PSA Under Fire. The Grading Battle Begins.

For years, PSA has been one of the biggest names in the trading card hobby. If you collect Pokémon, sports cards, or other major collectibles, chances are you have seen a PSA slab, searched a PSA certification number, or considered sending a card to PSA yourself.

But in 2026, the grading industry is facing a different kind of pressure.

Collectors are dealing with enormous submission volumes, changing prices, long turnaround times, new grading technologies and growing questions about competition within the industry. At the same time, newer companies are trying to challenge the traditional grading model by offering more transparency and technology driven evaluations.

The situation became even more interesting in April 2026 when Collectors Holdings, the company behind PSA, was hit with a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that acquisitions of competing grading companies reduced competition in the market. Those are allegations made in the lawsuit and have not been established as proven facts. Bloomberg Law reported that the complaint challenged Collectors Holdings' acquisitions of SGC and Beckett and alleged that the company controlled roughly 80 percent of the card grading market.

Regardless of how the legal case develops, the bigger story for collectors is simple.

The grading industry is changing.

PSA Has a Demand Problem

PSA has been dealing with an enormous amount of demand throughout 2026.

In May, PSA announced that its active backlog was approaching 10 million cards after submissions increased another 20 percent, adding approximately 1.6 million cards to the existing queue. PSA said its daily grading output was at an all time high, but temporarily paused several Value service tiers beginning June 2 to focus on reducing the backlog.

The situation has continued to evolve.

PSA's public backlog tracker reported that the active backlog reached approximately 12 million units in June, increased to 12.4 million in late July, then declined to 10.9 million in August and 9.9 million as of September 8, 2026. PSA also said it was working toward eventually bringing the backlog down to 5 million units before reopening paused service tiers.

That does not necessarily mean PSA is failing as a grading company. In fact, PSA says its grading capacity has increased substantially and that it is investing $200 million into infrastructure and operational improvements.

But for collectors, the practical question is different.

How long are you willing to wait, how much are you willing to pay, and how much information do you want about the grade your card receives?

That is where the competition gets interesting.

The Grading Companies Collectors Are Watching

There is no single grading company that is perfect for every collector.

Some collectors care about resale recognition. Others care about turnaround times. Some want detailed subgrades, while others want a simple number that buyers immediately recognize.

For this comparison, the ratings below are editorial trust scores rather than scientific rankings. The focus is on transparency, grading information, technology, consistency, collector experience and the amount of information provided about the card.

1. CGC Cards

CGC has built a strong reputation in the collectibles world, particularly among Pokémon and other TCG collectors. One of its biggest advantages is that it has established itself as a serious alternative to PSA without relying entirely on PSA's traditional market position.

CGC has also continued adjusting its services as demand changes. In March 2026, the company announced that its Bulk card grading tier would move to $17 per card and Economy to $20 for U.S. submissions beginning March 24.

For collectors who want a large established grading company with recognizable slabs, published service tiers and a significant presence in the collectibles market, CGC remains an important option.

Its biggest challenge is the same challenge facing much of the industry. Demand is high, and turnaround times and prices can change as companies attempt to keep up.

Trust Rating: 9.0/10

2. TAG Grading

TAG takes a very different approach.

Instead of simply giving collectors a traditional grade, TAG uses technology and detailed imaging to produce a more data driven grading experience. Its system uses a 1000 point TAG Score alongside the traditional 1 to 10 grade. TAG says its technology analyzes measurements and defects and produces a Digital Imaging and Grading Report, known as a DIG Report.

This is where TAG becomes particularly interesting.

Collectors can access high resolution images, identified defects, centering information and additional grading data through the digital report. TAG also uses QR codes and digital security features that allow collectors to verify information about the card.

That level of transparency appeals to collectors who want more than just a number printed on a slab.

Instead of simply being told that a card is a 9 or a 10, TAG attempts to show collectors why the card received its score.

Trust Rating: 8.8/10

3. SGC

SGC has been around for decades and has developed a particularly strong reputation among sports card collectors.

The company is known for its distinctive slabs and straightforward grading system. Its current service structure also gives collectors different options depending on the value and desired turnaround of the card.

However, SGC is experiencing the same demand pressures affecting the wider grading industry.

On September 2, 2026, SGC announced that it was adjusting its service levels because of rapidly increasing demand and expanding turnaround times. The company said it was hiring, expanding operational space and investing in technology and infrastructure.

That is important because trust is not only about the final grade.

It is also about whether collectors feel comfortable with the submission process, communication and expectations surrounding their cards.

