Looking for a
PSA alternative?
Most collectors who search for a PSA alternative aren't unhappy with PSA's grading: they're unhappy with $24.99+ per card, 50-card minimums, and turnarounds measured in months. Here's how CCA compares, including where PSA is still the right call.
Where CCA wins
$8 per card on bulk vs $24.99+
PSA's value tier starts at $24.99 per card with a 50-card minimum. CCA bulk is $8 per card with a 10-card minimum, the same submission costs roughly a third as much.
7–14 days vs 140+ business days
PSA's published value-tier turnaround runs 140–160 business days. CCA's typical bulk turnaround is 7–14 calendar days, so cards come back while the market that made you grade them still exists.
Insurance included on every card
Every CCA tier includes per-card insurance ($100–$1,500 depending on service level), plus a lifetime guarantee with published dollar caps, not marketing language.
A published, checkable formula
CCA publishes the exact grading formula, surface-weighted subgrades, worked examples, and a public estimator that runs the same math our graders use. You can check any grade against the standard.
CCA vs the major graders
Lowest published bulk tier for each| Grader | Lowest price / card | Bulk minimum | Typical turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| CCA | $8 | 10 cards | 7–14 days |
| PSA | $24.99 | 50 cards | 140–160 business days |
| CGC | $17 | 25 cards | 120 days |
| SGC | $20 | None | 180 days |
| BGS | $14.95 | None | 75+ days |
Competitor pricing, minimums, and turnaround reflect publicly published rates as of mid-2026 and are subject to change. CCA turnaround reflects standard bulk service.
When PSA is still the right choice
An alternatives page you can trust has to say this part out loud:
- Resale premium on high-end vintage: for five-figure cards, PSA 10s currently command the deepest auction liquidity. If you're grading a card worth thousands purely to sell it at auction next quarter, PSA's brand premium can outweigh its costs.
- Registry prestige: PSA's Set Registry has decades of collector history and community competition behind it.
- Track record: PSA has graded tens of millions of cards. CCA is newer, our population report is small and public, and we'd rather you see that than hide it.
The honest split: if you're grading a five-figure vintage card to auction immediately, PSA's brand premium is real. For everything else, bulk modern submissions, personal collections, sets, and cards where a $25–$75 grading fee eats the card's value, paying 3× more and waiting 10× longer buys you nothing. That's the collector CCA is built for.