Is it worth grading? Card grading ROI calculator (2026)

Compare what you would keep selling a card raw with the expected result of grading it first, after grading fees, shipping both ways and platform fees.

Grading fees as of Oct 2026 · checked October 6, 2026 · sources

The card

What the ungraded card sells for now (recent sold prices).

Recent sold price for the card at a 10.

If it could grade 8 or lower, enter a lower figure here.

Your own estimate. The rest is assumed to grade one below.

Grading costs (editable)

Picking a tier fills in its listed price, as of Oct 2026. Change the fee if yours differs.

Before any membership discount or value upcharge.

Per card. Divide a box’s cost by the cards in it.

Per card, as the grader charges it.

Where you’ll sell

Fees come from the same engine as our eBay and Whatnot fee calculators.

Per sale, after anything the buyer pays. Used for both raw and graded.

Estimate: grading comes out ahead

Grade it

Grading adds $27.90 on average vs selling raw · Break-even graded price $121.83

Raw sale price
$40.00
Platform feeseBay (trading cards, 13.25%)
−$5.70
Your shipping to the buyer
−$5.00
You keep (raw)
$29.30
Expected graded sale price40% at $250.00, 60% at $90.00
$154.00
Platform fees (expected)eBay (trading cards, 13.25%)
−$20.81
Your shipping to the buyer
−$5.00
Grading feePSA Standard
−$59.99
Shipping and insurance, both ways
−$11.00
You keep (graded, expected)
$57.20
Difference vs raw
$27.90

An estimate, not a prediction. It depends on your guess of the grade, today’s sold prices and the fees you enter. The card’s purchase cost is left out because you pay it either way.

How to tell if a card is worth grading (as of Oct 2026)

Grading pays only when the graded card sells for enough more than the raw card to cover the grading fee, shipping both ways, and the larger platform fee on a higher sale price. The calculator compares two paths for the same card: sell it raw now, or send it in, wait, and sell the slab.

Expected value, not the best case

Plenty of cards that look clean come back a grade lower than hoped, which is why the calculator asks for your chance of a 10. If a card sells for $250 as a PSA 10 and $90 as a PSA 9, and you put the chance of a 10 at 40%, the expected graded sale is 0.4 × $250 + 0.6 × $90, or $154. Every card that misses the top grade is assumed to get the next one down. If an 8 or lower is a real possibility, lower the second value or your chance of a 10.

What counts as a cost

  • The grading fee for the tier you would use. Each tier has a declared-value limit, and a card worth more than the limit can be moved to a pricier tier.
  • Shipping and insurance to the grader and back, per card. If ten cards go in one box, divide the box’s shipping by ten.
  • Platform fees on the sale. eBay charges 13.25% on trading cards plus a per-order fee. Whatnot charges 8% at the Standard tier plus 2.9% + $0.30 processing.

What you paid for the card is left out, since you have paid it whichever way you sell.

The break-even graded price

This is the average graded sale price at which grading leaves you exactly what selling raw would. In the example it is $121.83. If recent graded sales sit well below that figure, grading is unlikely to pay for that card.

Why every fee is editable

Graders changed prices several times in 2026. PSA paused its Value tiers on June 2, 2026. On September 14 it added a Standard tier at $59.99 and renamed Regular to Priority at $79.99. SGC announced new prices on September 2, and Beckett paused and then reopened its cheaper tiers. The defaults are dated and sourced in the table below, and the ones we could not confirm on the grader’s own site are marked. Check the grader’s price page before you submit, and type in the fee you will actually pay.

What the calculator leaves out

  • Turnaround time. Cheaper tiers can take months, and prices can move while you wait.
  • Memberships, bulk minimums, promotions and value upcharges.
  • Sales tax the buyer pays, which some platforms also charge fees on.

The verdict is a rough estimate built from your own inputs. It is not investment advice, and no grade or sale price is guaranteed.