Trust Rating: 8.3/10

4. Beckett

Beckett has long been recognized for its detailed grading system and four traditional subgrades covering centering, corners, edges and surface.

That system has made Beckett particularly attractive to collectors who want to understand the individual components behind a grade rather than simply receiving a single number.

Beckett's current published grading structure includes Base, Standard, Express and Priority services, with Standard listed at $34.95 and an estimated 45 business day turnaround, Express at $79.95 for 15 business days and Priority at $124.95 for five business days.

Beckett's reputation among experienced collectors remains significant, particularly because of its history with subgrades.

The company's current service availability has also changed as demand has increased, showing that even established graders are dealing with the pressure created by the current collecting boom.

Trust Rating: 8.1/10

5. PSA

PSA is still one of the most recognizable grading companies in the hobby.

That matters.

When collectors buy or sell a graded card, PSA is a name that many buyers immediately understand. Its certification system, enormous database and long history give the company a major presence in the market.

The problem is that size can also create challenges.

PSA's own backlog tracker shows just how much pressure the company is currently dealing with. Its active backlog was still approximately 9.9 million cards as of September 8, 2026, despite significant investments in additional capacity.

PSA has also had to pause several lower cost Value tiers while it works through the backlog.

None of this automatically makes PSA an unreliable grader. It does, however, demonstrate the tension between enormous demand and the ability to process that demand efficiently.

The April 2026 lawsuit has added another layer of scrutiny, although the claims in that case remain allegations rather than established findings.

Trust Rating: 7.7/10

The Bigger Competition Is Not Just Between Grading Companies

The interesting part of the card industry is that grading is no longer the only way collectors are using technology to understand their collections.

Digital collection platforms are becoming increasingly important.

Collectors now have tools that can identify cards, estimate prices, organize collections, track portfolios and monitor market values without physically sending every card to a grading company.

Platforms such as CollX, for example, allow collectors to scan cards, identify them, view market information and organize their collections digitally.

That creates an interesting distinction.

Grading answers one question.

How good is the physical condition of this card?

Digital collection tools answer a different question.

What do I actually own, and what is my collection worth?

Those two systems can work together.

A collector might scan a card into a digital collection first, check its market value, look at comparable cards and then decide whether the card is valuable enough to justify professional grading.

That is a very different collecting workflow from simply sending every potentially valuable card to a grading company.

Trust Is Becoming More Important

Trust has always been important in the trading card hobby.

Collectors are buying pieces of cardboard that can sometimes be worth hundreds, thousands or even millions of dollars.

Professional grading exists partly because buyers and sellers need a trusted third party to evaluate authenticity and physical condition.

Recent academic research looking at nearly one million fixed price Pokémon listings on eBay found that third party grading and seller reputation operate as different forms of trust within the marketplace.

That distinction is important.

A graded card does not replace the reputation of the person selling it. At the same time, a highly reputable seller does not completely eliminate the value of independent certification.

Collectors increasingly have multiple layers of information available to them.

The seller.

The grading company.

The certification number.

The population data.

The market price.

The condition.

And now, digital collection and portfolio tracking tools.

Where RipMoar Fits Into This

This is where RipMoar takes a different approach.

You do not need to send every card you own to a grading company just to understand your collection.

With RipMoar, collectors can scan their cards, get pricing information, organize their collection and keep track of their cards in one place.

Instead of opening multiple websites and trying to remember which cards you own, RipMoar gives collectors a digital way to keep their collection organized.

And because RipMoar supports multiple major TCGs, collectors can manage different parts of their hobby without needing a separate system for every game.

Your cards are physical.

Your collection does not have to be.

Start Tracking Your Collection With RipMoar

Scan your cards, check their value and start building your digital collection today.

No complicated setup. No need to manually enter every card. Just open RipMoar and start building your collection.

https://app.ripmoar.com/

The Future of Card Collecting

The grading industry is not disappearing.

If anything, the current market shows how important professional authentication and grading have become.

But collectors now have more options than they did in the past.

PSA is dealing with massive demand and a huge backlog. CGC continues to compete across the TCG and collectibles space. TAG is pushing technology driven transparency. SGC and Beckett continue to serve collectors with their own established grading systems.

At the same time, digital platforms are changing what happens before and after a card is graded.

The future of collecting may not be about choosing between physical grading and digital collection management.

It may be about using both.

Collectors can identify and organize their cards digitally, monitor their value, decide which cards are worth grading and then use professional grading when authentication and condition certification actually matter.

That puts more information in the collector's hands.

And ultimately, that may be the biggest change happening in the hobby.