Where to grade cards in Southeast Asia? Honest comparison

The best-known companies are PSA, BGS (Beckett) and CGC, all three based in the United States.

• Strengths: they are recognised worldwide, and their grades are often the reference on the international resale market.
• Limits: your cards cross the world twice. You pay international shipping both ways, often insurance, and sometimes import duties and taxes on the way back, depending on your country.
• Turnaround: it depends on the service level and the period, and is often counted in weeks or even months, not including shipping.
• Process: forms, support and payment are usually in English and in US dollars.

Their prices and turnaround times change regularly: always check them on their official website before sending.

Local intermediaries collect cards from several collectors and send them together to an international company.

• Strengths: shipping is shared, and the agent helps you in your language and handles the paperwork.
• Limits: the agent's fee comes on top of the grading fee, your cards go through more hands, and the total wait is often longer because the agent waits for enough cards to make a shipment.
• Check: how reliable the agent is, reviews from other customers, parcel tracking and how your cards are insured.

There are also grading services in the region. TGP, in Bangkok, is one of them.

• Strengths: your cards travel much less, turnaround is announced upfront (at TGP: 30 business days in Standard, 24–48 business hours in VIP), prices are shown in baht and service is in your language.
• Limits, honestly: a young local brand is less known internationally than PSA, BGS or CGC. For a high-value card you want to sell to buyers abroad, that recognition can affect the price.
• Good to know: every company has its own method. A 10 at one company is not automatically a 10 at another.

• The value of the card and where you plan to sell it (locally or internationally).
• Turnaround: do you have a date to meet (sale, tournament, event)?
• Total cost: grading, shipping both ways, insurance, possible customs duties and agent fees.
• Risk in transit: the longer the distance, the more steps there are.
• Verification: every card should have a certificate number you can check online.
• Transparency: the grading scale and criteria should be public.
• Accepted cards: games, languages (Thai, Japanese cards…) and formats.

• A very high-value card you want to sell internationally: a big international company can make sense, despite the cost and the wait.
• A personal collection, many cards, Thai or Japanese cards: a local service is faster and cheaper overall.
• A sale or event with a fixed date: a local service with a fast option, such as TGP's VIP.
• A small budget: group your cards in a single order, the price per card goes down.

At TGP, every card is authenticated and receives 4 subgrades (centering, corners, edges, surface) and a final grade from 1 to 10 in half points, on a public scale. It is sealed in a slab with its label and comes with an online certificate and a paper certificate. Prices start at 384 ฿ (≈ $11) per card.

We do not promise a specific grade before the examination, nor a resale price: the grade depends on the real condition of the card, and the resale price depends on the market.