Grading fees as of Oct 2026, with sources and confidence listed below. Platform fees as of Oct 2026, from eBay’s and Whatnot’s help pages (Fee Ledger). Estimates only; not investment or tax advice. Flip Profit HQ is not affiliated with any marketplace or grading company.

Grading fees used as defaults (as of Oct 2026)

Checked October 6, 2026. Prices are per card, before shipping, memberships or upcharges. Confidence: high means we read it on the grader’s own page; medium means several dated reports agree but the grader’s page blocked us; low means sources conflict.

Card grading tiers and prices used by the calculator
Company and tierPer cardMax declared valueTurnaroundConfidence
PSA Standard$59.99$1,000.0090–100 business daysmedium
PSA Priority (formerly Regular)$79.99$1,500.0070–80 business daysmedium
PSA Express$199.00$2,500.0020–30 business daysmedium
CGC Cards Bulk (25+ cards)$17.00$500.00about 150 days (estimate)high
CGC Cards Economy$20.00$1,000.00about 90 days (estimate)high
CGC Cards Standard$55.00$3,000.00about 10 days (estimate)high
CGC Cards Express$100.00$10,000.00about 5 days (estimate)high
SGC Standard (up to $1,500 declared)$50.00$1,500.0040+ business days (reported)low
Beckett (BGS) Base, no subgrades$14.95not stated75+ business days (reported)low
Beckett (BGS) Base with subgrades$17.95not stated75+ business days (reported)low
Beckett (BGS) Standard (subgrades)$34.95not statedabout 45 business days (reported)low
Beckett (BGS) Express (subgrades)$79.95not statedabout 15 business days (reported)low

PSA

PSA paused all four Value tiers (Value Bulk, Value, Value Plus, Value Max; $24.99 to $64.99) on June 2, 2026. On September 14, 2026 it added a Standard tier at $59.99 and renamed Regular to Priority ($79.99). Value tiers are reported to reopen only when PSA's backlog falls to about 5 million cards (about 9 million on October 1, 2026). psacard.com blocked automated reads, so these figures come from dated news reports.

CGC Cards

Read on CGC's own fee page on October 6, 2026. Bulk needs at least 25 cards. Some third-party sites still list lower Bulk and Economy prices ($12 and $15). Members get 10% to 20% off.

SGC

SGC announced a service-level update on September 2, 2026. Reports say its base tier went to $50 per card (declared value up to $1,500); some pages checked in mid-2026 still show $15. SGC's pricing page did not load for us, so treat this figure as uncertain and enter the price you see at checkout.

Beckett (BGS)

Beckett paused its Base and Standard tiers in mid-2026; reports say they reopened on September 15–16, 2026. beckett.com showed a maintenance page when we checked, so these prices come from a third-party summary. Treat them as uncertain.

Frequently asked questions

Is it worth grading a card in 2026?

Only when the expected graded sale, after platform fees, grading fees and shipping both ways, beats what you would keep selling the card raw. With PSA’s cheapest open tier at $59.99 as of October 2026, low-value cards rarely clear that bar. Use the calculator with your own sold prices and an honest chance of a 10.

How much does PSA grading cost in October 2026?

As reported in September and October 2026: Standard $59.99 (up to $1,000 declared value), Priority, formerly Regular, $79.99 (up to $1,500) and Express $199. The Value tiers have been paused since June 2, 2026. PSA’s site blocked our automated check, so confirm on psacard.com before submitting.

What is the break-even graded price?

It is the average price the graded card must sell for so that, after fees and grading costs, you keep the same amount as selling it raw. Below that price, selling raw leaves you more.

Why does the calculator ask for my chance of a 10?

Because the grade decides most of the value. The calculator weights the top-grade and next-grade values by your estimate, so the result reflects an average outcome rather than the best case.

Is this calculator affiliated with PSA, CGC, SGC, Beckett, eBay or Whatnot?

No. Flip Profit HQ is independent and not affiliated with any marketplace or grading company. The fees are estimates with sources and dates, and you can edit all of them.