Issue #1 · Feb 20, 2026
DEEP DIVE
Welcome to Issue #1 of The Grail Drop
One Company. Three Graders.
79% of the Market.
Collectors now owns PSA, SGC, and Beckett. They just raised prices again. A congressman wants an FTC investigation. Here's what the data actually says.
The Deep Dive
OK, before I begin… I know I promised to get this out on Thursdays. That was the plan, until I learned how difficult it is to format this letter. Moving on…
If you submitted 100 cards at PSA's Value Bulk tier a year ago, it cost you $1,899. Today, the same submission costs $2,499. That's $600 more out of your pocket — before eBay takes their 13%.
On February 10, PSA raised grading prices for the second time in five months. Value Bulk: $21.99 to $24.99. Value: $27.99 to $32.99. Value Plus: $44.99 to $49.99. Turnaround times stretched again — Value Plus now sits at 25 business days, up from 20.
That's a 32% increase in 12 months on the hobby's most-used tier. And the company raising those prices now owns three of the four major grading companies in the industry.
Here's how one company cornered 79% of card grading — and what it means for your money.
WHAT COLLECTORS NOW CONTROLS
Grader / Asset | Volume / Share |
|---|---|
PSA (2025 Volume) | 18.3M+ cards · ~71% share |
SGC (2025 volume) | 1.4M cards · ~5% share |
Beckett/BGS (2025 volume) | 789K+ cards · ~3% share |
CardLadder | Pricing analytics platform |
Combined market share | ~79% |
eBay graded sales (by $) | 96% |
Top 100 all-time sales | 91 of 100 |
Volume data via GemRate, eBay sales data via eBay sold listings analysis, estimated
How Collectors Built a Grading Empire
The consolidation happened fast. In 2021, Collectors acquired PSA — already the industry's dominant grader. In February 2024, they bought SGC, which held roughly 12-15% market share at the time. Then on December 15, 2025, they announced an agreement to acquire Beckett — one of the hobby's most iconic brands, dating back to 1984.
WHAT COLLECTORS NOW CONTROLS
PSA (2025 volume) — 18.3M+ cards · ~71% share
SGC (2025 volume) — 1.4M cards · ~5% share
Beckett/BGS (2025 volume) — 789K+ cards · ~3% share
CardLadder — Pricing analytics platform
Combined market share — ~79%
eBay graded sales (by $) — 96%
Top 100 all-time sales — 91 of 100
Volume data via GemRate, eBay sales data via eBay sold listings analysis, estimated
The only significant independent competitor remaining is CGC, which graded 3.85 million cards in 2025 with roughly 18% market share. Below that, TAG graded 416K cards (~2%) and is growing fast at 83% year-over-year — but it's still a sliver of the overall pie.
The SGC Case Study: A Warning for Beckett?
When Collectors bought SGC in February 2024, SGC was thriving. By July 2024, it briefly surpassed CGC into second place, processing 194,000 cards that month. Then the numbers started falling.
SGC MONTHLY VOLUME — POST-ACQUISITION COLLAPSE
Jul 2024 (peak) — 194,000
Jun 2025 — 158,000 (-19%)
Dec 2025 — ~41,000 (-79%)
Source: GemRate monthly grading reports, estimated
Full year 2025: SGC graded 1.42 million cards total — down 24% year-over-year. From second place to a shadow of its former self in 18 months.
"Soon after PSA bought SGC, SGC raised prices, they got rid of a bunch of discounts for group submitters and they're taking less submissions. That's all not good for the consumer."
SA president Ryan Hoge has characterized the repositioning as making SGC a boutique brand. For context, SGC was processing 194,000 cards per month before the acquisition. "Boutique" is one way to describe what happened.
The question every collector should be asking: If Collectors does to Beckett what it did to SGC, the hobby loses another independent voice and another check on PSA's pricing power.
Collectors CEO Nat Turner said Beckett will remain an independent brand with its own operations and standards. But the early signals are mixed — Beckett recently named Colin Hudson as new GM, adjusted turnaround times, and temporarily suspended its EU Base service. Whether these are normal post-acquisition housekeeping or the start of a familiar pattern remains to be seen.
Follow the Money: The Rising Cost of Grading
PSA has raised prices multiple times since the acquisitions began. The trajectory on their most-used tier tells the story:
🔥 PSA PRICE ESCALATION — VALUE BULK
$18.99 → $21.99 → $24.99
+32% in ~12 months. Similar increases apply across all tiers.
