How long does card grading take at CGC and SGC?

Card grading takes from about 2 business days to about 150 at CGC Cards, and from 2 to 3 business days to 40 or more at SGC, depending on the service level you pay for. Those are each company’s own estimates, counted in business days once it has your cards. They do not include the trip to the grader and the trip back, and neither company guarantees them.

What waits do CGC and SGC publish?

Each service level has its own estimate. The last column turns business days into calendar weeks at five business days a week, before any holidays or other delays.

SGC’s reholders run on the same two waits. The fee depends on each card’s declared value, set out in CGC vs SGC. The glossary defines turnaround time.

When does each clock start?

At different moments, which matters when you compare them.

• CGC gives its estimate for a submission delivered to its facility today. But an order appears in Submission Tracking only once CGC has checked the contents and entered them in its system, and until then CGC keeps the package in secure storage.
• SGC starts the clock once it has unboxed the order and logged it into its system.

So SGC’s 40 days and CGC’s 90 are not measured from the same event: SGC’s clock starts a step later, after unboxing.

What counts as a business day?

The two companies define it differently. CGC counts Monday to Friday and excludes weekends, public and national holidays, and the Fridays before a major convention. SGC’s business days exclude holidays and days its office is closed. A wait that runs over the year-end holidays takes longer on the calendar than the same wait in the spring.

What can stretch the wait?

Some delays are in your hands:

• An incomplete form. At CGC, a submission can take longer when the form was not filled in properly.
• Poor packing. CGC names packing as a factor too, and the shipper will reject and send back a package that arrives damaged, unsealed or poorly sealed, which puts you back at the start.
• A missing box marking. CGC asks for EX, WK or UV on every side of the box for its Express, WalkThrough and Unlimited Value levels, and a box marked wrongly will be delayed.
• A crossover with no minimum grade. At SGC, these take longer than its listed waits. Our guide to how crossover grading works explains the minimum grade.

Others are not:

• A card CGC has not seen. If a card is not yet in CGC’s database, the order may take longer while CGC researches the card.
• Demand. Effective September 2, 2026, SGC changed its service levels because of fast-rising demand and waits it called longer than acceptable. It said it was hiring and adding space, and warned of further changes to its levels between late 2026 and early 2027.

Neither estimate is a promise: CGC’s waits are not guaranteed, and SGC is not responsible for orders finished after the estimate.

How much does a faster level cost?

The jump from one level to the next buys time at a price. Per card, on the levels a card can use at its declared value:

The cheapest time CGC sells is the step from Bulk to Economy: $3 a card for a wait about 60 working days shorter. The step from Standard to Express buys the least.

How long are the trips each way?

The trip in is your choice. Priority Mail usually arrives in 2 to 3 days, and the expected date carries no money-back guarantee. Our guide to shipping raw cards covers mailing cards safely.

For the trip back:

International times do not include customs. CGC sends orders declared up to $50,000 back by FedEx Ground. SGC’s FedEx Ground times vary by region. It also sells FedEx 2-Day and Standard Overnight, at $45 and $60 for up to 11 cards in a package worth under $25,000.

SGC sends every package with signature confirmation. If no one signs and the package goes back to SGC, you have to confirm your address and pay for another try, which adds days. At CGC, a package that comes back undelivered also costs more to send again.

How do you follow an order?

At CGC, sign in and open My Submissions, under your profile, for Submission Tracking. It shows when the order is received, when it is graded and when it ships, and grades appear once the status reads Shipped. CGC’s customer service will not give grades by phone or email. Inside CGC, an order passes through receiving, checking, authentication, grading, sealing, imaging, quality control and packing.

At SGC, the account menu has a My Orders entry, and the SGC app tracks an order’s progress through grading. SGC releases graded cards only once every fee is paid.

How do you plan around a date?

Count back from the day you need the cards. Take the level’s estimate in business days, divide by five for weeks, then add holidays, the trip in, the time before logging and the trip back. Rip.fan’s grading cost calculator shows, for the declared value and card count you enter, each company’s cheapest and fastest level with its estimated wait and the day each price was read.

If the date is close, the table above shows what speed costs. Before you pay for it, check that grading the card makes sense at all with whether a card is worth grading. For the steps, see how to submit cards to CGC and how to submit cards to SGC, and when the slabs arrive, how to store graded cards.

Frequently asked questions

How long does TAG take?

As TAG listed its levels on October 21, 2026, estimates ran from 3 to 5 business days at PREMIER to about 90 at VALUE, with 45 at STANDARD and 60 at BASE.

When does TAG's clock start?

On the first full business day after its Receiving Team processes the order, not on the day of purchase or the day the box arrives.

Does a card dropped off at a show start its wait sooner?

Not at TAG. For an order dropped off at a convention or event, the wait starts once intake begins at TAG's facility.

Does a grader refund an order that runs late?

Not at TAG, which issues no refund for an order that misses its estimated wait. TAG works orders by due date rather than strictly in the order they arrive.

How soon does a finished TAG order ship?

Usually within 5 to 10 business days of reaching Order Complete, and TAG emails a FedEx tracking number once it ships.