cards uses a 1 to 10 scale in half steps, with Gem Mint 10 and a rarer gold-label Pristine 10 at the top. Subgrades are no longer printed and the Perfect 10 is retired, so older and newer CGC slabs need to be compared separately. Fees are lower than at many competitors, with standard tiers from $17 to $300 as of October 2026, and the market has generally paid more for PSA slabs, though the size of the gap varies by card, grade and category and some CGC grades are exceptions. Confirm the cert number, confirm which 10 you are buying, and compare against completed sales for the same grader before you pay.