Turnaround times are stretching too
Tier
Value Plus
Value Max
Regular
Express
Change
20 → 25 days
15 → 20 days
10 → 15 days
5 → 10 days
PSA's explanation: submission volumes are at unprecedented levels — they've scaled from roughly 15,000 cards per day in 2021 to approximately 90,000 per day globally. But collectors see a pattern: raise prices, extend turnaround, blame demand, repeat.
"This is about predictability. We need to align demand with capacity better."
They're hoping higher prices reduce submission volume to manage the backlog. That also means higher margins on every card that still comes through the door.
But here's the nuance: CGC raised prices too.
This isn't exclusively a PSA monopoly story. CGC also increased prices effective January 6, 2026. Their Standard tier jumped from $45 to $55 — a 22% increase. But CGC processed 125,800 items in a single week in December 2025 (a 96% week-over-week surge), so their demand story has data behind it. And critically, CGC is still meaningfully cheaper than PSA at every tier.
The honest read: grading is getting more expensive industry-wide because demand is at record levels. But when one company controls 79% of the market and has a pattern of raising prices and reducing competitor volume after acquisitions — the monopoly concern isn't just theoretical.
Congress Wants Answers
On December 19, 2025 — four days after the Beckett acquisition announcement — Congressman Pat Ryan (D-NY) sent a letter to FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson demanding an antitrust investigation into Collectors Holdings. Ryan's concerns centered on potential monopolization through serial acquisitions, possible regulatory evasion, the marginalization of SGC relative to acquisition terms, and the resulting erosion of pricing competition.
"Would I say that they're just a monopoly, period? With that market share, yes. Now are they to the grounds of illegal monopoly where antitrust should step in? They're really close. As a plaintiffs' attorney, I'm looking at it."
"They've kind of exploited [their dominance] to do things that have definitely hurt the consumer. They've raised prices, they've extended turnaround times."
Harris specifically flagged the SGC trajectory: when Collectors bought SGC, it held about 12-15% market share. That's been wound down to roughly 2-3%. Adding BGS, he argued, will be problematic.
The vertical integration compounds the concern. Collectors doesn't just grade cards through PSA, SGC, and Beckett — they track what grades are worth through CardLadder, buy graded cards back from collectors, and resell them. When one entity controls grading, pricing analytics, buybacks, and resale, the conflicts of interest are structural, not incidental.
As of mid-February 2026, no official FTC investigation has been confirmed. Ryan's letter remains a request. But Collectors isn't sitting still — they've announced a "pop report hygiene" initiative for 2026, targeting duplicate entries and extending pre/post-grading imaging to Beckett. It's a transparency play. Whether it's enough remains to be seen.
The Grade Swap Scandal: The Trust Layer
The monopoly story has a darker undercurrent. In late 2025, a controversy erupted that struck at the heart of what grading companies sell: trust in the finality of a grade.
A collector submitted 30 identical cards to PSA and received PSA 9 grades across the board. PSA subsequently offered to buy back some of those cards at PSA 9 prices through their Partner Network buyback program. Then collectors noticed: the same certification numbers appeared in PSA's inventory — now listed as PSA 10s.
WHAT HAPPENED
Cards submitted: 30 identical cards
Original grade: PSA 9 (all 30)
After public outcry, re-examined: 11 upgraded to PSA 10
Implication: Grading inconsistency on 37% of the batch
PSA called it an isolated grading error. Collectors CEO Nat Turner addressed the situation on X, acknowledging what he described as a systematic failure in the process. The incident prompted a broader conversation about grading consistency — with collectors on r/sportscards and Blowout Forums documenting additional cases of inconsistent grades.
For a company whose entire business depends on the trustworthiness of their grades — and that now controls 79% of the market — these aren't trivial issues.
What To Do: The 2026 Grading Playbook
1. Know your break-even before you submit — the $100 Rule.
The hobby's emerging rule of thumb: only grade cards with a potential PSA 10 market value of at least $100. At $24.99 Value Bulk + eBay fees (~13%) + shipping, your all-in cost to grade and sell is roughly $35-40. If a card sells for $50 as a PSA 10, your margin just got cut in half.
2. Consider CGC for Pokemon, TCG, and mid-value moderns.
CGC at ~$15/card with 2-4 week turnaround vs. PSA at $24.99 with 150+ days. Yes, PSA 10s sell for 10-30% more — but the gap is narrowing in TCG categories. For cards in the $50-$150 range, CGC may deliver better ROI.
3. For live sellers: Speed matters as much as brand.
A card sitting at PSA for 150+ days isn't just dead inventory — it's five months of streams where you can't feature it, five months where the market could move against you, and capital tied up that could fund new inventory. Consider CGC for bulk TCG/Pokemon, PSA only where the premium justifies the wait, and TAG for small test batches.
4. Watch SGC and Beckett carefully.
SGC's volume collapse is a warning signal. If you hold SGC-graded inventory, monitor secondary market positioning. For Beckett — keep an eye on pricing changes, turnaround shifts, and that suspended EU Base service.
5. Track your own grading economics.
Start logging: submissions, grades received, sell-through rate, and average sale price by grader. Your personal data will tell you more than any article — including this one.
GRADING COST COMPARISON — FEBRUARY 2026
Grader | Entry Price | Turnaround | PSA 10 Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
PSA Value Bulk | $24.99 | 150+ days | Baseline |
CGC Bulk (25+) | ~$15 | 2-4 weeks | 10-30% less than PSA 10 |
BGS Base | $14.95 | Varies | ~30% less than PSA 10 |
SGC | ~$24 | 40+ days actual | ~35% less than PSA 10 |
TAG | ~$20 | Varies | Building recognition |
Note: A pop report tracks how many of each card have been graded at each level. PSA's is at psacard.com/pop.
What I'm Watching
FTC response timeline — Will Ryan's letter lead to a formal investigation? No confirmation yet, but we're monitoring.
February grading volumes — When GemRate publishes, we'll know whether PSA's price hike reduced submissions or if demand is truly inelastic.
Beckett integration signals — Any changes to BGS pricing, services, or the pop report hygiene rollout will be early indicators.
CGC at Collect-A-Con Miami (Feb 21-22) — CGC is the official grading service at the 800+ table show. Watch for announcements.
Coming Next Thursday
Whatnot Seller Economics: The Real Numbers
Everyone sees the $8 billion GMV headline. But what does it actually take to hit $1M+ revenue on Whatnot? We're breaking down the real take rates, time investment, and category performance benchmarks.
Quick Hits
Pikachu Illustrator Shatters All-Time Record
Logan Paul's PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator sold at Goldin for $16.49 million — the most expensive trading card ever sold, any category. Only ~40 copies exist; this is the only PSA 10. And yes — the world's most expensive card being a PSA 10 is exactly why their pricing power isn't going anywhere.
Whatnot Posts $8B GMV for 2025
More than doubled again — $8 billion in gross merchandise value, up from $3B+ in 2024. 20M+ new accounts. 1 in 8 sellers treats it as full-time income. Average daily user time: 80 minutes.
eBay Live Launches in Canada
Debuted Feb 13 alongside Fan Expo Vancouver and the Collectors Supershow in Toronto. That's the 5th international market after Germany, Australia, France, and Italy. eBay Live is quietly building global reach.
TikTok Shop Raises Auction Cap to $13,000
Quietly bumped from $7,600 — signaling a push into higher-end collectibles. With 20M+ monthly collectibles viewers, TikTok Shop isn't just going after casual buyers anymore.
The grading industry isn't going through a pricing cycle. It's undergoing a structural transformation — one where a single entity controls how cards are valued, authenticated, and traded.
Whether that's good or bad for the hobby depends on where you sit. But the data is clear: prices are up, turnaround times are longer, alternatives are growing, and regulators are paying attention for the first time.
At The Grail Drop, we give you the data to make your own decisions — not tell you what to think.
See you next Thursday. ⚡
Disclaimer: The Grail Drop is published for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this newsletter constitutes financial, investment, legal, or professional advice of any kind. All market data, pricing figures, and statistics are sourced from publicly available information and are believed to be accurate at time of publication but are not guaranteed. Past performance of any collectible, asset class, or investment is not indicative of future results. Always conduct your own research and consult a qualified financial advisor before making any investment or purchasing decisions. The Grail Drop and its publisher are not responsible for any losses, damages, or decisions made in reliance on the content herein.